Good AI protocols and calving records factor in improved dairy herd fertility
13 February 2023 Good artificial insemination (AI) protocols are helping a Carmarthenshire dairy farm achieve a six week in-calf rate of more than 80%. Iwan Francis runs a split block calving herd of 200 Friesian-cross cows at Nantglas, Talog, where...
Improvements to flock productivity help sheep farm with carbon efficiency
8 December 2022 Exceeding targets for ewe efficiency and lamb growth rates is helping a Welsh sheep farm to become more carbon efficient. Hendre Ifan Goch, a Farming Connect demonstration site near Blackmill, Bridgend, produces lamb from a flock of...
Ready, steady, slow! Slow-growing broilers are healthier and have more positive welfare
14 November 2022 Saba Amir: IBERS, Aberystwyth University. Consumer demand for high welfare meat promoted by animal welfare groups and NGOs is driving the market of slow-growing broilers Slower-growing breeds have better health and welfare than fast-growing ones Slow-growing broilers...
Trial shows quality grazing has greater effect on lamb growth than trace element supplements
10 November 2022 A Farming Connect trial has shown a cost benefit of up to £3.36/head from supplementing lambs with trace elements post-weaning; however, grass availability and parasite control had the biggest influence on the performance of animals in the...
Calf pneumonia cases down to 10% after housing adjustments
1 November 2022 Adjusting housing and feed intakes around weaning has helped a Welsh calf-rearer significantly reduce incidence of pneumonia. Hugh Jones and his mother, Glenys, who farm at Pentre Farm, Pentrecelyn, source Aberdeen Angus bull calves from Buitelaar at...
Episode 71 - Numerous challenges concern new entrants to the egg industry
Cath Price is Farming Connects Lead Dairy and Poultry Technical Officer. At home she also farms with her husband Dan, 20 minutes South of Newtown and have recently invested in a laying hen unit. Their new shed, and first flock...
