Sheep

The Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) group is encouraging sheep farmers to use the monitoring of ewe body condition score as a practical step to significantly reduce how many doses of wormer are administered this lambing season.

Having found a shared ambition for farming when they met on a dating app, Abbie Bryant and Andy Moye are coming to the end of their first year as full-time farmers – and it’s been a challenging introduction to say the least.

An uproar among both farmers and farming organisations followed Aldi’s decision to abandon its longstanding pledge to only stock meat reared on British farms, with the consensus being the move couldn’t have come at a worse time for lamb producers.

The value of UK red meat exports has reached record levels in 2022, amounting to a staggering £1.7 billion, partly due to the rising prices of meat throughout last year.

Breeders of pedigree terminal sires are being encouraged to nominate their rams to join RamCompare for the 2023 breeding season, with successful applicants benefitting from integrated data from a wider range of sources.

AHDB has produced its latest Agri-market Outlook, which explores the factors likely to affect farm businesses.

As forecast, cases of disease due to liver fluke have remained relatively low so far this winter however, there are reports of both acute and chronic disease in some areas of the UK.

A funded yearly vet visit is now available to farmers under the government’s Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.

Hugh Black, a farmer from Forfar, has maintained profitability and improved soil health after introducing sheep to his arable rotation.

Following reports of low early scanning rates due to grass shortages, farmers are advised to ramp up on ewe nutrition to ensure lambing percentages are retained.

As weather patterns become increasingly extreme and unpredictable, input costs continue to rise, and farmers face ongoing pressure to reduce environmental impacts, approaches to managing parasites and disease will need to adapt. Livestock editor Sarah Kidby reports.

Lambs require adequate amounts of high quality colostrum for short and long-term health. Here’s how to supplement when quality and quantity fall short to keep lambs healthy.