The latest lockdown is starting to get in at me. Oh to be able to bring the children off for a day out somewhere or to go for a meal out with Alison in one of Kilkenny’s many quality restaurants (it’s all the better when someone else does the dishes too).

It is the simple things we miss – the feeling of connection with friends and family and freedom to have activities to choose from. Thankfully though, the children are still able to partake in some activities that kept running this time around, albeit under different circumstances. We are fortunate to have reasonable internet to be able to engage in some of these.

This is usually the quiet time of the year on the farm. However, the last two weeks were the exceptions, with two inspections in quick succession. Firstly, there was a Department of Agriculture sheep cross-compliance inspection, followed a few days later by a Bord Bia inspection. You would think that by the second one I would be calm, but that never happens. I always find the preparation stressful as you always fear having forgotten or omitted some crucial information that could have dire consequences to the farm income.

Thankfully, with these behind me for another while I can go back to some maintenance jobs and, as of now, I think most are done except for the ones that require a bigger cash injection. I have to prioritise these in order of importance and as cashflow allows. I suppose there are two categories here too, the ones that are manageable if there is a surplus and the more sizeable ones that require finance.

Weather

With the recent weather there is more of a winter feel as stock are checked in the fields and the mud squelches under foot. The autumn grazing plan is close to target, with in the region of 65% of the farm grazed out and closed up for grazing next spring.

The heavy rain lately has reduced the potential to get the best utilisation from the heavy grass covers that remain available, with a considerable amount walked into the ground. The rams will be removed from the different mobs later this month, bringing a conclusion to the breeding period. I plan to divide the ewes into groups according to their forthcoming lambing dates. Initially, I will split them into three main groups – early ewes, CPT?(central progeny test) group and repeat ewes. I will then house the ewes due to lamb down first in early December prior to scanning. This will leave the ewes which are due to lamb later in the spring outside, along with the repeat ewes.

The lambs are starting to get scarce on the ground here as well, with only 90 remaining. I have these in their last fields here for grazing. They are being built up to ad-lib meal prior to being housed in the next week or so with the aim of getting them finished prior to Christmas and to increase the amount of grass available to the ewes.