Anthony Moran pictured letting ewes and young lambs to fresh grass on Tuesday. Anthony and his wife Imelda farm a 220-ewe flock and 30-cow suckler-to-weanling herd in Tibarney, Mount Talbot, Co Roscommon. Lambing started on 15 February and is about halfway through at this stage.

The flock comprises mainly Texel and Suffolk cross ewes and some Bluefaced Leicester ewes. Lambing to Suffolk, Charollais, Texel and Bluefaced Leicester rams is described as progressing smoothly. While the break in weather over the weekend limited opportunities to get ewes and lambs outdoors quickly, Anthony says fine spells on Tuesday and Wednesday allowed ewes and lambs to be released, taking pressure off space for freshly lambing ewes.

Overall, he describes the weather this winter as being near ideal, with ewes in optimum condition at lambing and a good supply of grass accumulated on fields closed up since early October. His flock of 30 ewe lambs is also showing the benefits of the good weather, having scanned with 1.5 lambs per ewe.

Calving started in December, with six cows left to calve from 100% Belgian Blue, Charolais and Limousin sires.