Publications

As drought conditions become more frequent and unpredictable across the UK, water security is rising up the agenda for farmers. Ensuring access to reliable water supplies is becoming increasingly important, not only for maintaining crop yields and livestock welfare, but also for safeguarding the long-term sustainability and resilience of agricultural businesses in the face of climate change.

As drought conditions become more frequent and unpredictable across the UK, water security is rising up the agenda for farmers. Ensuring access to reliable water supplies is becoming increasingly important, not only for maintaining crop yields and livestock welfare, but also for safeguarding the long-term sustainability and resilience of agricultural businesses in the face of climate change.

This Dairy Insight focuses on the best practice use of boot dips for effective biosecurity for animal health and business resilience.

Rodents can be a serious problem on farm. They can spread disease to both humans and livestock, damage buildings, as well as consume and contaminate feed, causing financial losses. Good control is essential to reduce these risks.

This Dairy Insight focuses on best practice and regulations for the safe and secure storage and handling of fertilisers on farm, helping to protect your personal safety, ensure health and safety in the workplace, and prevent theft.

This workbook brings together the technical concepts introduced in the following insight publications: • Boost Your Soil's Power: Understanding Cation Exchange Capacity. • Beyond pH: The Role of Base Saturation in Soil Health Cation Exchange • Soil pH and Liming – it's not all about Calcium! and provides a practical guide to choosing the right liming product and applying it at the correct rate for your soil.

Recognising the connection between soil, crops, and animals is essential for achieving successful and sustainable agriculture. This Dairy Insight explores the parameters of the Broad Spectrum Soil Health Analysis and provides information on interpreting the results of this analysis.

Soil is the most valuable resource on your farm. However, it's often overlooked and underappreciated. By taking the time to better understand your soil, you can adjust your management practices and enjoy the benefits of more productive land. This not only benefits the environment by reducing runoff and nutrient leaching, but it also improves the efficiency and effectiveness of your farm. Healthy soil is characterised by vibrant microbiological activity, having a good physical structure and by being well balanced in nutrients. This Dairy Insight introduces you to nutrient availability and cation exchange capacity and how it impacts your soil health.

The Environment Agency (EA) is continuing to ramp up on-farm visits following a drive to recruit new inspectors, leading many farmers to confront the consequences of non-compliance. While the repercussions are typically not punitive, the required actions to meet regulatory standards can be extensive. This Dairy Insight explores the proactive measures farmers can take in readiness for impending EA inspections to facilitate both environmental stewardship and business viability.

Have you ever considered the impact of forage quality or compound feed on the overall carbon footprint per kg FPCM (Fat and Protein Corrected Milk)? It may be larger than you first thought and the effects on footprint can be almost immediate, so this is one area to review straight away in order to quickly decrease your carbon footprint per kg FPCM. This Dairy Insight explores how you might achieve this.

In the UK, agriculture is responsible for an estimated 11% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 58% of which comes from methane. Enteric fermentation from ruminant livestock is the most significant source of these methane emissions. The use of methane inhibitors in the ration can also have a significant impact on methane production. This Research Insight explores a field study conducted by Mootral in collaboration with Kingshay, to explore the impact of feeding Mootral Ruminant on commercial dairy farms.

Dung beetles could be saving the UK cattle industry around £367 million per year and protecting them on your farm could save you another £4.36 per cow. This insight explores why dung beetles are in decline, how to survey for them and how to increase dung beetles on your grassland.