Kieran & Caroline Henry manage the Toberscarden farm in Tubbercurry, County Sligo. Kieran is a carpenter by trade but started farming with 50 acres after he got married.

Symptoms such as bald ears, spectacles, rusty coloured coats are often mis-diagnosed as ‘copper deficiency’. What is actually happening is that iron and sulphur are binding to copper in the rumen to reduce the copper available to the animal.

When you think of Pilkington Glass, what do you think about? Double-glazing? Probably. Conservatories? Possibly. What about animal health? Unlikely. However, Pilkington Glass is partially to thank for the reliability of trace element supplementation in cattle and sheep.