It’s been a textbook start to summer 2025 with sunshine taking huge amount of pressure off across the range of different farm systems, be it dairy, beef or sheep farms.

Whether we like it or not weather plays a huge role in animal health. Good spring and early summer weather has meant that stock have had a great start in the 2025 grazing year.

There is potential for big weight gains on stock during the summer months but only if everything else is right, including health.

Having healthy cattle and sheep doesn’t happen by accident and sitting down with your advisor or vet and tailoring a health plan for your farm is time well spent and could avoid costly disease outbreaks on your farm.

On pages 46 and 47 of this week’s special health focus we take a look at dairy beef health and outline some of the main points that farmers new to this enterprise should look out for.

Tullamore Farm vet Donal Lynch also takes a look at some health management tips on suckler farms. It’s all simple stuff but needs to be completed to keep stock healthy.

Darren Carty takes a look at sheep health on page 48 while on page 49 Martin Merrick outlines some important points when it comes to power washing and disinfecting sheds this summer to make sure they are free of disease next winter.

Finally, Aidan Brennan takes a look at some new kit in relation to foot bathing on dairy farms.