A component of the IFA’s recent hill sheep forum was a farm walk held on the farm of Caillin Conneely. Caillin farms with his wife Noreen and two sons, Mikie and Rory, in Letterdyfe, Roundstone, Connemara, Co Galway. The farm, which is mainly commonage, is home to 250 ewes, a small herd of suckler cows and a number of Connemara mares and their progeny.

Land type can be described as a mixture of harder hills and some lower hill grazing which is marginal in nature.

Ewes and their lambs were brought down from hill grazing for the event and one of the key messages shared by Caillin was the importance of having animals that are fit for purpose for the land type they are grazing. This is irrespective of the type of animals, with this focus kept in mind if selecting replacement ewes, suckler cows or Connemara ponies.

Hardy ewe

Breed type in the ewe flock is Mayo Connemara Blackface. Explaining his reasoning, Caillin says: “Apart from a few key time frames during the year, ewes are run on hill grazing, which is harsh in nature.

“It takes a very hardy ewe to be able to survive here without preferential treatment or supplementary feeding and, for me, the best ewe is a Mayo Connemara with plenty of black in them.”

This hardiness in ewes has also been driven by a strong culling policy through many generations, with ewes not capable of performing in the system culled.

“Each time we handle sheep, one of the main tasks is to go through ewes and lambs to see how they are performing. Pre-breeding is a critical time.

“We like to give thin ewes a chance to recover after weaning, but if a ewe is in poor shape going back to the hill after breeding, she will be the one that ends up giving problems down the line, so culling these ewes is important.”

Ewes not required for breeding replacements are bred to a Lanark ram. Caillin finds that it helps deliver some hybrid vigour in progeny for finishing and, in contrast to crossbreeding with a continental sire, progeny are fit to go back to the hills and perform.

“The Lanark is my Suffolk ram. I can use it on a selection of ewes and am not constrained in my normal system whereas if I used a lowland ram I may get a boost in lamb quality, but they wouldn’t perform well on these hills and I’d just end up spending the difference in sale price on supplementing ewes and lambs off the hill.”

Key time frames

The key time frames in the farming calendar for ewes are lambing, shearing/weaning and breeding.

Ewes are brought down from the hill on 1 April in preparation for lambing. Ewes in lamb but not springing at that stage are put back to the hill and lamb there at the end of April or in May.

Ewes remain on lower-lying areas for four weeks, at which stage all single-suckling ewes are returned to the hill. There is generally a small number of twin-suckling ewes that are retained off the hill and given some preferential treatment.

Ewes are brought down from the hill at shearing and remain there for two weeks. At weaning, all animals are assessed and anything that is targeted for selling, from male lambs to ewe lambs not required for breeding and cull ewes, are retained on the lower-lying areas.

Ewes and lambs that will be retained for breeding are turned back on to the hill at this stage.

A plan is put in place that outlines a possible sales pattern for these animals. This can vary depending on markets and grass supplies, but in recent years has included selling excess ewe lambs in breeding sales in September in Clifden and Maam Cross marts.

Demand in recent years has been stronger, with buyers looking to source numbers to satisfy commonage framework plans, with ewe lambs generating a sales value of €70 in 2016.

Ram lambs are sold towards the end of September, but given the poor store lamb trade in 2016, a decision was taken to hold on to lambs and finish intensively indoors.

“Decisions on when to sell sheep is a balancing act between trying to achieve the best price and not affecting the volume of grass available for ewes at breeding, where ewes spend about a month to five weeks off the hill.

“We don’t have too many options, as when you don’t have better-quality grazing, finishing lambs is generally confined to using high levels of concentrates. You have to weigh up both options and last year it delivered a small margin to hold and finish; this year it may be better to sell.”

Replacement ewe lambs are removed from the hill when ewes are put back up after breeding. They are supplemented over the winter months on hay and a low level of oats or ration, depending on weather and available forage.

Along with breeding, there is a strong focus on health and in particular regular mineral supplementation. Ewes and lambs are supplemented with a cobalt drench or bullets at key periods. Dipping is also a must once a year, while ewes and lambs receive a pour-on after shearing for blowfly and external parasite control. Outside of this, liver fluke is addressed in autumn and spring.

Mixed enterprises

The focus in the suckler herd is sourcing hardy cows. Caillin’s ideal cow is one with some Shorthorn, Limousin or Blue breeding, with lots of milk in their background. These are mated with terminal AI sires to breed top-quality calves for the weanling market.

The Connemara pony enterprise is also performing well and has benefited in a resurgence in demand over the last two years.

In recent years, progeny have been exported to the UK and Germany in many cases. Progeny are generally sold as foals or three year olds.

Direct supports

The potential for generating output in farms such as Caillin’s is not simple. An output level of one lamb per ewe is the aim and with male progeny often realising a value of anywhere between €30 and €50 as stores in recent years there is not much room for manoeuvre in a system that is heavily reliant on inputs to lift output.

There is therefore understandably a focus on direct payment support and Caillin says this is a vital component in encouraging farmers to stay farming in the area. “Cuts to payments or delays can have a huge effect on family income. Numbers on the hills have reduced greatly and it is easy to see why. People comment about the fact that ewes need to be bred on the hills they are grazing but it’s the same with people. If payments do not reward farmers for maintaining the hills, the vital link between one generation and the next will be broken and this won’t be replaced”.