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Great Britain milking herd sees further decline

Written by Michelle Martin from Agriland

Great Britain’s milking herd totalled 1.67 million head as of October 1, 2021, a decrease of 1.7% compared to October 2020, according to recent analysis by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

In October 2020, Great Britain’s milking herd totalled 1.96 million. This continues the long-term decline in the national herd which is seen annually – with the exception of a small uptick between July and October, the AHDB note.

The AHDB is a statutory levy board, funded by farmers, growers and others in the supply chain. It provides market information with the aim of making Great Britain’s livestock, dairy and agriculture sectors more successful.

In contrast, youngstock numbers have been growing since January 2020. October youngstock numbers this year were 5.3% (47k head) above those a year ago.

According to AHDB analysis, the increasing youngstock figures offer an opportunity for the dairy herd to increase as the young animals grow up and enter the milking herd.

However, it is noted that there are also other factors that contribute to the status quo of the long-term decline, i.e. margin, like higher prices having to compete with increasing costs.

The post Great Britain milking herd sees further decline appeared first on Agriland.co.uk.

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Webinar: Expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer 2024 -26th Sept

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On Thursday 26th September, we’re holding a webinar for farmers to go through the guidance, actions and detail for the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer. This was planned for end of May, but had to be delayed due to the general election. We apologise about that.

Farming and Countryside Programme Director, Janet Hughes will be joined by policy leads working on SFI, and colleagues from the Rural Payment Agency and Catchment Sensitive Farming.

This webinar will be...
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