The rain has been a welcome sight here lately as growth had slowed down due to the lack of moisture in the soil. Most of all, it will have helped the recent reseeds which needed to get moisture to germinate.

That said, a switch back to some fine settled weather wouldn’t go astray now, as the spring barley is just ready for harvesting. Like previous years, I plan on planting forage rape or redstart into the field once the straw has been removed. This is a great crop to keep ewes out of the shed till later into the year, or even the new year if it is mild enough.

I am spreading a bag of CAN per acre to help build up covers of grass for the autumn. I will also spread dung on some of the fields that had silage taken from them, in an effort to return some of the nutrients that were lost.

Shearing

I will be going through the mature ewes here to assess how their body condition scores are progressing. Any of the ewes that are failing to put on condition will be culled out of the system.

I also plan on shearing the ewes at some stage in the coming weeks. It’ll be a busy day or two getting through the flock. As I’ve mentioned before, I find shearing at this stage gives me more options later in the year.

It gives me a little extra space when ewes are housed, yet they have enough of a wool cover to be able to out-winter if required. I also find it helps with keeping an eye on the ewe condition scores prior to breeding.

The ewes are only half the flock though, with the rams making up the other half. As usual, I will need to purchase a few rams. I have a number of breeders that I source my stock rams from, but I may take a trip over to the annual Sheep Ireland €uroStar multi-breed ram sale which takes place on Saturday 24 August in Tullamore Mart.

It’s a good opportunity to see a number of different breeds available for sale in one location.

Kayaking

Though there are many parts of the farm that need to be tended to over the summer months, it’s also important to factor in some leisure time too. As the children are off school, we’ve been taking a few day trips and short breaks away as a family. I have also taken up a new hobby of late; I’m now a member of the local kayaking club.

It is an enjoyable activity to be off the farm in the outdoors and Alison and the children are enjoying it too. We have a wonderful resource in our waterways.

While I have been taking time to get more active, I’ve also made sure to go for my annual MOT- a quick visit to our GP! It is very important get a clear bill of health for the busy months ahead.