Exiting the European Union and the Common Agricultural Policy has sweeping implications for UK farming. UK farming is a vital part of the national economy, contributing in excess of £24 billion of revenues and around £8.5 billion of Gross Value Added to the UK economy in 2015. It also accounts for over 500,000 jobs (source NFU, Development Economics, February 2017). It is also responsible for the management of our farmed countryside which makes up around 70% of the total UK land mass.

The Shropshire-based dairy herd belonging to Tim and Louise Downes has been awarded the 2017 HerdWise Best Practice award for Johne’s Control. Runners up were Andrew Harrison and Vicky Harrison-King for ACF Drax, from Millers Dairy at Wareham in Dorset.

A new industry-wide Dairy Antimicrobial Stewardship Group has been launched to create and implement a strategy delivering on a range of antibiotic-use targets due to be announced in October. 

A new YouGov survey commissioned by the RABDF suggests that only 4% of UK adults would consider all key aspects of working on dairy farms personally acceptable, casting doubt on whether future restrictions on accessing labour from the EU can be solved by recruiting from the domestic workforce. 

This month 2016 NMR/RABDF Gold Cup winner Simon Bugler from Dorset reports on the latest news from Pilsdon Dairy Farm and assesses the herd breeding policy