The effects of drought on Welsh dairy farms
1 June 2020
The recent prolonged spell of dry weather has led to some of Farming Connect’s Dairy demonstration sites needing to adjust their feeding and silage making regime to cope with low soil moisture levels.
Grass growth rates...
WEBINAR: Liner choice: how to find the right milking liner for your herd - 28/05/2020
Here is the second webinar in a series of dairy lunchtime webinars.
The milking liner is the only part of the milking machine that's in contact with the cow. As such, the properties of the liner have a big impact...
Episode 19 - The pros and cons of a multi cut silage system - 28/05/2020
In this episode Aled is joined by farmer Hugo Edwards from Newport, Gwent, and Richard Gibb a Farming Connect Mentor that has been working to improve milk production from forage by implementing a multi cut silage system. Hear how the...
Management issues with low soil moistures and no real forecast of rain
27 May 2020
Chris Duller, Soils and Grassland Specialist
Normally in late May, grass would be approaching peak growth, with growth rates of over 100kgDM/ha/day being achieved and concerns would be about grass getting away from stock. The...
WEBINAR: Dynamic Machine Testing: checking the relationship between cow and milking machine - 21/05/2020
Here is the first webinar in a series of dairy lunchtime webinars.
The milking machine can be a significant risk for mastitis. Inappropriate combinations of milking hardware and machine settings can affect the physical structure of the cows’ teats, reducing...
Soil mapping for precise land management
20 May 2020
Dr David Cutress: IBERS, Aberystwyth University.
- Soils are the most important biological systems across all farming practices
- The ability to map soil components accurately, including; nutrients, water content and structures can assist in improving farm...
FC - Issue 27 - May/June 2020
Below is the 27th issue of Farming Connect’s technical publication for farmers and foresters in Wales.
Published bi-monthly, it includes easy to digest facts and figures about a range of technical matters, along with the latest information and research from...
Put quality before quantity by cutting silage early, farmers advised
19 May 2020
Dairy farmers who improve silage quality by just 1 metabolisable energy (ME) value, to 11.5ME, will produce an additional 60,000 litres of milk from a 1,000 tonne crop.
The financial payback of producing good quality silage...