If you know anything about organic production, you’ll know that sourcing a cost-effective organic feed can be tricky. But organic feed doesn’t have to compromise performance, and it doesn’t have to be pricey either! Over the last decade, human health, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare have driven the demand for organic food production. This growing […]
Author Archives: Rebecca Kirk
With local grazing ground in short supply, every acre counts for Ben Holmes. Thanks to a high performance sheep bucket, he is keeping his ewes in top condition on minimal ground, even in challenging weather conditions. “My family has always farmed so I’ve always had interest in sheep. I left school at 18 after doing […]
With turnout a pivotal point in the year for any grazing cattle, here’s what you need to know about supporting digestion, stimulating growth rates, and sustaining milk production. It takes 3 weeks for the rumen to adjust to any dietary change – such as the radical transition from feeding cattle a winter forage to grazing […]
First generation sheep farmer, Felix Johnson-Gibbs, has embraced trial and error to accomplish a seamless system. Having tried out a number of different sheep lick buckets to find the best performer, Crystalyx comes out on top as his firm favourite. Felix Johnson-Gibbs started his farming journey aged only thirteen, with only passion and determination to […]
Cow nutrition in the run-up to calving is an absolute priority for dairy farmer — Jim Corby. With this in focus, Jim has encountered very low levels of milk fever, retained placentas, and calf mortality. Jim milks 120 pedigree British Friesian cows, along with his wife Elaine, at Ballynagrana in County Tipperary. Fully registered with […]
Keep sheep in good condition – even in challenging conditions – from just 4 pence per ewe per day! AHDB conducted a study into neonatal survival and confirmed that poor long-term protein status and poor energy balance in late pregnancy (particularly in twins) are linked to elevated lamb losses and poor growth rate. Relying solely […]
Having built up a flock of 2,700 sheep from scratch, farming prolific ewes on a lot of poor pasture doesn’t seem to be a problem for Alan Collett. Feeding ewes pre lambing to maintaining condition has kept any hurdles to growth down. Crystalyx Extra High Energy continues to play a key part throughout winter. Alan […]
Before Simone Dawson perfected her pre calver management strategy, she was on the verge of significantly cutting down cow numbers to a more manageable level. However, her calving issues swiftly resolved after she introduced a simple yet effective tool: a humble yellow feed bucket. With almost half a million followers on TikTok alone, you might […]
According to AHDB, every case of pneumonia is estimated to cost farmers in the region of £30 to £80. A startling figure that rises to £500 in fatal cases. In total, pneumonia in calves costs the UK cattle industry more than 50 million pounds every year. And the warmer and wet winters we’re now experiencing […]
With forage reported to be (variably) reduced in quality and quantity this winter feeding season, neither grass or silage can be relied on. This makes feeding pre calver minerals to bolster nutrition even more critical, especially in the calving transition. Fully meeting the nutritional needs of pre-calving suckler and dairy cows in the six weeks […]
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