The autumn chill on a few mornings last week was a reminder that we should soon start preparing for the next stage of the farming year.

Grass is flying, but so is time and we are already into the second week of July. Another few weeks and the shorter evenings will be noticeable.

It was a little over 12 months ago that we decided to lamb the ewes in January to see if it would suit us better in terms of money and workload.

It did in some respects, and it did not in others, the chief result being that we will lamb at the end of February next year.

It will not be early-season lamb, but it won’t exactly be mid-season lamb either.

Kieran Sullivan has decided to make some changes to his breeding season. \ Donal O'Leary

As ever, I make no effort to say this is the best way to do things.

The decision to lamb at the end of February is a guesstimate based on grass growth and setting up a proper grazing rotation plan. Not exactly new ideas, but they are to us.

Rotation

A rotation length of 35 to 40 days will give the first fields grazed a fighting chance to grow a decent cover before the ewes face into them. If required, we can increase or decrease meal to match weather and grass growth.

If autumn is not too far away, then we also need to get rams sorted. Counting back from the last week of February means the rams will go out around the last week of September.

While always tempted to try something different, we will probably leave the Blackface rams alone

We will buy them from a well-known local family that breeds Charollais, Texel, and mountain Blackface sheep.

While always tempted to try something different, we will probably leave the Blackface rams alone and stick to the other two breeds!

The CharTex rams we got from them last year really did the business for us and I am sure this year’s purchases will do an equally great job.

Once we get the last of the silage cut and kale set for out-wintering the weanlings, attention will turn to picking out and buying the rams in a couple of weeks’ time.

The longer they are here onsite, the more settled and ready for the job they will be. That’s my hope anyway.

Interesting autumn

Without wishing away the summer, the autumn will be an interesting time.

GAA matches will be back on, if that’s your thing, COVID-19 restrictions will hopefully be almost gone and, most importantly, the youngsters will be back in school.

I would like to offer best wishes to the two new farming ministers

With prices for beef and lamb holding their own, there is a lot to look forward to in the coming months.

Finally, I would like to offer best wishes to the two new farming ministers. In particular, to Senator Pippa Hackett, who has responsibility for biodiversity and land use. These are two issues will be core to the new CAP.

While some in the farming community have focused a lot on her political party, it is likely that her being a farmer gives her much more skin in the game than others from the supposedly traditional farmer parties.