Dairy
MMN March 2024 – Rumen Microbes: Adapting to change
The rumen is a diverse and complex ecosystem of microbes comprising of bacteria, archaea, protozoa and fungi. These rumen microbes are vital in the digestion and breakdown of fibre, starch…
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MMN March 2024 – Are Robots for Me?
With the ongoing problem of finding good reliable labour, dairy farmers are increasingly asking themselves: Should I be looking at robots to milk my herd? In the following article I…
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MMN March 2024 – How Long are your Heifers Lasting?
According to the recently published NMR 500 Herd KPI Report for 2023, the medium number of lactations per cow at exit was 3.6 and the culling rate was 28%, with…
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Slurry Lagoon Storage and Construction
Six Key Steps to a Compliant Build: 1) Create a Slurry and Manure Management Plan & RAMS map Completing a Slurry and Manure Management Plan (SMMP) is the first step…
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Considerations for Growing Maize Silage
In southwest Scotland in particular we are hearing of an increased area of maize being planned for the 2024 season. This is predominantly due to the low availability of other…
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Herbal Leys – The Challenges
This articles follows on from Herbal leys – what to consider in selecting a mix. Herbal leys contain a variety of species of grass, legumes and herbs and as such…
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MMN January 2024 – Sourcing Finance
Whether you are looking for some funding to help tide you over a difficult financial period or you are looking to reinvest in the business, it is important to consider…
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MMN January 2024 – Selecting Beef Bulls for Use on Dairy
Sales of sexed dairy semen are increasing year-on-year and have been reported by AHDB to have reached 76.5% out of all dairy semen sales in the 12-month period up to…
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MMN January 2024 – Spring Block Calving: How does your Herd Measure Up?
Measuring reproductive performance of the herd can allow comparison between years, areas for improvement can be identified and you can check the effectiveness of management changes made. Regular measuring and…
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MMN January 2024 – Colostrum Quality from Heifers
It is often said that the quality of colostrum (in terms of immunoglobin content or IgG) from heifers is not as good as that from cows. Older cows are likely…
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