Dry and early lactation cows fed maize and wholecrop-based diets could benefit from greater supplementation with the antioxidants vitamin E and beta carotene, according to new UK farm survey results presented today at Dairy-Tech Online (Wednesday 10 February).

The survey, which identified widespread deficiency, involved 150 cows across 10 farms in the South West of England and was undertaken by Molecare Farm Vets, in partnership with DSM.

A UK-grown sustainable feed that can replace soya in dairy cow rations has scooped this year’s Royal Dairy Innovation Award at Dairy-Tech Online today (Wednesday 10 February).

NovaPro from Trident Feeds is a high energy rumen-protected protein made from UK rapeseed. With proven performance benefits including improved intakes and milk yield, it can also provide a cost-effective alternative to soya.

Farmers should prepare for significant changes when it comes to ammonia emissions after Farming Minister Victoria Prentis announced plans to impose regulated environmental permitting.

Speaking at Dairy-Tech Online last week (4 February), Ms Prentis said as part of the Clean Air Strategy the Government is planning to extend environmental permitting to dairy and intensive beef farms.

Milking robots can help dairy farmers increase efficiency, ease staffing issues, and improve public perception of milking cows, delegates heard at this year’s Dairy-Tech Online.

Speaking during the Robotic Milking session on Thursday (5 February), NMR/RABDF Gold Cup Winner Robert Sloane from Ayrshire, said this past year had been the most important for having milking robots.

A new statutory Code of Conduct will be developed for the dairy sector to increase fairness in the supply chain and help farmers become more competitive, Farming Minister Victoria Prentis announced today (Wednesday 3 February).

Registrations for Dairy-Tech Online have rocketed reaching almost 2,500, with one week still left to sign-up for the free fortnight-long event.

Capacity on Zoom has been increased for each of the sessions due to the number of registrations, with delegates urged to secure their place by signing up.

Farmers are being reminded to issue their staff with a Key Worker Travel Pass with tougher measures being taken by the police to clamp down on those breaking Tier 4 Coronavirus restrictions.

In a bid to get the virus under control, more reports have been filtering through on social media of police stopping drivers to check the validity of their journey. When a journey is proved to be non-essential a fixed penalty notice could be issued.