English These resources look at how changes in management practices can reduce inputs and lower your running costs. The focus of Part 2 will be on how management and switching to resilient breeds can lower antibiotic and anthelmintic usage and reduce your medical vet bills.
Livestock on diverse leys: a return to the past for a promising future – ORC Bulletin article
Organic farms have long used grass and herb leys in arable rotations to help restore soil structure and fertility after cropping. The main drawback of a ley for an arable farmer is the perceived loss of productivity and lack of income from a crop. For organic farmers, the return in terms of soil fertility and capacity for weed control outweighs this, but for other farmers it is seen as cheaper and easier to return nutrients using organic or mineral fertilisers and to control weeds with herbicides. Moving towards a more diverse mix of grasses and herbs and using the ley to keep livestock (getting a ‘crop’ from the ley years too), could make leys a more beneficial option for livestock and arable farmers alike. This ORC Bulletin article reports on farmers that have been combining diverse leys with livestock and some of the pros and cons of this practice revealed as part of the DiverIMPACTS project.
Herbal Leys – article
The article outlines the ease of establishing herbal leys, and suggests that despite being initially more expensive to establish than ryegrass/clover leys, the long term benefits outweigh the initial outlay.
Manifold green manures – Part I: Sainfoin and birdsfoot trefoil – The Organic Grower article
This is part one of a series of articles published in The Organic Grower that focus on some of the less frequently used legume species trialed in the Legume LINK project. These species can be included in fertility-building mixes to make them more suited to specific soil, climate and management conditions. This article gives detailed information based on relevant literature and how the species were found to perform during the project.
Cotswold Seeds First Hand: Sainfoin with Dr Lydia Smith at NIAB – great video!
“A lot of the work we do at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany and Innovation Farm is about understanding and improving the genetics of different plant varieties to improve crops. We have four goals – food security, climate change, sustainability in use of resources and health, and nutrition for humans and animals.”
Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) website
SCOPS is an industry led group that works in the interest of the UK sheep industry. It recognises that, left unchecked, anthelmintic resistance is one of the biggest challenges to the future health and profitability of the sector.
LowInputBreeds Project Home Page
Development of integrated livestock breeding and management strategies to improve animal health, product quality and performance in European organic and ‘low input’ milk, meat and egg production was a 5-year (2009-2014) EU Collaborative Project, funded under the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities.
Ian Wilkinson farmer profile
Cotswold Seeds purchased the farm in 2013 with aim of developing it as a centre for farming diversity, demonstrating how small family farms can use sustainable farming practices whilst maintaining a respectable income. The single most important factor in achieving this goal is improving and maintaining soil quality.
Sainfoin – guide
Sainfoin is a legume that can be grown as a perennial ley used for livestock feed, is resistant to many common pests and diseases, and has beneficial nutraceutical, anti-bloating and anti-parasitic properties.
This guide is an output from the EU-funded project LegumePlus that investigated the benefits of growing sainfoin and other forage legumes to help improve protein utilisation in ruminants, combat parastic nematodes and aid nitrogen fixation.
Homeopathy at Wellie Level – Website
Homeopathy At Wellie Level is a non-profit organisation run by veterinary surgeons and homeopaths, who teach the responsible use of farm homeopathy. Our farmers tells us that it helps them in the following ways:
Reduce antibiotic use on the farm
Improve overall farm health and welfare
Reduce animal stress
Reduce their veterinary bills
Help clean up the food chain
Treat their animals quickly and efficiently
Improve the quality of their produce
Help towards organic certification
Low-input antibiotic strategies: improving animal health & welfare SOLID Farmer Handbook: Technical Note 7
With a focus on animal health, low-input farming systems aim to mitigate the use of antibiotics. The focus is on using various strategies to promote health and prevent diseases from taking hold, and a cautious and targeted use of antibiotics. This technical note produced as part of the SOLID project gives three examples of approaches to improving the herd. It summarises the results of three small projects involving farmers working closely with researchers on using herbs in grass – for grazing, hay or silage (Denmark); improving animal and herd health in a discussion group (UK), and on improving udder health through the use of a mint-oil ointment (UK).
The Five Point Plan for tackling sheep lameness
Lameness is a major animal welfare issue in the sheep sector (costing the industry £24 million). The most common causes of lameness are the infectious bacterial diseases footrot and scald. This webpage of The Sheep Site hosts information on the ‘Five Point Plan for tackling sheep lameness’; a collaborative initiative led by scientists, consultants and producers at FAI Farms that advocates a management programme proven to control lameness in sheep.
David Finlay farmer profile
We have 100 crossbred dairy cows (Swedish Red x Montbeliard x Holstein) producing 6650l (4.5%Bf, 3.4% Pr. sold to OMSCo) from 1.2t purchased feeds plus home-grown forage. All calves are kept and finished or kept/sold as breeding heifers. Cast cows are made into burgers and sold at our visitor centre.
The herd is a closed herd with all breeding done using DIY AI. We are free from BVD, IBR, Lepto, TB, Johnnes and digital dermatitis. Most cases of mastitis are treated with udder mint with less than 10 cows a year treated with antibiotics. Cows are dried off using teat sealant with only one or two given antibiotic dry cow therapy. Cell counts average under 120 thousand. Mortality rate is under 2%. Replacement rate is 15%.
There is no such word as ‘can’t’ – experiences of transitioning to an antibiotic-free farm – blog post
We enjoy being proactive about the future at Wicton Farm and becoming antibiotic-free proved to be not as difficult as we first thought. Over the last few years our antibiotic usage had naturally declined via the introduction of deep bed sand cubicles, more cow space for feed and water, improved grazing access with concrete sleeper tracks, clean water troughs and an increasing attention to preventative hygiene. With a new parlour installed we made the decision to conduct a 12 month trial of going completely antibiotic-free to see what challenges we faced and if we could overcome them. Our first priority was to make sure our young stock got off to the best start possible and we focused on getting this right first.
Christine Gosling farmer profile
Berkeley Farm Dairy began in 1908 with my husband Nick’s grandfather delivering milk from his dairy herd by horse and cart to customers in Wroughton and Swindon. The farm is now fourth generation, with our son Edward as farm manager. We have 120 Guernsey cows and process our own milk. We supply Abel & Cole (an organic box delivery service), Neal’s Yard Dairy, and local shops and restaurants with milk, cream and butter.
Whole Health Agriculture website
WHAg is an inclusive community of farmers, health professionals and citizens, dedicated to supporting and promoting those who farm for health and vitality.
We believe that true health is dependent on the health of the food that we eat, which is in itself linked to the sustainable health of the whole farm.
Tim Downes farmer profile
I run the family farm, near Shrewsbury in Shropshire, in partnership with my wife Louise and my parents John and Chris. It has been organic since 2000. At present we milk 300 cows, but we are aiming to have about 500. We aim to have 2 dairy herdsmen managing 250 cows 18 miles apart and grazing based spring block calving units. We rear about 80 heifers and finish 150 mostly Aberdeen-Angus cross beef cattle per year.
Towards farmer principles of health – guide
The four principles of organic agriculture, as laid down by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, are not so well known among farmers or scientists, and the understanding and interpretation of these principles can often be vague. One of the aims of the HealthNetworks project, which was conducted from 2015-2016 under the leadership of the Organic Research Centre, was to identify which principles farmers have developed that make them successful in developing healthy farming systems; the personal philosophies and visions of best practice farmers follow to improve the health of soils, plants, animals and humans. This booklet details the results, grouping the principles into ten statements.
Farm & Vet Hub
This website is about antibiotics & UK farming, providing news, facts, statistics, science and links to industry and government reports.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – and more particularly, antibiotic resistance – is one of the greatest threats to human health globally. Experts predict that without policies in place to reduce antimicrobial use, resistance could be responsible for 10 million deaths each year globally by 2050.
Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture (RUMA) Alliance website
RUMA was established in November 1997 to promote the highest standards of food safety, animal health and animal welfare in the British livestock industry.
It is a unique, independent non-profit group involving organisations that represent all stages of the food chain from ‘farm to fork’. This reflects the importance of traceability, transparency and accountability at all stages in the chain: from primary food production, through processing, manufacturing and retailing to the final consumer. Its membership includes organisations operating in agriculture, veterinary practice, animal medicines, farm assurance, training, retail and animal welfare.
