Articles
Articles and pieces written by the Team.
Controlling the Controllables...
Well, what a strange weather year this is turning out to be?!
Some of you are saying that you have had one of your best grass
years and others of you are saying that the rain never seems
to have stopped falling from the sky?! One of the main reasons
that we all love agriculture is that no two days, seasons or
farms are the same. At a time where we are seeing fluctuating
markets, challenging harvesting windows, high costs, what can
we hope to achieve by 'controlling the controllables'?
Focus on shell quality
Egg shell quality is mostly influenced before the egg is laid. The thickness of the shell is directly related to the time the egg spends in the shell gland—generally, the longer it remains in the gland, the thicker the shell will be. This means that eggs laid earlier in the day tend to have thicker shells compared to those laid later.
Read More...Is flushing an old-fashioned approach?
Flushing ewes, which involves increasing their feed before and during tupping to improve ovulation, has been a common practice for many years. However, with advancements in sheep management, grazing strategies, and modern techniques like sponging, using teaser rams, and selecting fertile tups, flushing may be becoming less necessary.
Read More...The real story for livestock farmers
Focus: Improving Soil Management
For livestock farmers, soil management is often overlooked in favour of more immediate concerns like animal health and feed supply. There seems to be a misconception that the soil will grow crops regardless how its farmed.
Read More...Autumn reseed: should we really mean August reseeds?
As summer comes (all three days of it) and goes the farming calendar turns to autumn, and thought turn to reseeding, be it after cereals, grass or maize crops. However, there is a growing consensus that August may be a more strategic time for this task (maybe not for maize but you get my drift).
Read More...Biosecurity in free-range poultry units
Thursday 01 Aug 2024Biosecurity is the foremost line of defence against infectious diseases in commercial poultry, sometimes being the only safeguard, as with Avian Influenza.
Read More...Fuel the Rumen First™ with Zinpro® IsoFerm®
Protein supplementation represents a significant expense in dairy rations. Unfortunately, dairy cattle struggle to efficiently convert feed nitrogen into milk and metabolizable protein.
Read More...Using Total LWG
In beef production, effective monitoring is essential for optimising efficiency and profitability. One of the most insightful metrics for gauging productivity is the kilograms of liveweight produced per day on the farm.
Read More...CMC at 60
2024 sees Crediton Milling Co Ltd celebrate its 60th
anniversary. From our company’s conception in 1964,
the foundation for the business was to offer quality
rations, higher levels of service and value for money.
All of which remain key elements today.
Developments in Dairy Nutrition – Has anything changed in sixty years?
The short answer ( for those of you that know me well, I am not that good at providing short answers!) is yes – A LOT!
Read More...Spotty Liver in Hens
Saturday 01 Jun 2024Typically, this used to be a summer disease, with classic signs of high mortality affecting birds at peak lay.
Read More...Summer Grazing, top tips and returns
Maximising forage utilisation (or using grass better as it should be referred to) can be an easy win on farm, especially when it comes to grazing.
Read More...Evolution
You will be very familiar with the ever-changing circumstances we find ourselves in, especially in farming. The goal posts are always moving and in our own ways, we are all custodians of the land. Business profitability remains fundamental to the success and longevity of any business.
Read More...