QUALITY Meat Scotland (QMS) has developed two new resources for cattle farmers – a cow nutrition timeline poster and ‘A guide to improving suckler herd fertility’.
Following on from the hugely popular ewe nutrition timeline poster, which QMS launched in 2015, the new cow nutrition timeline poster highlights target body condition scores throughout the year for spring-calving suckler cows.
It also identifies the periods of high nutritional demand (calving and peak lactation) and low nutritional demand (mid-pregnancy dry period) and emphasises the value in matching nutritional demand with grass supply to help keep costs low.
‘A guide to improving suckler herd fertility’ has been produced to help farmers assess their herds’ performance and identify areas for improvement. The guide contains several case studies and suggestions to help farmers boost the fertility of their herds and ultimately the bottom line of their businesses.
The new guide includes practical steps farmers can take to boost the productivity of their herds.
The topics covered include: the management of bulling heifers; targeting cow condition throughout the year; avoiding difficult calvings; careful bull selection and management and maintaining good herd health status. All of these can have an important influence on overall herd fertility.
Both resources are available on request from Quality Meat Scotland by emailing info@qmscotland.co.uk or phoning 0131 472 4040 and can also be downloaded from the QMS website: www.qmscotland.co.uk.