It is no secret to everyone in agriculture that public perception is putting increasing pressure on running a more sustainable enterprise.
It is fair to say that we have a responsibility to not only be the most sustainably efficient farms possible, but also to publicise and educate the general public.
During scanning, the results will provide an initial indication of how many lambs are likely to need fostering or artificially rearing. Before lambing starts preparing a carefully planned rearing protocol will be time well spent, since well grown artificially reared lambs will leave an acceptable margin that can be considered a worthy additional income stream.
It’s never too early to be thinking about winter ewe feeding.
Growing and utilising home-grown forage is key to maximising profitability of sheep enterprises. It is important to consider the size of your flock versus the amount of forage available.
Are your lambs chewing on the teats of your ad-lib milk feeders? Here are a few tricks you can try this lambing season.
Read our top tips!
Managing your ewes effectively in the last eight weeks before lambing is one of the most important stages in the sheep calendar, says experienced sheep consultant Kate Phillips. If things go wrong at this stage the effects will be noticed in the following areas, lamb birth-weight could be low, lamb losses high, colostrum is poor in quality and supplies are below average poor and subsequent lamb growth below target. Thus ensuring the health of the ewe is vitally important.
Current research has focused on feeding calves an elevated plane of nutrition during the pre weaning period. Research has shown multiple benefits to this choice of calf management programme, including increased average daily gains, early onset of puberty, improved longevity and potential for higher milk production in the future.
You have done the hard bit…figured out where you’re going to source calves from, what powder to feed them, and what starter feed is best. Now you are faced with the many options for how to feed the chosen milk powder, and with those options, host a range of costings.
Recent years have seen research turn toward calf rearing and capitalising on the genetic potential of the animal; with a particular focus on dairy calves.
There is limited information on feeding and rearing beef calves, with even less on how feeding calves can impact finishing age and carcass quality. We are now beginning to see supermarket requirements for beef changing, with a greater demand for uniform cuts, and as farmers we invest so much at the finishing stage to meet these requirements.
Increasing numbers of dairy x beef calves are opening up new avenues for beef farmers, but how do you decide what will best suit your system?
We have come to a point in calf rearing, where there is an abundance of advice and information available to farmers. We quite often know what the ‘ideal’ scenarios are for rearing healthy calves. Some farmers are putting these advised practises in place on their farms, and yet not getting the desired result – and this is understandably frustrating.
