The barley has been harvested, the ewes have been shorn and normally I would be heading to the Ploughing this week. To be honest, I’m not sure if I will be attending this year.

The children always have a great day when they go and I find it a great place to look at my options if I’m thinking of investing in some equipment for the farm.

But with no plans to invest in any additional equipment, I am in two minds whether to go or not.

With breeding season fast approaching, I have a few jobs that I want to get finished in advance.

My attendance at the Ploughing will be a last-minute, spur of the moment decision this year.

Breeding

I plan on using the ram effect to synchronise the natural service ewes for lambing next spring. For this to work effectively, the ewes must be kept out of sight, sound and smell of the rams for at least 28 days.

Once the rams are introduced (either a vasectomised ram, or an entire ram with a no-mate harness attached) some ewes will show silent heats immediately, while the remainder will after about six days.

This introduction will have kickstarted the ewes cycle properly and the entire rams should be introduced 14 days later to pick up the ewe’s heat on day 17 and 23, depending on when they had their silent heat. I will pull the rams after this first service.

The CPT ewes will all be sponged and mated using laparoscopic AI over two days

This will allow me to have the Central Progeny Test (CPT) ewes lamb next, with no repeats from the natural service clogging up shed space.

The CPT ewes will all be sponged and mated using laparoscopic AI over two days, meaning that penning and shed space will be at a premium when they lamb down next spring.

The rams will be returned to the ewes after this to mop up any repeats, which will be lambed down outside if the weather permits next spring.

Grass covers

The grass covers have been building up nicely over the last few weeks. I finished spreading the last of the nitrogen fertiliser last week.

This was applied to the remaining fields that were grazed in an effort to maintain growth for the next month or so.

After this, I will be getting the last of the farmyard manure spread

I have some fields that are low in K, so I’ll apply a bag of Murate of Potash per acre.

After this, I will be getting the last of the farmyard manure spread to fields that had silage removed over the summer, after they are grazed out.

As I walked the farm with the children picking blackberries, of which there are a multitude, it was incredible to see how dry several of my fields actually are. A bit of rain wouldn’t go astray.

Rugby

Hopefully, if I get on top of all these jobs, I will be able to take a few extended brunches in front of the television while the rugby world cup is on.

Unfortunately, the time difference is not ideal, but as it only comes around every four years, I will have to make the sacrifice.

Rugby is a sport I have played and enjoy as a spectator. Hopefully the team will be able to perform to their capabilities.

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