Dairy
Agribusiness News March 2025 – Milk
Milk production data Milk production continues to stay ahead of last year, with GB volumes for January up 2.2% to an estimated 1,047m litres. The latest data from AHDB puts daily production at 33.89 million litres for the week ending 15th January, 1.6% above the same week last year. UK production for January was estimated…
Uterine Prolapse in Dairy Cattle
Uterine prolapses are more serious than vaginal or rectal prolapses, and almost always occur within 24 hours of calving. They are easily distinguished from vaginal prolapses, which tend to occur pre-calving, with the prolapsed tissue being pink and smooth. With a prolapsed uterus, the large red uterine mass may hang down to the hocks and…
Agribusiness News February 2025 – Milk
Milk production data AHDB’s latest forecast has put GB milk production for the 2024/25 milk year at 12.43 billion litres, which is 0.9% higher than the previous year. GB milk production figures for December were 1,054 million litres, 3.3% more than in December 2023 and an average daily production of 34 million litres/day. The Defra…
MMN January 2025 – Outwintering Dairy Heifers
Outwintering dairy heifers can make significant savings on bedding and labour and with good planning and nutrition, growth performance should not be compromised. There are a number of things to consider when outwintering heifers to ensure that their nutritional needs are met. Nutrition Supplementary forage, typically baled grass silage (but hay and wholecrop may also…
MMN January 2025 – What to Use if Draff is Unavailable
Draff has become an important feed source within the dairy industry over the years, providing a good source of digestible energy and protein. The typical crude protein content of draff on a dry matter basis is between 16.0-22.0% and it has a metabolisable energy (ME) content of between 11.0-11.7MJ/kg DM. Draff is a highly palatable,…
MMN January 2025 – Should You be Using Genomic Testing?
Genomics uses a young animal’s DNA to estimate their genetic potential and aims to provide dairy farmers with the information and the confidence to make informed breeding decisions with their youngstock. Genomic testing has been increasing in popularity over the last decade, with AHDB now estimating that over 100,000 dairy heifers are tested annually, a…
MMN January 2025 – The Importance of Sugar in a Dairy Ration
The sugar content of dairy diets is often not given much consideration, with more focus usually given to energy, protein and starch levels. While the sugar content of the ration can vary greatly depending on the sugar content of the forage, it can have a big impact on rumen function and therefore milking performance. The…
MMN January 2025 – Milk Market Update
Dairy Commodity Markets Fonterra’s latest on-line GDT auction (7th January) resulted in a 1.4% decrease in the weighted average price across all products, reaching US $4,029/t. This follows a 2.8% drop at the previous auction on 17th Both butter and cheddar were up 2.6% and 1% respectively, while skim milk power and whole milk powder…
Mineral Requirements in Out-Wintered and Grazed Cattle
In a housed system, dietary intake of minerals can be regulated as the diet is formulated to provide the same quantity of minerals each day, depending on the stage of production and age of cattle. In an out-wintering system, dietary intake of minerals can be challenging as there can be changes in mineral availability from…
Green Bedding for the Dairy Herd
With the rising costs of sawdust and straw, it is worth considering alternative sources of bedding, one of which is recycled manure solids (RMS), also known as green bedding. Green bedding is made of slurry solids which have been dried down to a dry matter of over 34%. Depending on the system, most run with…