UK Agriculture four seasons
Daily activities down on the farm
Daily activities
All dairy cows are milked twice daily. Milkings commence at around 5.00am and 3.00pm.
Daily activities
After milking, dairy cows will return to grass in the summer months. Grass supply has to be managed carefully on a daily basis to ensure that shortages do not occur.
Daily activities
In the winter months silage will have to be cut for beef and dairy stock and may be mixed with concentrates. Stock are usually fed twice a day, sufficient that they always have food infront of them.
Daily activities
All animals are checked daily for health and breeding issues and any cows that need attention can be separated from the herd after milking. Here a group of cows are being preganancy diagnosed.
Daily activities
Most dairy cows live indoors during the winter months. Slurry is scraped from the yards at least twice a day and fresh straw or sawdust added to the bedding areas.
Daily activities
Aberdeen Angus cattle getting stuck into some hay. Fresh food will be supplied daily and the water checked.
Daily activities
Muck and slurry can quickly accumulate when animals are winter housed so waste management plans are essential. Mucking out is a daily task that is important to prevent a build up of disease in the shed.
Daily activities
All farmers will check their beef stock daily to ensure that the animals are in good health. The breeding status of animals is checked too so that overall herd fertility is maintained.
Daily activities
Pig enterprises are relatively intensive and all stock will be fed twice a day and checked for any signs of ill health. In outdoor herds the weather will also be taken into account. In summer months pigs can get sunburnt unless they are given shelter.
Daily activities
Pigs produce large quantities of muck and all yards, whether slatted floors or straw based have to be kept clean on a daily basis. All farms have to have several months of reserve capacity for muck and slurry so that pollution cannot occur.
Daily activities
The pig herd breeds around the year and farmers will be watching for animals that are on heat and doing ultrascans to check pregnancies. Any health issues can be identified at feeding time when the animals are distracted!
Daily activities
Ewes in lamb may need supplementary feeding to maintain their condition if the availability of grass is limited by poor weather. Sometimes this can be a purpose made concentrate, otherwise hay or haylage may be fed.
Daily activities
At lambing time a whole range of issues affect the flock. Matters of hygiene, health, feeding and flock organisation will be ongoing for many weeks on a daily basis. Here orphan lambs are fed a milk replacer.
Daily activities
Shepherds check their sheep regulalry to ensure that there are no health issues affecting the animals. Here a ewe is receiving attention for sore feet, a common ailment in sheep.