This article was written by Amy Hughes, Senior KE Manager at AHDB Beef & Lamb after she had spoken to Arron Nerbas to get an insight into Nerbas Bros. Angus. Epigenetics is a word that we are starting to hear more frequently in the world of livestock breeding, but what does it mean and how do we apply it, practically, to our businesses? Nerbas Bros. Aberdeen Angus is a multigenerational business...

When considering the performance, welfare and profitability of commercial suckler herds, it is not controversial to state that bad calvings are a bad thing, nor that a systematic approach to reducing bad calvings delivers significant benefits across all these fundamental aspects.  Yet this issue, until recently*, has remained below the radar, with many suckler farmers appearing to accept as inevit...

Food Systems Context Our farming and food systems have responded remarkably well to feeding a rapidly growing population over the last century. As part of this response, the wider availability and affordability of animal-sourced foods (ASF) has contributed to food and nutritional security in many parts of the world. However, our farming and food systems face further challenges still. Continuing p...

Background Feeding the suckler cow is one of the largest costs in the beef industry. Existing research suggests that over one third of cows do not calve at the target BCS and are at least half a point away from the guidelines (on a 5-point scale) (Turner et al., 2021). This has implications for calving ease, calf survival and subsequent fertility. Therefore, there is a need to improve feeding man...

Synopsis Richard will share learnings benefits and insights into an integrated beef supply chain model. He will also outline how working together, and by focussing on genetics, we can combat some of the challenges and avail of new opportunities as we face into the future. ABP & Blade Farming ABP UK are a food business that specialises in the supply and development of award-winning British and I...

Introduction to the Enferplex Bovine TB Antibody Test The Enferplex test is a serological assay (identifies the presence of antibody) for bovine Tuberculosis (bTB). The test detects the presence of antibodies within blood or milk to bTB by use of individual antigens. There are eleven different antigens used in the test and these are placed separately on individual spots within a testing well. If...

Milking cows is a complex and time-consuming process that requires significant effort, attention to detail, and plenty of consistency. As technology advances, more and more farmers are turning to robotic milking systems to streamline the milking process and improve efficiency. However, not all robotic milking systems are created equal with some systems being more efficient than others. One factor...

Background I went back to the tenanted family farm in 1995 which was 250 acres, milking 80 Holstein Friesian cows and growing 120 acres of cereals. My mother had taken over the management of the farm in the 1970’s after my father had had a serious head injury - juggling a full-time job outside of the farm as well as bringing up two children. After leaving school, I had led a fairly nomadic work...

The livestock industry in particular beef and dairy production is under a substantial pressure to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The main GHG responsible for this is methane emissions from rumen fermentation of feed. Methane emissions from agriculture is a highly potent greenhouse gas (GHG) estimated to be 27.2 times higher than that of CO2 (IPCC, 2021). Based on a recently relea...

Introduction The UK Dairy Industry, like other livestock sectors, faces pressures from increasing global demand, negative publicity about animal production, competition for land to grow animal feed versus human food, rising input costs, and concerns about environmental emissions. To address these issues, producers should aim to make more efficient use of resources, which calls for an increase in ...

As a breeding company CRV wants to gain insight into the differences between animals and rations. With the knowledge from our studies, new solutions are developed that enable livestock farmers to improve feed efficiency of the herd and control methane emissions. An important starting point here is the efficient use of feed, or feed efficiency. This can save an average of 10% on feed costs. Feed c...

Background My family and I farm just under 150 acres in Holywell, Flintshire where we milk over 100 spring calving herd of Black and White cows along with 80 followers. We aim to calve as many within 9 weeks from the 1st of March to the beginning of May, with empty cows culled or carried over and sold as fresh calvers in Mold market during the late summer months. In the past we have operated an ...

In 2019 Walford college merged with Hereford and Ludlow colleges to make North Shropshire college. In the same year Tom Moore became farm manager and was given the clear instructions the farm needed to be promoting best practice, high animal welfare and to break even financially. Tom didn’t feel that breaking even was best practice so set his sights on making the college farm as profitable as poss...