The 1st January 2015 is moving ever closer. If you need a concise reminder of the changes to the sheep identification and recording rules for England, have a look at this leaflet from South Western who manage the ARAMS database for DEFRA. … Continue reading →
Electronic identification for the UK sheep industry is here to stay. There are signs that farmers are starting to investigate how they can use this technology to their advantage, but they need help to make the right decisions for their … Continue reading →
Electronic Identification (EID) for farm livestock has been around for a long time, mainly used by pedigree livestock farmers. Many commercial livestock producers have held a negative view of EID, because of the extra cost of the tags (and perceived … Continue reading →
Even though “superfast” broadband is gradually being rolled out across the UK, it’ll be a while before it reaches many rural areas. So it’s still worth putting in a little effort to try and get close to the maximum possible … Continue reading →
The task of regular dairy herd mobility scoring is not only a requirement of farm assurance schemes but it also offers management benefits – the process can help to spot cows at earlier stage of the disease. This blog offers … Continue reading →
If you think precision farming (whether livestock or arable) is just a bunch gadgets and gizzmos, think again. Precision arable techniques, such as variable rate application of crop inputs, are now generally accepted as mainstream and are proven to enhance … Continue reading →
There are plenty of case studies in the farming press about the benefits of heat detection systems in dairy herd management. The benefits now seem to be proven beyond all doubt. Not just the dairy herd, progressive beef suckler herds wishing … Continue reading →
Years ago when dairy farms tended to be smaller in size, farmers knew their cows more as individuals and could therefore adjust management to get the best from each animal. Over the years, herd sizes have increased resulting in more … Continue reading →
If you have larger batches of cattle coming onto your farm, you’ll need to record information like: Official ID number, date of birth, breed, sex “On” movement date (and report this to the BCMS Cattle Tracing System) That amounts to … Continue reading →
With the increasing popularity of Android devices in the form of smartphones and tablets, Orchid are pleased to announce the availability of a farm app add-on for the Orchid FarmWizard sheep recording system. The App, which uses a wireless Bluetooth … Continue reading →