The UK’s Chief Plant Health Officer Nicola Spence is today (Monday 20 May) urging UK beekeepers and the public to be increasingly vigilant to the presence of Asian hornet and report any sightings as we move into the peak summer season. The Asian hornet is smaller than our native hornet and poses no greater risk to human health than our native wasps and hornets. However, they do pose a risk to honey bees and insect pollinators. Asian hornets are distinctive and can be identified by their very dark body, wide orange stripe on the forth abdomen section and yellow leg ends. Any sightings can be ma ..read more

The Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA), has announced that the online service for dead wild birds has been updated. The updates have been designed to make it easier for the public to report the location of dead wild birds (including being able to drop a pin on a map); report a wider range of wild bird species groups (you can still report even if you don’t know what species group the wild birds you have found are, just select the ‘other wild bird’ category). The APHA maintains that by reporting dead wild birds you are helping it understand the risk to different species groups of wild birds ..read more

Grant Brereton gets realistic about what we can expect when it comes to poultry shows today… The last few years have been absolutely devastating for pure-breed poultry and their keepers. There were a few glimmers of hope of recovery in the early years, before quickly being dashed. One example is the upsurge of poultry keepers during the pandemic, whose enthusiasm was soon shattered when the bird flu ‘flockdown’ rules were imposed; often for months at a time on an annual basis.The result was inevitable… people soon found it too much hassle and further, ‘cruel’ keeping livestock in restricted co ..read more

In an extract from her new book, The Climate Change Resilient Vegetable Garden, Kim Stoddart explains why building confidence and resilience in yourself (and your garden) is key… I’ve been a smallholder in the beautiful wild west of Wales for 14 years, and I have written for The Country Smallholder magazine for many of them, documenting my experiences of adventuring with low cost, more resilient ways of growing food. What started with my adventures attempting to garden entirely for free in The Guardian, has transformed into a mission to help gardeners everywhere become more resilient. I’m now ..read more

David Harwood BVetMed, FRCVS advises how to meet the challenges of the warmer weather when caring for goats. Once they spend their time wandering around in the summer weather, goats tend to look happier and healthier, nevertheless there are a few potential problems we need to look out for. An edible environment It is well recognised that good “stock” fencing or hedgerows will keep most farm stock contained in their paddocks. Goats aren’t typical farm “stock” – they are great escapologists, so your paddocks need to be not only stock proof but also goat proof to prevent them from escaping and en ..read more

Welcome to our Alpaca Special where we focus on this versatile and attractive animal! In this in-depth feature, we look at management, explore the many reasons to keep alpacas and highlight understanding behaviour. You’ve looked at them over the fence, felt the soft fibre and feel you have time and space for alpacas. But how do you go from an admirer of alpacas to owning them? There are so many reasons for keeping alpacas with obviously their luxurious fibre being one of the main ones and the aim of having a quality breeding herd. But they also can be much loved pets, help guard other livestoc ..read more

The University of Nottingham is conducting a study to understand the impact of Schmallenberg virus on lambing this year: “This study is a repeat of a survey we ran at the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Science and Medicine during the initial outbreak of Schmallenberg virus in Europe in 2012/13 and again during the outbreak in 2017. We would like to gain an idea of the impact of the virus and the scale of the outbreak this year to add to our knowledge of the cyclical pattern of Schmallenberg virus. As both Schmallenberg Virus and Bluetongue virus are spread by the same midges and ..read more

Trends come and go, but the world’s oldest gardening magazine is back and positively blooming in its refreshed, fortnightly format. The 11th May issue of AG (in shops from Tuesday 7th May) sees an important milestone for the world’s oldest (and friendliest) gardening magazine. Since re-launching last November after a flurry of media attention, the much-loved gardening magazine is going from strength-to-strength with award-winning environmental gardening journalist and entrepreneurial editor, Kim Stoddart at the helm. Launched on the 3rd May 1884, Amateur Gardening has been supporting and encou ..read more

The Donkey Breed Society, the charity working for all donkeys in the UK, sends important message this World Donkey Day: ‘Happy Donkeys are Active, Healthy Donkeys!’ The charity’s message for donkey owners in the UK is clear: ‘If you thought they were field ornaments, or just for beach rides, think again!’  Donkeys have very different needs to horses and ponies. Did you know that donkeys require 85% of what a pony of the same size requires nutritionally? Donkeys metabolise some drugs faster than horses (particularly miniatures) and can require more frequent dosing (always check with your v ..read more

Chelsea Green Publishing and FarmED have announced the line-up for the third year of their Farm and Food Lit Fest, which is set to take place on 11 May 2024. In its third sell-out year, the Farm & Food Lit Fest is a unique curation of talks, panels and workshops from a dazzling line-up authors, who will share stories from wonderful world of agroecology, regenerative farming and sustainable food. The festival will take place on Saturday 11 May 2024 at FarmED’s HQ and education centre near Chipping Norton. Some of the speakers include: Helen Rebanks, author of the Sunday Time ..read more