Scanning technicians from around the country are so far reporting a higher percentage of in-lamb ewes than usual this year.

Most scanners are almost halfway through scanning of the mid-season lambing sheep flocks, with notable features including a repeat of the favourable litter sizes of spring 2015, tighter lambing spreads and fewer barren ewes.

Speaking to Charles O’Shea from Kerry, he noted that the hill flocks he has scanned so far are generally in positive condition despite the tough weather in the last few months.

He reports that typical litter size is an average of 1.2 to 1.3 lambs/ewe, with “a few triplets showing up on the hill”.

He said lowland flocks are achieving a rate of up to 1.7 lambs/ewe on average.

From Donegal, Sean McHugh says that the “percentage is slightly higher than usual” there as well.

In the midlands and west, Dominic Black of Black Bros farm services, Co Roscommon, told the Irish Farmers Journal that scanning is going exceptionally well and is on a par with last year.

He said that figures quoted in that area show that “some hill farms have 1.5 lambs/ewe while lowland flocks are reaching 1.7 lambs/ewe and 1.9 lambs/ewe”.