News &
Insights

For ewes that are lambing in March or April: During the last 6 – 8 weeks of pregnancy, ewes need to be on a rising plane of nutrition to compensate for the rapid increase in lamb growth, significant reduction in dry matter intake (DMI) and to help to prevent against metabolic disorders, such as twin…

Farmers in the Ballymena and surrounding areas can now avail of a new tag printing service at Connon General Merchants, recently acquired by Fane Valley. Customers are guaranteed a quick turnaround when ordering tags instore following the installation of a modern tag printing laser which lasers tags with a bold, easy to read print. The…

Fane Valley and Francis Connon have confirmed that the Co-op’s agricultural retail business, Fane Valley Stores has acquired Connon General Merchants based near Ballymena, effective from 16th November 2020. Established in 1991, Connon General Merchants is a prominent retailer of animal feed, fertiliser, farm requisites and hardware products serving a wide catchment area in County…

With calving season underway on many farms in Northern Ireland, Dr David Johnston, Ruminant Nutritionist at Fane Valley Feeds, discusses some management tips to enhance calf health and performance during the most critical stages. Colostrum post-calvingIt is vitally important that calves receive 3 litres of high quality colostrum within 4-6 hours of birth either through…

Slurry is a valuable source of nutrients, which when used effectively can reduce your fertiliser bill and help you to grow more quality forage. The increased use of low emission slurry spreading equipment (LESSE) encourages better utilisation of slurry as more nutrients are available to the plant. There are challenges with using such equipment however,…

From this autumn Fane Valley will be offering their new precision soil services. The bespoke service starts with GPS guided soil sampling to ensure accuracy and repeatability of sampling, this data can then be used to develop management zones and plans to drive efficiency on farm.  Soil analysis is a key starting point to growing…

Fane Valley are running a competition to find the best silage in the province this winter. Any farmer who uses Fane Valley to analyse their silage this winter will automatically be entered into the competition to win 250t worth of grass silage additive for next season.  Silage quality is key to good animal performance, reducing…

Choosing varieties with high resistance to Septoria is one of the best agronomic tools to help control disease in crops. Two varieties stand out for their Septoria disease resistance, KWS Extase with a Septoria resistance score of 8.1 and Theodore with a resistance of 8.2 by using either of these varieties it will make it…

Throughout the recent Covid-19 Pandemic, AFBI laboratories have worked tirelessly to ensure that Northern Ireland farmers received a first-class service when it comes to BVD testing. Despite AFBI becoming involved in the testing of Covid-19 samples to help out the National Health Service, farmers sending tissue samples in for testing received their BVD test results…