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Know How / Livestock diseases

Expert advice on identifying and treating livestock diseases such as BVD, Johne’s disease, leptospirosis in cattle, navel ill in calves, orf in sheep, watery mouth in lambs and swine fever in pigs. See the latest thinking on controlling parasitic diseases and worms such as liver fluke and lungworm.

Advice and tips

SHEEP

Practical advice on reducing lamb losses from joint ill

Washing hands, wearing gloves, and sterilising tubes and taggers are simple steps in maintaining excellent standards of hygiene at lambing. And they could go a long way to protecting flocks…

DAIRY

Advice on dairy biosecurity to minimise endemic disease risk

Assessing risk, asking the right questions and designing an ongoing, farm-specific management strategy are the foundations of good biosecurity when buying in stock. According to vets, buying in animals remains…

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

Advice on winter measures to keep bluetongue virus at bay

Although falling temperatures will now curtail midge activity and bluetongue virus replication, farmers can still take measures to reduce infection pressure this winter by disrupting the midge life cycle. Poorly…

PIGS

6 ways to help protect against African swine fever

Pig producers are starting to draw up contingency plans to reduce the risk of African swine fever coming onto their farms. These plans will also minimise the stress of being…

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Case studies

BEEF

How a vaccine transformed crypto control for one beef system

A new vaccine for cryptosporidium has markedly improved calf health and eased labour demand on a Perthshire beef farm – but it relies on excellent colostrum management to be effective.…

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

Orf disease: Two ways sheep farmers are tackling the virus

Orf is the more common name for contagious pustular dermatitis, and is considered endemic in the UK, and prevalent on most sheep farms. A recent study by the Royal Veterinary…

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

How Johne’s management cut disease to less than 2% of herd

Consistent efforts to prevent Johne’s disease in a high-yielding Wiltshire dairy herd have resulted in cases falling from a high of 25% (cows identified as Johne’s positive or high risk)…

BOVINE TB

How one dairy farmer is getting a grip on bovine TB

A Pembrokeshire dairy farmer who decided a fresh approach was needed to manage bovine TB in his herd has seen promising results by working more closely with his vet and…

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Community

LIVESTOCK

Farmer Focus: Calving difficulties cause extra work

Calving is nearing completion on our farm, with just five cows to calve at this stage. I’m ready for a break! The problems we had with difficult calvings on heifers…

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Insights

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

Why pneumonia is hitting more young grazing suckled calves

Vets are urging farmers to put in place mitigation strategies to curtail a surprising increase in respiratory disease linked to immunosuppression in young, suckled, grazing calves. The rise in cases…

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News

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

Farmers warned as foot-and-mouth confirmed in Cyprus

UK farmers have been warned to remain vigilant to the signs of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) after it was confirmed in cattle and sheep in Cyprus. In response, the government has…

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

BVD movement restrictions to start in Northern Ireland

Farmers in Northern Ireland are being reminded of the impending movement restrictions for breeding‑age females in herds where bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) has been confirmed. The new measures come into…

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

South Africa secure vaccine to tackle foot-and-mouth

The South African government has classified an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the country as a “national disaster” and has started to produce its own vaccine for the first…

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

UFU seeks clarity on bluetongue movement rules in NI

Farmers in Northern Ireland say they are being left in the dark around bluetongue restrictions, following limited communication from Daera on animal movements. Cases of bluetongue virus in livestock were…

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Opinion

BOVINE TB

FW Opinion: Wider review of slurry role in bovine TB needed

Queen guitarist and animal rights campaigner Brian May has shared with Farmers Weekly in some detail how, working with vet Dick Sibley, he has helped a Devon dairy farm regain…

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Test and reviews

HEALTH AND WELFARE

Buyer's guide to ketone testers for dairy farmers

Simple and quick tests that measure ketone levels in dairy cows are allowing farmers to act promptly with interventions to protect milk yields and herd performance. Subclinical ketosis can’t be…

DAIRY

Buyer's guide: Teat disinfection technology

As herd sizes increase and labour sourcing continues to create challenges, more farmers are turning to automated teat disinfection technologies to ease pressure in the parlour and promote efficiencies. Although…

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Video

BOVINE TB

Dairy farmer who suffered bovine TB hell exits industry

A Pembrokeshire farmer has made the difficult decision to sell his dairy unit and leave farming after suffering at the hands of bovine TB. Steve Evans, a fourth-generation farmer based…

BOVINE TB

Brian May - ‘Badgers are irrelevant in cattle TB spread’

Queen guitarist and animal rights campaigner Sir Brian May has staked his life on badgers playing no role in the bovine TB nightmare for farmers. He believes badgers do not…

HEALTH AND WELFARE

Video: Farmers plunge dip a mammoth 6,300 sheep in one day

Sheep farmers and contractors have carried out a mammoth 6,300-ewe plunge dipping day as part of a new joint venture between two businesses. Neil Fell, owner of NR Fell Mobile…

LIVESTOCK DISEASES

Video: How to use orf vaccine correctly on sheep

About one in five lambs – 900,000 – are affected by the highly contagious orf virus in England’s sheep flock each year according to MSD Animal Health. Added to that…

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