Monitor Farm Scotland: Morayshire

Safe cattle handling will be discussed by animal behaviour expert Dr Simon Turner at the next Morayshire Monitor Farm meeting on Tuesday 12 February.

Also on the cattle side, the meeting will focus on estimated breeding values (EBVs) as well as hearing how Monitor Farmer Iain Green’s first batch of cattle performed when weaned using his new Beef Monitor system – which weighs the livestock every time they take a drink.

As well as assessing Iain’s current handling system, Simon will also discuss simple changes farmers could make to reduce stress during handling, as well as highlighting some of the negative effect that poor handling can have on animal health and welfare, and productivity. 

The final topic up for discussion will be the introduction of EID for Scottish cattle. The new rules means that all new born calves will require EID tagging by the 1st of January 2020 and there will be a representative from ScotEID at the meeting to highlight how complying with  the new regulations, can also benefit the farm business by allowing closer monitoring of livestock performance.

The three-year Scottish Monitor Farm project, which is funded by £1.25 million secured from the Scottish Government and European Union’s Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund, is being run jointly by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds.