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Last week’s article on making the best use of forage crops covered the experience of father and sons Terence, Richard and Tim Sheil, who farm a short distance from Enniscorthy.
The Sheils farm a traditional mixed sheep and tillage enterprise on 45ha split into a main block and two out-blocks.
The sheep system comprises a 240-head ewe flock run on 29ha in 2018, with 60 ewe lamb replacements also retained from within the flock which are currently run dry in their first year. Breeding in the mid-season lambing flock which commences lambing on 10 March is a mixture of Suffolk, Belclare and Charollais genetics. The farm has consistently weaned 1.5 lambs per ewe joined to the ram in recent years.
Part-time
Tim says the farm is undergoing a period of change, with a focus on addressing soil fertility issues, fencing and making the farm easier to operate in a part-time system as both Tim and Richard work off-farm.
“We are trying to get to a system of working grass on two blocks and tillage on the other to streamline labour. This will require improvements in boundary fencing – we want to know going to work in the morning that sheep will still be there in the evening.”
Fencing improvements have started on external boundaries, with temporary electric fencing also now incorporated into at least seven fields on a semi-permanent basis and this is setting the foundation for further divisions.
A significant percentage of the farm is at index one for phosphorus and index two and three for potassium, while the average pH is 6.0.
“We have switched this to 18:6:12 and 10:10:20 and also straight P (16% Super) and straight K (Muriate of Potash) where required. While it will be a slow process we are already starting to see improvements in yield in both grass and cereal crops.
"We are applying two loads of lime per year on soils that need it most and this will also help in improving fertility”.
Difficult year
The consequences of a difficult spring and prolonged drought which hit Wexford hard are still evident on the farm. Ewes were weaned and fed hay during July and August on, while concentrate supplementation was introduced to lambs on 1 July, which was over two months earlier than normal.
The effect of this is a higher volume of lambs drafted off the farm earlier but at a much higher cost, while 44 bales of hay saved in June was fed.
Fewer lambs will reduce demand for forage crops which may compensate for tighter grass supplies and carry ewes or ewe lambs outdoors for longer.
Upturn
The upturn in grass growth rates in September and October has allowed the farm to get back on track with an extra 60 bales of silage saved which along with 140 ensiled earlier in the season should see the farm get over a winter housing period that normally lasts from early December to early March.
The focus now is to finish the grazing season in as positive manner as possible and set the farm up for spring grazing.
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