Livestock News

UK sheep meat production is forecast to grow by 2% in 2025, however, the lamb crop for 2025/26 is predicted to fall by 2% compared to the previous year. 

Wiltshire Rural Crime Team has issued a plea for dog owners after a sheep was bitten by a dog and another ewe aborted her lambs. 

A dairy farmer managing a chronic bovine TB breakdown has eliminated a major disease threat to his herd by no longer buying in cattle. 

The Williams family have been farming in South Wales since 1940, and credit keeping a closed herd with managing to keep the bloodline going without breaks.

Sticking to a traditional May cutting date for making first-cut grass silage could be putting winter milk yield at risk, a silage specialist is suggesting. 

A Suffolk farmer has been ordered to pay £27,000 after he left dozens of dead sheep on his land for weeks. 

Defra has issued a statement in regard to an “inaccurate media coverage” of foot and mouth disease (FMD) controls with reports that it took six or seven days to implement Defra’s restrictions on German imports.

A recent survey of over 100 sheep producers has highlighted that 58% of respondents will consider feeding milk replacer cold to surplus lambs this season and view the method as a viable alternative to feeding warm milk during the busy lambing period.

In response to increased findings of highly pathogenic bird flu in wild birds as well as new cases in poultry and kept birds, coupled with heightened risk levels, the avian influenza housing measures are being extended to mitigate the risk of further outbreaks of the disease.

NFU Scotland has condemned the ‘illegal release’ of feral pigs in the Cairngorms, raising concerns over ASF and foot and mouth.

Defra has been requested to provide a timeline of response to the report of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Germany. The Efra committee heard in evidence that a government IT system took six to seven days to implement Defra’s restrictions on German imports.

A case of bluetongue serotype 12 was confirmed in England in a single cow in the restricted zone in Kent. This is the first time the serotype has been detected in the UK.