Veterinary Services

Nematodirosis a major problem in Scottish flocks this month

• Lead poisoning in cattle
• Iodine deficiency in spring calving suckler herds
• Coccidiosis and BVD in dairy heifers
• Copper poisoning of ewes and lambs
• Coccidiosis in lambs
• Enzootic pneumonia in pigs

The Scottish Executive announced a new initiative to record the scrapie resistance of sheep flocks. The creation of a Flock Register under the National Scrapie Plan (NSP) will enable producers to make better informed decisions about the resistance of flocks from which they are considering buying breeding stock.

Scottish abattoir values for steers, heifers and young bulls in June were slightly ahead of equivalent figures for 2004 while sheep prices at Scottish auctions for ewes and new season lamb were well below 2004 values.

Periods of unsettled and cyclonic weather alternated with spells when high pressure brought some dry and sunny conditions.

The mean June temperature was 12.4°C, which is 1.3°C above the 1961-1990 average, in the well above average category. Total rainfall for the month was 105.3 mm, which is in the above average category.