Owen Farm Services Update – What’s Happening In June

IACS

After much preparation and finalisation, the team at Owen Farm Services have managed to submit all of our client’s IACS applications successfully and ahead of the deadline. Work has already begun for preparation towards the 2022 deadline. It is never too early to think about IACS, so please feel to get in touch with our team to see how we can help, especially if you are planning any alterations.

Agri Ignite Software

Many farmers have encountered our Agri Ignite software while confirming their IACS this year.
What is Agri Ignite? It’s software that will integrate your farm’s finances, livestock movements, medicine records, IACS requirements, carbon audits, benchmarking and more in one place. Agri Ignite is different from other farm software as your agricultural consultant can also see the data in real time. This provides better more informed advice which can improve the business’ efficiency. The software and app has been specially designed with farmers in mind and is constantly evolving to ensure all are able to use and understand the platform.

Agri-Environmental Climate Scheme Fund

This Government Scheme is about the protection and enhancement of Scotland’s famous natural heritage, water quality improvements, flood risk management and the mitigation and adaption to climate change.
The scheme is open to farmers, groups of farmers and other land managers with land in Scotland and who are registered with a Business Reference Number.
The Agri-Environment Climate Scheme is open for applications in 2021, however in a limited form. Options to support environmental land management are limited to areas that have a protected status. This includes sites such as Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or Special Protected Areas (SPA). This includes farms working with a recognised Vulnerable Priority Bird species such as waders, corncrakes and corn buntings. Funding for Organic farming is available throughout the country. Slurry storage eligibility is dependent on where your farm is located.

Due to the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme being geographically targeted and available in a limited form, this means you will need to check what options are available in your area before applying. Please contact us if you would like help to understand what you may be eligible for.
AECS application closing date is on the 30th of June 2021.
For further guidance, please refer to: https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/agri-environment-climate-scheme/

Soil Sampling

Weather allowing, first and second cuts of silage are now being taken off fields. Straight after this harvest is the optimal time to soil sample. Having your land sampled is a great way to identify the nutrients in your fields. This means you can adjust your fertilisers accordingly to the lab results ultimately improving crop development and increasing yield. We have a fully kitted out vehicle made specifically for this job available across the county. If you are interested in having your ground analysed or would like more information please get in touch with us as soon as possible to book this service.

Locomotion Score

At Owen Farm Services we don’t just help with paperwork. We provide a range of on farm services, including locomotion scoring.
Within the UK, the cattle industry has adopted the mobility scoring system produced by DairyCo for classifying lameness on farm. This mobility scoring allows for the identification of those cows that would benefit from treatment. The aim of this lameness score is to differentiate cows in a herd in accordance to the level of pain endured. For most cattle it is their hind feet that are most likely to become lame, however this does not mean that the front feet will be dismissed- all feet should be examined if observed to be lame.

When examining a healthy cow, the animal should be walking with a straight flat back and be weight bearing evenly on all four limbs. The animals’ hind limbs should be tracking up fully when walking, this means that they should be placed where the front limbs left off. Indicators that something is wrong would be

reduced weight given on any limbs
strides that appear to be shortened when walking
the animal is struggling to keep pace with the rest of the herd

Locomotion scoring can help farmers to identify early, any health issues within their livestock. The scores provide benchmark figures of performance and allow farmers to track the herd over time to manage their care. Once this has been done, our team can provide you with feedback and can help input this data onto our online system (Agri Ignite) if required so that changes over time can be viewed.