Spring focus should turn onto managing existing grassland and assessing which fields need to be re-seeded or over seeded.
To ensure that you are using the correct grass seed mixture for your management system, get in touch with a Wynnstay specialist.
Our advice on how you get your spring born heifers to grow, and keep growing!
With the spring calving season upon us it is important to think ahead to the imminent grazing season and how to get the calves born this spring (Feb-April) to grow well and efficiently.
We all know the reasons for taking a 2 or 3 cut silage system to 4 or 5 cuts; better grass quality and higher yields to increase output from forage, and if you’re not doing it already, you’ve probably dismissed is it as an option for your business or are thinking of moving in that direction
Don’t be fooled into thinking it is too early to begin a fly control plan in February/March! Flies have a short lifecycle (although weather dependent) and produce high numbers of eggs. By the time we begin to see the odd adult fly on the farm, we can be sure the environment has high numbers in the developing stages.
The sudden death of livestock is every farmers’ worst fear. Not only is it upsetting and stressful, it’s also extremely costly. Yet productive animals are lost to Clostridial diseases on a daily basis. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. Protecting your sheep and cattle from lethal Clostridial toxins can be easy, effective and affordable.
There is no doubt that cryptosporidium (Crypto) is a major calf health problem, with it being the most commonly diagnosed pathogen in preweaning calves. 40% of infectious diarrhoea is caused by Crypto. So what is it and how can we tackle it?
58% of non-vaccinating dairy farms and 22% of non-vaccinating beef farms test positive for exposure to leptospirosis. In the UK, two strains have been identified - Leptospira interrogans serovar hardjo and Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar hardjo.
Choosing a calf milk replacer (CMR) can be a minefield with so many available. The CMR market is easily divisible into two groups; whey-based powders and skim-based powders providing the two main sources of dairy protein. Choosing the right powder for your system is not only vital to the productivity of pre-weaning calves but the lifetime performance and profitability of each animal.
Sexed male beef semen, that can achieve conception rates which match those of conventional, could be a ‘game-changer’ for dairy farmers looking to make the most of everything produced on-farm.
Calf Starter is something that I get asked about daily, whether its coarse mix vs pellets vs nuts, intakes or what’s “best” for calves. So, here’s a breakdown of the current guidelines and recommendations.
