Brian Keane runs a 96ha (237 acres) mixed sheep, beef and tillage farm in Davidstown, Co Wexford, alongside his wife Blathnáid, father John, brother Eoin and his young son Sean.

Brian hosted a Teagasc BETTER Farm sheep programme walk, of which he participated in since 2021, on Wednesday 15 July.

The aim in the programme was to improve flock productivity, reduce flock health issues, grow and utilise more grass and ultimately lift farm profitability.

As can be seen in Table 1, the farm is predominately a grass farm, with the tillage enterprise changing in 2026 to dovetail with the farm beginning its two-year conversion period to organic farming on 1 January 2026. Previously, Brian grew malting barley, wheat and beans.

The mid-season lambing ewe flock currently includes 172 ewes and 53 replacement ewe hoggets consisting of a mix of breeds including Belclare, Charollais, Suffolk and Texel.

These are run alongside a 20-cow continental suckler herd, which are mated with a Charolais bull, with progeny sold at 12 to 14 months of age.

Organic

The switch to organics is significant for the farm but Brian said that it couldn’t be a better year to enter organics given the focus on improving grassland performance and soil health in recent years.

He says that the mix in enterprises with slurry from the suckler herd and access to slurry imports from local farmers is a further boost to the system.

He realises production will be more challenging without access to chemical fertiliser, but is hoping the legumes in the combi-crop mix will help to bring more nitrogen into the soil.

Flock performance

Brian’s Teagasc adviser James Doran highlighted that the number lambs reared per ewe is a key driver of profitability on sheep farms, with 1.7 lambs the target to reach. Flock reproductive performance is heading in the right way, as detailed in Table 2.

Lamb performance has been as good as it has been in recent years and, as seen in Table 3, birth weights, seven-week weights and weaning weights are on target.

Twin lambs on the farm had on average an extra 30g/day of ADG from birth to weaning compared to 2025 which equates to an extra 3kg at weaning time, meaning lambs can be sold on average three weeks earlier.

The weight distribution of lambs is detailed in Figure 1, with this exercise helping Brian to hone in on finishing plans. A finishing group for lambs over 35kg and ewe lambs for breeding will be established for priority grazing and meal.

Body condition score

Improving body condition score (BCS), as summarised in Table 4, was the main factor driving improved flock productivity.

Mortality was recorded at 10% from lambing to weaning. Teagasc researcher and programme manager Frank Campion remarked it is good for the litter size and type of flock in a somewhat challenging spring.

The ideal ewe BCS is 3.5 Campion said, with anything below BCS 3 being classed as thin, which is to be avoided.

Frank said the optimum time to improve ewe BCS is from now until mating, with no room to delay, giving thin ewes priority once weaned successfully.

BCS is monitored throughout the year and thin ewes are split off and managed as a separate group after weaning. Non-responding thin ewes are culled at mating time.

Addressing lameness

Another significant factor that improved BCS on the farm was reducing lameness through a new batch footbath. In 2023, 8% of ewes and 15% of lambs were lame at weaning with scald, footrot and contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) all identified.

Lambs lame at weaning were on average 0.8kg lighter than non-lame lambs, while lame ewes at mating were on average 0.27 BCS lower than non-lame ewes, which affected reproductive performance.

Brian recently put in a new batch footbath and handling facilities. The footbath measures 20m2. Four bags of zinc sulphate is mixed with 1,000l of water, allowing up to 60 ewes in the footbath at once.

This easily facilitates leaving sheep in the footbath for a minimum of 15 minutes and is already reaping rewards.

It was highlighted that having a roof or cover over the footbath is a huge advantage, as no rain water can dilute the zinc sulphate or copper sulphate and it can be used and topped up for a longer period.

Parasite control

In previous years, Brian had issues with resistance to wormers, as is common on many sheep farms.

Brian also noticed his ewes and lambs were not thriving as they should be in 2023, so he brought a lamb to the vet and they found that it was haemonchus contortus, commonly known as the barber pole worm.

As a result of a bad belt of haemonchus, some ewes were lost and some others were very thin.

“At least I knew what it was then, so I started dosing for it,” Brian said.

Haemonchus can be difficult to detect, with farmers often finding dead sheep before it is detected, Michael Gottstein head of the sheep knowledge transfer programme said.

He pointed out that it’s important to monitor for potential worms and only to dose when needed to reduce the instance of resistance.

Brian monitors worm burdens by dung sampling every two weeks to check egg counts. If a sample is very high, he goes in with a dose and a sample from the ewes may also be taken to guard against barbers pole worm and identify any issues fast.