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Know How / Beef / Youngstock management

Careful youngstock management in beef herds will help maximise heifer and bull calf performance, bring forward first-time breeding and increase margins. We have advice on newborn calf care, nutrition, breed selection, disease prevention, genetics, target growth rates and first-time breeding protocols.

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CALVING

Why portable milkers can ease stress at calving

Using a portable milking machine in the calving pen is the easiest and fastest way to harvest a cow’s first colostrum and avoid having to move a newly calved cow.…

DAIRY

Bovine TB blow prompts dairy farmer to join Longhorn scheme

Price security and the ability to better weather a bovine TB outbreak were the main reasons dairy farmer Jonathan Scott signed up to a Longhorn scheme. In 2016, TB hit…

BEEF

3 weaning strategies explored for suckler farms

Many different strategies are employed by suckler herds across the UK to minimise stress, growth check and hassle when weaning suckler calves. Scotland’s Rural College beef specialist Basil Lowman stresses…

YOUNGSTOCK MANAGEMENT

Suckler herd saves £100 a calf by focusing on grassland

Listen to Michael Priestley read this article or see the text below. Farmers Weekly · Suckler herd saves £100 a calf by focusing on grassland Replacing creep feed with nose…

GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

Simple creep grazing system helps suckler cow efficiency

Forward creep-grazing with creep gates or electric wires is a simple technique suckler systems could try this year to help performance. With feed costs becoming eye-watering, the benefits of the…

LIVESTOCK

Collaborative calf-rearing venture brings multiple benefits

A joint calf-rearing enterprise between two neighbouring farms in the Midlands is bringing benefits to both parties. The new profit-sharing agreement has brought extra income to beef and sheep farming…

Practical advice

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CALVING

Why portable milkers can ease stress at calving

Using a portable milking machine in the calving pen is the easiest and fastest way to harvest a cow’s first colostrum and avoid having to move a newly calved cow.…

YOUNGSTOCK MANAGEMENT

How to make routine dairy tasks easier with a calf kitchen

Making it easy to carry out routine tasks is essential to optimise calf health, welfare and productivity. Emily Linton of Torch Farm Vets offers expert advice. I walked onto a…

YOUNGSTOCK MANAGEMENT

9 tips on maximising calf health and minimising mortality

Farmers should think of calf management in the same way as looking after a baby, ensuring they are provided with a dry, draught-free bedroom, warm living room and clean kitchen. …

HEALTH AND WELFARE

How to stop calf pneumonia reducing heifer longevity

Calf pneumonia has stayed in the top 10 of the most frequent diagnoses from carcass submissions* in Great Britain for almost a decade. And while heifers can recover and eventually…

HEALTH AND WELFARE

Advice on reducing pneumonia risk amid autumn weather swings

Pneumonia prevention should be top of the agenda this autumn as high humidity and swings in ambient temperatures are creating the perfect storm for the disease. Dr Gwen Davies of…

YOUNGSTOCK MANAGEMENT

How genetics and data sharing can aid calf management

A high percentage of dairy and suckler farmers report that calves are born dead on arrival. In an exclusive Farmers Weekly survey, 21% of dairy farmers and 29% of suckler…

Insights

YOUNGSTOCK MANAGEMENT

Calf monitoring and health plans key to future performance

Some 90% of farmers want to make changes to improve the future sustainability of their youngstock management in the next 12 months, according to a Farmers Weekly exclusive survey. Yet…

HEALTH AND WELFARE

Coccidiosis project raises hope for new treatment

Coccidiosis is a perennial parasitic problem in growing lambs. It presents some difficulties in diagnosis, treatment and prevention – but good news could be around the corner.  Lambs and calves…

LIVESTOCK

Calf bottles and tube feeders on test

It is unsurprising many farmers are switching from bottles to buckets with teats for feeding milk to older calves. Our test, carried out over a four-month period at my family…

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

7 risk factors of pneumonia in calves and how to avoid them

Buying calves from multiple sources and feeding calves only once a day could be putting animals at risk of getting pneumonia, a study has found. AHDB assessed data from eight…

FEED AND NUTRITION

What are the benefits of milk replacer for calf rearers?

More than half of all dairy and beef farmers in Great Britain now rear their youngstock on calf milk replacer (CMR) instead of whole milk, with potential disease risks a…

LIVESTOCK

Why textbook heifer growth rates may not be good enough

Dairying experts at home and abroad are questioning whether units are achieving heifer growth targets of 0.7-0.8kg/day and if this gain is sufficient for the modern Holstein. Concerted efforts to…

BEEF

Is bigger better when it comes to cow size?

Finding the right sized cow to suit the system is key to suckler productivity. Farmers Weekly analyses whether bigger or smaller cows are best. A growing number of farms are…

LIVESTOCK

Pneumonia in calves: Pin down the cause and prevent it

Bacteria that cause pneumonia are fairly widespread and can live in a calf’s respiratory tract without causing disease. In the final part of this series, Caroline Stocks looks at what…

LIVESTOCK

Pneumonia in calves: How farmers can cut the risk

The aim of Farmers Weekly’s new series is to help farmers reduce the costs of pneumonia
in calves. Caroline Stocks sets the scene with 
a look at the results of an…