Sheep

An Innovative Farmers Field Lab with four sheepers farmers working with ADAS has shown that long-held fears of red clover in herbal leys affecting fertility in sheep are unfounded, with the findings that inclusion of the legume can even have a positive effect on pregnancy rates.

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

This Field Lab explores the impact of grazing sheep on over-winter cover crops on soil properties, crop performance and the management of livestock within an arable rotation.

Grazing livestock on large extensive grasslands can pose many problems such as difficulties in gathering, grazing management and an increased chance of theft. Some welsh sheep farmers are taking part in a project using tracking technology to help face such challenges. 

A group of farmers from the Powys are undertaking this project to determine the prevalence and sources of the parasite on their farms. They hope to increase their understanding of the pathways by which it is transmitted among sheep and also identify measures they can take to control and prevent the disease in sheep.

Grazing winter cereal crops - otherwise known as the golden hoof - is a method where sheep graze down cereal crops for short periods of time during tillering, providing the benefit of reducing fungicide use, removing diseased crops and increasing the soil organic matter.

There are only two types of treatment for sheep scab – organophosphate (OP) plunge dips (containing diazinon) and endectocides (injectable group 3-ML). 

Chaired by Peter Myles, NSA Scottish Region, join experts Matt Colston (vet), Beth Wells (Moredun) and Simon Thorp (Bracken Control Group) for an evening webinar on reducing the risks of ticks and louping ill in your flock.

The livestock industry is often scrutinised for its carbon footprint even though many farmers are actively working to reduce emissions and farm in the most sustainable manner. Despite this, more can always be done. CIEL’s Net Zero & Livestock: How Farmers can reduce emissions report launched in 2022 provides sheep farmers with practical tips to help reduce emissions on-farm, which we list in the blog below:

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.

Sheep scab is an acute or chronic form of allergic dermatitis caused by the faeces of sheep scab mites (Psoroptes ovis).

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.

It is impossible to be certain if a sheep has sheep scab without a diagnosis.

Learn about the benefits of livestock in the arable rotation. See our information on forage crops, cover crops, outdoor pigs, farmyard manure and more.

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

 Resistance in scab mites to the injectables has been confirmed in the UK, which means we need to be increasingly careful about how we use both treatment choices.

The aim of this guide is to aid decision making for livestock producers who are looking to outwinter stock and what systems may best suit their farm.

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.

Get the most you can from grazed grass and silages.

As the UK sheep industry has become more reliant on pastures grazed only by sheep, dependence on anthelmintics (wormers) has increased.

Grass is an important crop and grazed grass is the cheapest feed on farm, yet it rarely earns the respect it deserves as a potentially high-quality, natural ruminant feed.

Lameness is a serious cost to the sheep industry.

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.

The condition of soil on livestock farms directly influences the yield and quality of grass and forage crops, animal performance and profitability.

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.

There is more data being collected on sheep farms than ever before, but we need to make sure it is being used effectively.

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.

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

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

A manual for consultants, vets and producers. 

We are pleased to announce a final LEAP conference on 16 April 2024 at Lady Margaret Hall. Registration is now open.

This booklet provides an accurate, easy-to-use reference guide on all available anti-parasitic products in their various chemical groups and summarises the parasites they have been licensed to control.  

Can we breed resilient lambs that tackle worms naturally without impacting their growth rate? Find out more from the latest on-farm trial.

This manual aims to help you understand the issues that could improve your breeding ewes, and the overall financial performance of your sheep system.

Improving animal performance and reducing physical losses are key to ensuring sheep farming is profitable.

With increasingly tight financial margins in beef and sheep production , minimising the losses of saleable meat and offal is important for the whole supply chain. 

Diseases in sheep and cattle have made the headlines many times over the last few years.

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.

The way for sheep producers to maximise returns is to produce and sell the type of sheep buyers really want and are willing to pay for.

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%.

The forecast predicts the hatch date for nematodirus based on temperature data from 140 weather stations throughout the UK and should be used in combination with your grazing history (more below) to assess the risk of nematodirus infection in your lambs.

NSA Scotsheep is a biennial event organised by NSA Scotland and will be the most important specialist event in the calendar for sheep producers in Scotland and North of England in 2024.

Find out how the five-point plan can help to reduce the number of new clinical cases of lameness.  

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.

Dr Emma Davies: IBERS, Aberystwyth University.

An online tool to help dairy, beef and sheep producers monitor and compare medicine use and tackle the threat of antimicrobial resistance.

NSA Sheep Event is a biennial one-day show held at the Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire. It is the flagship event of the National Sheep Association, complemented by a series of regional events held within a two-year calendar.

Join us to hear from a panel of experts who will provide an update on bluetongue and the current BTV-3 strain that has been confirmed in cases in cows and sheep in Kent and Norfolk.

At this event, we (AHDB) will introduce the value of genomics (the study of genes) and explain how important it is for future ram breeding decisions. We will help you to understand how to use performance traits to benefit your pedigree flock or your commercial lamb enterprise.

Specifically designed for beef and sheep enterprises, this cash flow spreadsheet will help you quickly see when money is coming into and out of your business and where it’s coming from and going to.

The ability of an animal to be resilient to diseases is dependent upon several factors which include; immune status, husbandry practises, vaccination, genetics among others.

In partnership with The Andersons Centre, AHDB have published an update to The Characteristics of Top-Performing Farms in the UK, a piece of work which remains popular with farmers.

Learn about progress with the development of a new BTV-3 vaccine with veterinary vaccine consultant Professor Andy Peters and AHDB's Head of Animal Health and Welfare, Dr Mandy Nevel.

As part of Countryside COP, NSA hosted a webinar on Wednesday 22nd November at 7pm to talk about the use of genetics to tackle methane emissions on sheep farms.

This manual gives advice to producers on buying a recorded ram.  

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