Animal Nutrition

The development of a forage network which will recommend a pathway to gaining optimum benefits from forages through realistic actions​. This project, which runs from September 2023 for 6 months, will: Bring together a network of stakeholders to understand the best approach for improving forage systems, considering potential opportunities and barriers to uptake​ Create a roadmap, which can be used to achieve benefits for livestock sectors through changes in forage systems​

GrassCheckGB is a grass monitoring project involving 50 dairy, beef and sheep farms.   Growth and quality data is published weekly throughout the growing season

An ongoing Innovative Farmers field lab is looking into the impact of mob grazing on soil, biodiversity and animal health.

This report aims to explore N cycling in livestock production systems, highlighting the roles of different forms of N, particularly its vital role in protein production, and where losses occur from the cycle.

Though peas and beans have long been a trusted part of cropping rotations, it is perhaps only recently that the scope and value of their potential is being realised.

At Teagasc Athenry, researchers have been investigating the use of mixed swards in pasture-based sheep production systems. The results suggest increased diversity may be beneficial for animal performance.

  NSA is proud to present its inaugural Sheep Farmers’ Conference – an important addition to the biennial NSA calendar offering a packed day of high level presentations, optional workshops and networking opportunities.

From identifying lesions to treatment and nutrition, our information and resources can help you to manage all aspects of lameness.

Find out how a strategic approach to feeding and weaning can help get the most out of your dairy-beef genetics.

Four farmers, who are working with ADAS in an Innovative Farmers field lab, have found grazing ewes on herbal leys containing the legume can even have a positive effect on pregnancy rates.

This guide collates the available knowledge and numbers on forage utilisation and feeding.

There are two main challenges for the lamb sector; the first is to maintain the production of high-quality meat and the second is to ensure sheep farming is financially viable.

Driving feed efficiency is crucial in all beef growing and finishing systems. 

Get the most you can from grazed grass and silages.

Grass grown for silage has different needs to grass grown solely for grazing.

As part of the NCS project, McArthur Agriculture have started to carry out trials in dehulling and roasting beans to start testing for different outcomes.

Managing ewes correctly throughout the year is vital for generating the highest possible output from any sheep enterprise.

Brassica crops such as kale, forage rape, grazing turnips, stubble turnips, swedes and new rape/kale hybrids, can provide nutritious, cost-effective feeds for beef cattle and sheep.

A well-managed cover crop can conserve and protect the soil, boost productivity, capture nitrogen and phosphorus leftover from a main crop or from fall applied manure, and if harvested in the spring, provide additional forage for dairy cattle and other livestock.

Buying a standing crop of beans and producing 21% protein forage has helped sheep and beef producer, Steven Smith, improve profitability on his Northumberland farm.

The search for a catch crop to fill the gap between lifting carrots in late spring and drilling winter wheat, led a Norfolk farmer to a 19% protein baled haylage from a quick-growing legume.  

Somerset beef and arable producer, Richard Coles, has substantially reduced his costs of production by cutting out expensive, bought-in ingredients and replacing them with home-grown feed, including high protein beans.

UK feeding industries rely heavily on imported soya bean meal (SBM) as the main protein source in monogastric feeds, including for pigs.

This checklist aims to provide a structured approach to assess a calf rearing system.

Nutrient management can often be forgotten on beef and sheep farms, yet there is considerable scope to reduce costs and improve output through the use of home-produced and bought-in nutrients.

Pulse Progress

Combining regenerative farming with a drive for home-grown cattle feed is increasing sustainability and profitability on a challenging, northern farm.

 Sheep and arable farmers lack insight into each other’s work and viewpoint on cover crop.

Technical Guide

Forage first sheep systems seek to optimise lamb production from pasture to minimise costs.

Protein-rich peas and beans are replacing concentrates in the winter ration of sheep and cattle at a Radnorshire farm.

A manual for consultants, vets and producers. 

A Welsh farming family, who grew and crimped peas and beans as part of a government/EU trial, has been able to completely cut out bought-in feed from their cattle rations.

A flowchart on how to assess body condition score in dairy cattle, using the Penn State assessment method.

An innovative approach to growing and preserving peas, beans and lupins has cut out bought-in protein from almost all livestock rations while also meeting greening rules on a Durham farm.

Optimising fertility is critical to the success of any suckler herd.

Use our practical videos of on-farm tasks to help train and refresh staff and boost pig production.

Silvopastoral agroforestry – integrating shelterbelts, hedgerows or in-field trees with grazing livestock – can provide domestic animals with benefits, including shelter and shade, as well as supplementing their diets as tree browse or fodder.

Interested in stockpiling grass for winter? Tall Grass Grazing' webinar with Rib Harvard, farmer and ecologist from Worcestershire.

The national crop area of beans, practices of home feeding, and utilisation within the feed industry in general have increased.

This recording from the Oxford Real Farming Conference is of a discussion between farmers involved in the Innovative Farmers Bale grazing project.

As ewes approach lambing, their requirement for protein increases by almost 50%.

A mixed farming system, based around livestock and cropping, is a fundamental part of organic, agroecological and regenerative farming.

Join us (AHDB), alongside Pasture for Life and Innovative Farmers, for an on-farm discussion covering everything you need to know about bale grazing.

Six Pasture for Life member farms have come together in an Innovative Farmers Field Lab to undertake a four year study to explore the impacts of bale grazing on soil and forage.

Beef cattle in the arable rotation has many benefits to both beef and arable producers. But what are the costs and margins involved?

Dr Emma Davies: IBERS, Aberystwyth University.

The objective of this farmer-led research trial was to investigate a new approach to winter feed provision for livestock that considers the overall health of the farm system, including soil health, biodiversity, animal welfare, farmer welfare and economic sustainability.

This informative and practical event featured Lynn Cassells of Lynbreck Croft, James Reid of Tap o’ Noth Farm, and Dr Lindsay Whistance of the Organic Research Centre, discussing how making hay from trees can be a valuable way to supplement winter forage and support livestock nutrition and welfare.

Nutrient management can often be forgotten on beef and sheep farms, yet there is considerable scope to reduce costs and improve output through the use of home-produced and bought-in nutrients.

NSA considers what makes a successful lambing, how to mitigate risk and what to do if things start to go wrong.