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The Northern Ireland Sheep Programme is running a series of events this summer, starting with two webinars outlining the aims of the programme and the farmers involved.
Both events are open to the public. Each event will focus in on an individual programme farm and detail the changes being made to increase farm profit.
The first event will feature Co Down farmer, Paraic McNeill, on Thursday 2 June and starts at 7.30pm.
The following Thursday (9 June), Co Tyrone-based Mark Davidson will outline his farm system, with the event getting underway at 7.30pm. An access link will be automatically sent to NI sheep farmers currently enrolled in Business Development Groups (BDG).
For those farmers not in a BDG, register your interest at www.farmersjournal.ie/sheepevent by 5pm Tuesday 30 June. Log in details will be forwarded closer to the events.
Outline
To make the webinars as interactive as possible, programme adviser Senan White will discuss with the farmers the challenges inside their respective farm gate and how adopting new technologies and tweaking the system is benefitting flock management.
These include changes to breeding programmes to increase lamb numbers, identifying and selecting flock replacements and making greater use of grazed grass through rotational paddocks.
The farmers will also detail animal performance, including an overview of carcase data on those animals drafted for slaughter this year.
Questions
The webinars will be streamed using the Webex platform, which allows the viewer to put questions to the farmers, as well as some of the additional speakers representing the programme sponsors at each event.
Date – Thursday 2 July 7:30pm
Paraic farms 46.5ha of grassland at Annaclone in the heartlands of Co Down. The farm is well stocked, with 200 breeding ewes, plus replacements, alongside a suckler herd of around 20 cows.
Paraic farms with his father Seamus and as both men work off-farm, management tasks must be prioritised so that all essential jobs are carried out on time.
Flock details
Ewe type is predominantly Suffolk and Texel cross, along with some Mules. Ewes are mainly bred to Texel and Suffolk rams, with replacement lambs now bred to Beltex, having previously been mated to Charollais.
Since joining the programme, the breeding policy is in transition in order to increase the number of lambs weaned and sold annually.
A Belclare ram was introduced in 2019 to produce replacements with greater maternal traits, as well as increasing ewe prolificacy.
To speed up the process of changing ewe type, replacements are also being purchased off-farm, with Lleyn and Mule lambs being sourced. The plan is to revert to a closed flock once the new genetics bed down.
Lambing
Ewes are lambed as two separate batches, with a break of one week between each group. Lambing is split primarily to suit housing space, which is a limiting factor.
The first group of ewes start lambing around mid-February and typically run for two weeks. The second batch start from early March onwards.
Scanning percentage for spring 2020 was 171% for mature ewes, with live lambs born around 165%.
Grazing set up
Grazing management is where Paraic excels. The farm has been set-up in paddocks using plastic posts and reels to give flexibility in the system.
Ewes are held back using three strands of electric wire, with water troughs positioned to serve multiple paddocks. Reseeding is now part and parcel of grazing management.
EID
An automated sheep handling unit is used to capture weight gain through EID tagging. Lambs and breeding ewes can be drafted for slaughter based on body weight and condition. Weights are fed in to a flock management programme, from which breeding and culling decisions can be made.
Date – Thursday 9 July 7:30pm
Mark farms 56ha of grassland outside Dungannon. The farm carries a lowland flock of around 280 ewes and replacements, plus a spring-calving suckler herd of 35 cows.
Ewes are a combination of Suffolk and Texel breeding. Suffolk ewes lambed to Belclare and Charollais rams, with Texel ewes lambing to Suffolk rams.
Lambing percentage in 2020 was 186%, with the bulk of ewes lambing over a three week period. Lambing started in mid-February and to facilitate housing space and labour, ewes were lambed in two batches.
Drafting lambs
Lamb performance has been excellent this year, with a significant number of animals already drafted for slaughter.
As part of the event, there will be a focus on selecting lambs for slaughter using video footage of Mark’s sheep, looking at fat cover and kill-out to maximise carcase value.
Maternal breeding
The flock is moving towards breeds that are more prominent for maternal traits, with a Belclare ram being used to increase ewe prolificacy.
The added benefits of using more maternal breeding is that it not only increases ewe output, it complements lamb performance on a grass-based system.
Ewes with greater milking ability will wean heavier lambs without concentrate feeding, and ram lambs in particular will be easier to finish from a grass-only diet.
Output
While conformation will be lower compared to progeny sired by more terminal breeds, the financial difference between a U and R grading lamb is little more than £2/head.
Increasing lambing percentage by 0.1% is worth £8 to £9/ewe before factoring in the savings from lower concentrate feeding in a well-managed grazing system.
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