Livestock Farmer Focus FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Basic on-farm innovation holds key to progressSitting down to write my last Farmer Focus is surprisingly challenging, not least because when it all began back in February 2019, I thought at best I could be making… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: No answer to milk yield drop as rain continuesAs farmers, one of the main things we seem to talk about is the weather: too hot; too cold; too wet; too dry. At Newlands, we have a very high… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Scan result good but straw tight for lambingEvery year l look forward to scanning day. This year, the earlies were a little disappointing, while the main flock is a little over the top. With 10% ewe lambs… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: New baby and new bull lift winter gloomIt's been very, very wet. Since my last article, we have had the worst six weeks of winter weather I can remember for a long time. The first days of… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Repeat of 2025 ‘ideal’ lambing season unlikelyWe are preparing for lambing: cleaning, pressure washing and disinfecting areas of the cattle sheds to bring in the ewes. The cattle will have to be moved up to the… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Late calving pays off after record wet JanuaryAs I write, the slurry spreading ban is being lifted in Northern Ireland, commencing the annual rush to get the slurry tanks emptied. However, with almost double the average January… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Vision and drive inspire on reunion farm tourDaylight hours are increasing and our young heifers are growing well, at 1.2kg daily liveweight gain, with weights suggesting we will hit our target for turnout ahead of schedule. However,… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Relief as scan percentage up despite droughtLambing looms – and this year, the scans tell a better story. After such a dry summer, and with plenty of reports of flocks scanning lower than normal, expectations were… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Two-flock solution to maedi visna under wayThis is my first article of 2026 and so far all we have had is rain. The ground is totally waterlogged, and store lambs are spending more time on the… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Dairy upgrade begins despite milk price slumpThe dusting of snow we had at the start of the year didn’t affect us much – we have the sea on three sides within just a couple of miles,… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Ewe scan to reveal impact of tough summerThe little pedigree flock has been housed in preparation for lambing. I would have liked to keep them out longer, but weather is worsening so it dictated my decision a… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Benchmarking confirms strong sow performanceIt feels as though 2026 is already flying by and we are still playing catch-up after a bit of time off over Christmas. One thing we were really hoping to… More articles
