Agriculture

Animal Health and Nutrition for Scottish Livestock Farms

Wormers, fluke drenches, vaccines, minerals, tags, fencing and silage supplies — over the counter at Ayr, Kinross, Lanark & Stirling, or off the back of your rep’s van. There is a qualified SQP in every store and every one of our eight field representatives is one too.

Find your rep Find your store

What Are You Here For?

A Holstein calf in a shed, close up

Something Needs Treating

Worms, fluke, scab, pneumonia, lameness. An SQP can supply and advise on licensed animal medicines — you do not need an appointment and you do not need to know the product name.

Animal health
Ewes feeding at a barrier in a straw-bedded shed, big bales stacked behind

I Am Planning Ahead

Tupping, housing, calving, lambing. The jobs that are cheaper to get right in advance than to fix afterwards.

Animal health planning
Beef cattle with their heads down at a feed trough

I Need Minerals

Buckets, licks, blocks and in-feed powders. Which one depends on your ground, your forage and how the stock are managed.

Minerals and supplements
A single-track farm road near Braco in Perthshire, sheep grazing beyond the fence

I Want to Talk to Someone

Eight representatives across Scotland, dairy, beef and sheep, with animal health the priority. They work the seasons with you — vaccinations, calving, lambing, turnout, silage, housing.

Find your rep

Everything in Agriculture

Livestock Health

A tub of Downland Opti-Mol Cattle GP molassed supplement

Animal Health

Wormers, fluke, vaccines, antibiotics and the SQP who can supply them.

Animal health
A single white lamb standing in grass

Animal Health Planning

Building a year’s plan rather than reacting to what walks in lame.

Health planning
A Holstein calf in a shed, close up

Cattle

Dairy and beef — housing, minerals, youngstock, the lot.

Cattle
Ewes feeding at a barrier in a straw-bedded shed

Sheep

Tupping through to weaning, and the products for each stage.

Sheep

Seasonal Jobs

A young lamb in a straw-bedded barn

Lambing

Colostrum, lube, iodine, hurdles, milk replacer, and the order list.

Lambing
A tractor working at silage

Silage & Baling

Wrap, net, film, additive and twine.

Silage and baling
An electronic ear tag being read as a cow stands at a trough

Ear Tags & Identification

Official tags, management tags and applicators.

Ear tags

Electric Fencing

Energisers, posts, wire, tape and testers.

Electric fencing

Testing, Water and Pests

A flock of sheep, tinted blue

FecPak G2

On-farm faecal egg counting, so you worm on evidence rather than the calendar.

FecPak G2
A parasite testing reader sitting in its foam-lined case

Micron AgriTech

Worm and fluke counts run for you at the Ayr store.

Parasite testing at Ayr
A Holstein cow standing in a field

Genomics

Neogen genomic testing for breeding decisions.

Genomics
A galvanised livestock water trough

Hydration

Troughs, drinkers and water systems.

Hydration

Also in This Section

A stubble field at dusk under a broken sky

Ratta Pest Defence

Rodent control for farms, grain stores and rural businesses.

Rodent control
A FutureCow teat scrubber in close-up, brushes and housing visible

FutureCow

Teat preparation, on the Engineering side of the business.

FutureCow
A single-track farm road in Perthshire, sheep grazing beyond the fence

Your Local Sales Representative

Who covers your ground, and how to get hold of them.

Find your rep
Downland

Minerals and Supplements

33 products across four ranges, and the bulk of what a representative sells across a year. Most farmers arrive with a job rather than a product name, so start there.

Start With the Job in Front of You

Staggers Weather

Lush spring or autumn grass, and magnesium is the whole game.

  • Opti-Mol Cattle Mag
  • Opti-Mol Mag Extra
  • Opti-Mol Mag Extra Plus Copper
  • Opti-Lix Cattle Mag
  • Opti-Lix Sheep Mag
  • Opti-Balance Cattle Extra Mag
  • Opti-Balance Sheep Extra Mag

Six Weeks Off Calving

Low calcium and high magnesium, to get the cow mobilising her own before she needs it.

  • Opti-Mol Dry Cow
  • Opti-Lix Pre-Calver
  • Opti-Balance Pre Calver
  • Opti-Balance Pre Calver Plus

Tupping Through to Lambing

Ewe condition at tupping shows up at scanning, and again in the lambing shed.

  • Opti-Mol Sheep Natural Energy
  • Opti-Lix High Energy
  • Opti-Blox Super with Fish Oil
  • Opti-Balance Sheep

Getting Sucklers Back in Calf

Fertility and conception, where the cost of an empty cow is the whole margin.

  • Opti-Mol Suckler Extra
  • Opti-Balance Cattle Performance Plus

Cattle Coming Inside

Respiratory pressure goes up the day the shed door shuts.

  • Opti-Mol Breathe Rite
  • Opti-Mol Cattle Balancer

Flies on Grazing Stock

Biting insects cost grazing time before they cost anything else.

  • Opti-Mol Buzz Off

Balancing a Bought-In Ration

Maize, roots or a high-yielding diet, where the forage will not cover it.

  • Opti-Balance Dairy Balancer
  • Opti-Balance Super Dairy
  • Opti-Balance Cattle Extra Phos
  • Opti-Mol High Phos

Fattening Lambs Indoors

Urinary calculi is the risk that decides the mineral.

  • Opti-Balance Intensive Lamb
  • Opti-Balance Intensive Beef
  • Opti-Balance Semi Intensive Beef

The Full Range

Four formats. Which one suits is usually decided by how the stock are managed rather than by what is in it — a bucket in the field, a bag through the ration, a lick in the shed, a block on the hill.

Opti-Mol A bucket in the field

Molassed buckets, 25kg. Trace-element led, for cattle and sheep out at grass.

Cattle GPFull complement of minerals, vitamins and trace elements.
Cattle ExtraA full complement of minerals, vitamins and trace elements to support overall animal health and production.
Cattle MagHigh level (15%) magnesium.
Cattle Balancer12.4MJ of ME to help keep cattle fit into the autumn as grass quality declines.
Mag ExtraFeed to dairy cows, suckler cows and lactating ewes during lush grass growth in spring and autumn. 15% magnesium.
Mag Extra Plus CopperDairy and suckler cows during lush grass growth in spring and autumn. 15% magnesium, with copper.
High Phos4% high phosphorus bucket for dairy, beef and suckler cows. For forages low in phosphorus and rations with a lot of root crop.
Min VitMinerals, vitamins and trace elements including selenium, cobalt and iodine, plus protected zinc.
Dry CowLow calcium, high magnesium, from six weeks pre-calving. Aimed at calving problems, breed-back and milk fever risk.
Suckler ExtraHigh minerals, trace elements and vitamins, with omega 3 from fish oil for fertility and conception.
Breathe RiteNatural decongestants from plant extracts and essential oils for respiratory health, with selenium and high vitamin E.
Sheep Natural EnergyTupping to lambing. 13.5MJ of ME from several energy sources including protected fat, for ewe condition.
Buzz OffGarlic enriched, as a natural defence against biting insects. Protected zinc for lameness and mastitis.

Opti-Balance A bag through the ration

Mineral powders, 25kg, free access or in feed. For stock on a mixed or bought-in diet.

Cattle GPBalanced to support general health and productivity across a wide range of stock.
Cattle Extra MagHigh magnesium where there is a risk of grass staggers, spring and autumn.
Cattle Extra PhosHigh phosphorus to support performance during lactation in high-yielding cows.
Cattle Performance PlusMinerals, trace elements and vitamins against potential forage deficiencies, with zinc and copper for general health.
Pre CalverLow calcium, high magnesium, to stimulate calcium mobilisation ahead of calving.
Pre Calver PlusAs Pre Calver, at a higher specification.
Dairy BalancerHigh specification, for rations with a high proportion of maize or other low-mineral forages.
Super DairyHigh specification, to balance high-yielding dairy cow rations.
Intensive BeefBalanced for intensive beef systems.
Semi Intensive BeefBalanced for semi-intensive beef systems.
SheepMinerals, vitamins and trace elements for the deficiencies most often found in sheep.
Sheep Extra MagHigh magnesium against grass staggers in sheep.
Intensive LambFormulated without magnesium and phosphorus, to reduce the incidence of urinary calculi in fattening lambs.

Opti-Lix A lick in the shed

Molassed licks, 20kg. Energy and protein led, self-feeding, low labour.

High EnergyEnergy and protein to carry ewes through the key stages of the year.
Pre-CalverMinerals, vitamins and trace elements to balance forage ahead of calving.
Cattle Balancer14% crude protein plus urea, to support frame growth, milk and the digestion of low-protein forages like straw and maize silage.
Cattle MagHigh levels of palatable magnesium, to help avoid grass staggers.
Sheep MagAll sheep post-lambing on lush spring and autumn grass, when staggers risk is highest.

Opti-Blox A block on the hill

Compressed blocks, 20kg. High energy and protein where grazing will not carry them.

Opti-Blox22% protein with energy for extra performance.
Super with Fish OilHigh energy and 16.5% protein, a high proportion of it natural, to support colostrum and milk production.

Opti-Balance comes marked FA or IF — free access or in feed. Which one you want depends on how the stock are managed rather than on what is in the bag, and it is the commonest thing we see got the wrong way round.

Copper is the one to be careful with. Sheep and cattle do not tolerate it the same way, and a product that is right for one can be wrong for the other on the same farm. That is what the SQP on the counter is for.

Feed Bucket or Mineral Bucket?

Downland infographic comparing feed buckets and low moisture mineral buckets. Feed buckets are poured or chemically set and contain molasses, protein sources, extra energy, minerals, vitamins, trace elements and additives. Low moisture buckets use dehydrated molasses with the same components.
The two are made differently and hold different amounts of water, and that changes how much the stock actually take. Worth two minutes at the counter before you load the trailer.

And the Names You Already Ask For

  • Rumenco
  • Lifeline
  • Rumevite
  • Agrihealth
  • Volac
  • Supalyx
  • Animax Tracesure
  • Agrimin 24-7
  • I’Anson
  • Trouw

Bring a forage analysis to the counter and an SQP will go through it with you, or get your representative out to the farm and let him walk the ground first.

Get your rep out
SQPs & AMTRA

There Are SQPs on Every Counter

An SQP — a Suitably Qualified Person, registered with AMTRA — is legally qualified to prescribe and supply certain animal medicines. It is a real qualification with an exam and annual CPD behind it, not a job title we made up.

Every one of our eight field representatives is a qualified SQP, and the staff behind the counters are either qualified already or working towards it. That means you are not waiting for the one person who knows, and you are not being sold a wormer by somebody reading the back of the tub.

SQPs and animal medicines Find your store

Questions We Get Asked at the Counter

Can I buy animal medicines without a vet prescription?

Some, yes. A large part of the wormer, fluke and vaccine range is POM-VPS or NFA-VPS, which means a qualified SQP can supply it. Others are POM-V and need your vet. Ask in store and we will tell you which is which for what you need.

Do I need an account to buy?

No. Anyone can buy over the counter by card. A farm account gives you monthly terms and one statement — it needs an application form with two references and a direct debit mandate.

Can you deliver?

Locally, yes, for smaller orders. Larger orders including pallets and machinery can go across our service area as long as our 18 tonne lorry can get in. A delivery charge may apply. Stirling delivers larger orders only.

Which mineral should I be feeding?

That depends on your ground, your forage analysis and what stage your stock are at, and anyone who answers it without asking those three things is guessing. Bring your forage analysis to the counter, or get your rep out to the farm.

Do you stock brands other than Downland?

Yes. Downland is the range we know best and stock deepest, and the shelves carry the names you already ask for alongside it. If something else suits your situation better we will say so.