Thankfully, all buildings are still standing after Storm Darwin. However, that is more than can be said for many of the trees and fences on my farm.

Luckily, we escaped with only minor shed damage as well and we can count our blessings that none of the animals were injured.

This very unsettled weather so far this spring after such a long mild autumn has brought home how climate change could have such a devastating effect on us farmers.

Now I’m no expert on climate change, but there has definitely been a big shift in our weather patterns over the last few years and as we try to maximise what we produce, there will be many challenges ahead as we have to contend with these extremes.

Recently I – along with 10-15 other sheep farmers – was approached by Teagasc to participate in a research programme to establish the carbon footprint of our farms. This will be an interesting and worthwhile study.

I hope that by participating in this I will gain some more knowledge about the carbon emissions produced on my farm and see how I compare with other farmers who have a similar set-up to myself. Hopefully, this study will also help provide solutions for reducing emissions without affecting the productivity and profitability of the farm. The future of our landscape depends on how we care for it in the present.

The children are bursting with excitement here as the first of the lambs have started to arrive.

These first arrivals came the very day I had finished assembling what individual pens I have room for at the moment.

Shed space is at a premium here currently so all the dry hoggets have been let out to a section of the farm and they will be supplemented there with silage. This has freed up some space and as ewes lamb down it will free up more room to assemble more pens.

Normally ewes and lambs are out within a few hours of birth here as I find the less time they are inside the healthier they are.

This can be difficult to do at times due to weather so I have also been busy building overflow pens in the hay barn using large square bales of straw. These, along with the old stables on the farm, will ease the pressure on my individual pens when we are very busy, as ewes with lambs can be grouped together until conditions improve enough for them to go outside.

One of my sheep started to reject her own lamb (the joys of lambing). This is another reason why I would delay releasing sheep outdoors. In these cases I keep the sheep in their pens until I am satisfied the sheep has fully accepted her lambs.

Grass covers on the farm are starting to increase with the soil temperatures now around 7.5°C and with average growth on the farm of 5kg/Dm/ha, things are looking up.

I will have to get out with the fertilizer spreader to keep things moving in the right direction all the same. So hopefully ground conditions will improve.