Managing nutrition carefully is vital this year and all farmers are advised to have their silage analysed earl. 

Concerns raised after difficult start to 2015

Crofters and farmers in the north of Scotland are being advised to prepare for Spring in case of poor weather conditions.  

SRUC say that cattle health and nutrition and silage quality and quantity are all key concerns for farmers after a difficult spring and summer in the highlands and islands.

Senior beef specialist Gavin Hill explains: "Turn out at our recent meetings was exceptionally high which reflects the level of concern that farmers have this year for their livestock and their silage stocks.

"Last winter will have been expensive for many with cattle housed for seven to eight months and any surplus forage used up. The great unknown is when spring 2016 will come; we are advising farmers to store up feed now because if another poor spring occurs feed and forage will be short in supply.”

During the first half of 2015, farmers in the north and on the islands experienced very high rainfall and little in the way on sunshine. 

SRUC say that the conditions are likely to have serous knock on effects - one of which is the probability of low quantities of low quality silage. For this reason, managing nutrition carefully is vital this year and all farmers are advised to have their silage analysed early so that they can plan ahead for supplementary feeding.

Gavin adds: “While the silage might look OK, results so far have shown that it can be low in protein, energy or even contaminated with soil due to harvesting in wet conditions. It is too late to discover at Christmas time that cows are too thin, spring calving cows should be in good condition by New Year so it is better to supplement with draff or concentrate feeding from the start of the winter if silage is poor quality.”

Farmers are also being urged to scan their cows early to see which ones are pregnant so that they can decide whether to sell empty cows. Some farms have reported that twin pregnancies are becoming more common, so identifying those will be important too as they need to be well fed.

Gavin says: “We could be faced with another expensive winter so farms do not want to be carrying passengers. Where forage stocks are low careful calculations need to be undertaken to look at the costs of feeding store cattle which will allow decisions to be taken regarding selling or keeping stock."

Due to the wet weather, farmers have also raised concerns about cattle lameness. SRUC advise farmers to not only look at those already showing signs of lameness, but to check all cattle and assess their movement.

Local vets are also encouraged to blood sample a random selection of cows to make sure that everything is okay, especially as the quality of forage may be poorer than usual.