Ecosyl additives such as Ecocool have been shown to typically reduce the fermentation losses by half and also to improve aerobic stability, keeping the silage cooler for longer. In addition, the Ecosyl range has a considerable weight of evidence from independent feeding trials which demonstrate improved animal performance for dairy, beef and sheep.
Wildflowers can make a colourful display for many months, and can provide an appealing alternative to a lawn.
Using a mixture that contains grass seed will help the area that's been sown look a bit healthier during the winter months when the perennials and annuals are not in flower. However, seed mixes containing grass will require a bit more maintenance, especially during the early years.
In this article, Dr. Dave Davies of Silage Solutions Ltd discusses the importance of excluding oxygen from the clamp during silage production.
The last few years have produced some challenging weather conditions for UK dairy farmers, with predictions suggesting extreme weather events may become more common place. With summer approaching, Wynnstay and QLF look at how molasses can help reduce your heat stress losses.
As protein demand increases worldwide, efficiency in production is crucial to meet this challenge. Internal parasites are the greatest cause of lost production in grazed ruminants, so their management and control are vital to enable sustainable production from pasture.
Wynnstay is delighted to announce the appointment of David Howard as its new head of dairy services.
Overseeing the team of specialists, David will be responsible for driving a new strategy for Wynnstay’s dairy services, while continuing to provide the best advice, support and products for customers.
The general concern about animal welfare, especially for laying hens, is continuously increasing in consumers and farmers. This attention leads to spending time and efforts to understand if our birds are stressed or not, through many different indicators both deriving from animal observation (behavior, performance, fearfulness) and laboratory analysis (Alm et al., 2016; Rodenburg et al., 2008).
Colostrum management is the key aspect to any successful calf rearing system. We know the importance of feeding our calves colostrum quickly (within 2 hours of birth), quality (>50mg/l) and quantity (10% of birthweight) but do we know the detrimental effect of the contamination within colostrum if we were to leave it standing after harvesting.
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.
There are many targets that we set on farm to assess the success of the business and calf operating system. Many targets have become outdated with the emphasis now on producing bigger, stronger heifers that we are rearing for longevity and lifetime production. Below are some thoughts on the targets that we should be re-evaluating to streamline the rearing operation further.
