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Lamb
16 June 2020
During March, soya meal markets recorded elevated levels of support in the face of coronavirus. Global demand for feed increased, while global availability fell. Countries that had first entered lock-downs experienced large-scale logistical disruptions. Recently, with global soya supply at a high, soya meal prices have since retraced back to pre-March levels. This has provided some respite for the UK livestock industry, which makes use of imports for protein feed sources.
14 January 2022
If you are looking to start up, or are running your own farm beef, lamb or pork box scheme, we have produced supporting materials for farmers and customers.
20 April 2020
Liver fluke is a parasite that effects the health and welfare of livestock, specifically cattle and sheep. This research investigates whether liver fluke in silage pose a risk to livestock
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13 July 2021
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Britain, and even more so since ‘lockdown’ there has been some concern over kill capacity in Great Britain.
17 April 2020
Economic forecasts have been significantly revised
13 July 2021
During March, the UK lamb kill dropped by 101,600 head year-on-year, to 891,400 head. Ewe kill was back 5%, to 131,900 head.
13 July 2021
During the week ending 15 April, the GB liveweight OSL SQQ gained 3p, to 216.28p/kg. Prices are once again above previous year levels, although significantly lower than pre-lockdown levels.
30 January 2024
In contrast to last year, grass growth has had rather a slow start to the season.
13 July 2021
Liveweight prices have increased this week, although the increase was weighted towards earlier in the week. The GB liveweight OSL SQQ increased by 10.9p, to 213.0p/kg.
9 April 2020
With the nation’s restaurants closed for the foreseeable future, farmers and chefs are teaming up to help people enjoy the perfect steak dinner at home.
21 December 2021
To benefit from higher grass yields in the long term, spring reseeds need a light grazing and careful management in their first 6 months. Start by doing a ‘pull test’ to establish whether seedlings have rooted properly and then use young calves to nip off leaves from 6 weeks after establishment. “The last thing you want to do is to graze and lift out seedlings,” says LIC consultant Sean Chubb. “You only want to take off the top 4 cm to encourage regrowth and tillering, so use calves because they won’t graze as low or as hard as older stock. There is no point in doing all that hard work if you then have to oversow next spring. “In their first year, new leys need preferential treatment: leave a residual growth of 5 cm, potentially graze less and then perhaps correct for this in autumn. Accepting less tonnage this year means you will be rewarded with better growth in future.” Using heavier livestock not only risks overgrazing and slowing regrowth, but also compaction where reseeding has involved a full seedbed preparation leaving a light, fluffy soil. When direct drilling into an established sward, however, cows can be used to do a light first grazing. After its first grazing, a new ley should be left to grow to 2.5–3 leaves and not be overgrazed. Leaving slightly higher covers avoids taking energy out of the plant: roots need to grow down and out, says Sean. “This is particularly important going into summer. New leys are more susceptible to drought and dying from overgrazing,” he points out, adding that a typical 10% of the platform reseeded each year is not a large enough area to affect measuring and software calculations.
9 April 2020
Oversowing can provide a cost-effective way of improving pasture without the need for seedbed preparation. It is useful in situations in which you do not want to – or can’t – plough, if there are gaps in the sward (for example, after poaching), or if you need more rye-grass or clover.