Grass and feed supplies vary greatly depending on the part of the country. This has also had a major influence on drafting rates, with some mid-season flocks on target with 60% to 70% of lambs drafted while others are falling well behind this target.
At this stage of the year, the priority should be turning to breeding stock and ensuring grass supplies are sufficient to feed ewes adequately pre- and post-mating. The most important management practice for farmers to carry out now is to assess the stage at which lambs are at and put a plan in place to prevent lambs from competing with ewes for tight grass supplies.
There is little point purchasing light lambs that will not be finished until the new year if grass supplies are only available to carry lambs until the end of October
On some farms this will mean introducing concentrate supplementation while for others the best option could be testing the store trade and selling a percentage of lambs to reduce feed demand.
This was one of the topics of discussion at the Lets Talk Farming livestock demonstrations hosted by the Irish Farmers Journal in conjunction with ICBF and Bord Bia.
Key factors
There are a number of important aspects to keep in mind when discussing store lambs from both a buyer's and seller's perspective. While the purchase price is an important consideration, it should be not be the only factor on which decisions are made. Lambs should be purchased to suit the most economic finishing system. There is little point purchasing light lambs that will not be finished until the new year if grass supplies are only available to carry lambs until the end of October, resulting in a higher feed bill than can be justified. Likewise, retaining lambs in the hope of finishing may be a false economy if grass supplies are tight and very high volumes of meal end up being fed. The following factors should be used to help make your decision.
Finishing system: Where grass forms the basis of your finishing system, use realistic performance levels. Lambs will gain 150g to 180g per day on average during August through to mid-September. This will drop to 120g to 140g until early November, after which point liveweight gain will become variable and dependent on weather, grass quality and utilisation. Ration cost: Be realistic if purchasing light lambs – they are likely to require concentrates to finish. This ranges from a relatively low supplementation level in lambs that have a good run on dry land to 1kg to 1.3kg daily for lambs finished intensively indoors. Over a 50-day intensive finishing period, lambs consuming 1.2kg concentrates at a cost of €300/t will generate costs of €1 per head. Mortality: It is important to factor in a level of mortality, especially if purchasing light lambs that will not be finished until next spring. A typical mortality of 1% to 1.5% should be factored in for long-keep lambs. 
Market price: In the last few seasons, market returns have increased significantly during February and March, hitting a peak for the Easter market. Marketing costs: Do not forget to factor costs such as transport and purchase/selling costs into account. These can quickly add up to €3 to €4 if buying and selling in marts. Opportunity cost of grass: If in a breeding sheep enterprise, will having lambs around the farm competing for diminishing supplies of grass later in the season affect the performance of ewes or increase costs? Hill lamb budget calculator: Teagasc has developed a very useful budget for finishing hill lambs which can be found on www.teagasc.ie or accessed through your local adviser. Top tips for buying or selling store lambs
The way lambs are marketed can have a big impact on the number of sellers attracted to your lambs, while buyers should beware of the tell-tale signs that may end up costing you dearly.
Top tips for selling
Group lambs at an even weight, size and lamb type: If there is a large variation, split the group in two. Keep tight-woolled lambs, crossbreds or hill lambs together as buyers have a strong preference when buying. Group lambs on gender: At present in lowland sales, wether and ewe lambs are selling best. There is a premium for ewe lambs with breeding potential, making it very worthwhile to market suitable ewe lambs together. In hill sales, some producers finishing lambs intensively indoors still prefer ram lambs. EID tags: Farmers purchasing ewe lambs with breeding potential will in many cases be willing to pay a few euro extra for lambs that are electronically tagged. Top tips for buying
Avoid batches of lambs where there are one or two light lambs thrown into the mix: These lambs may take longer to finish and end up being the ones that put your budget under pressure.Put all lambs standing: If purchasing in a sale, assess lambs closely and put all lambs standing. Investigate if lambs lying down continually have lameness issues. Don’t lose track of the budget: It is easy to get caught in a bidding contest at present given demand for store lambs. Stick to the budget and pass lambs that are getting too expensive.Poor performers: Poor-performing lambs that are very dry in the wool or short condition will take longer to start performing. Where possible, avoid lambs that are showing signs of being stunted in growth. Target market: If pushing lambs into higher weights and hoping to attract butcher buyers, the market has a preference for wether lambs. Wether lambs will often be easier than ewe lambs to push to heavier weights without going overfat. Read more
Watch: the ploughman's wrap - 97,500 visitors to Screggan on day one
Grass and feed supplies vary greatly depending on the part of the country. This has also had a major influence on drafting rates, with some mid-season flocks on target with 60% to 70% of lambs drafted while others are falling well behind this target.
At this stage of the year, the priority should be turning to breeding stock and ensuring grass supplies are sufficient to feed ewes adequately pre- and post-mating. The most important management practice for farmers to carry out now is to assess the stage at which lambs are at and put a plan in place to prevent lambs from competing with ewes for tight grass supplies.
There is little point purchasing light lambs that will not be finished until the new year if grass supplies are only available to carry lambs until the end of October
On some farms this will mean introducing concentrate supplementation while for others the best option could be testing the store trade and selling a percentage of lambs to reduce feed demand.
This was one of the topics of discussion at the Lets Talk Farming livestock demonstrations hosted by the Irish Farmers Journal in conjunction with ICBF and Bord Bia.
Key factors
There are a number of important aspects to keep in mind when discussing store lambs from both a buyer's and seller's perspective. While the purchase price is an important consideration, it should be not be the only factor on which decisions are made. Lambs should be purchased to suit the most economic finishing system. There is little point purchasing light lambs that will not be finished until the new year if grass supplies are only available to carry lambs until the end of October, resulting in a higher feed bill than can be justified. Likewise, retaining lambs in the hope of finishing may be a false economy if grass supplies are tight and very high volumes of meal end up being fed. The following factors should be used to help make your decision.
Finishing system: Where grass forms the basis of your finishing system, use realistic performance levels. Lambs will gain 150g to 180g per day on average during August through to mid-September. This will drop to 120g to 140g until early November, after which point liveweight gain will become variable and dependent on weather, grass quality and utilisation. Ration cost: Be realistic if purchasing light lambs – they are likely to require concentrates to finish. This ranges from a relatively low supplementation level in lambs that have a good run on dry land to 1kg to 1.3kg daily for lambs finished intensively indoors. Over a 50-day intensive finishing period, lambs consuming 1.2kg concentrates at a cost of €300/t will generate costs of €1 per head. Mortality: It is important to factor in a level of mortality, especially if purchasing light lambs that will not be finished until next spring. A typical mortality of 1% to 1.5% should be factored in for long-keep lambs.
Market price: In the last few seasons, market returns have increased significantly during February and March, hitting a peak for the Easter market. Marketing costs: Do not forget to factor costs such as transport and purchase/selling costs into account. These can quickly add up to €3 to €4 if buying and selling in marts. Opportunity cost of grass: If in a breeding sheep enterprise, will having lambs around the farm competing for diminishing supplies of grass later in the season affect the performance of ewes or increase costs? Hill lamb budget calculator: Teagasc has developed a very useful budget for finishing hill lambs which can be found on www.teagasc.ie or accessed through your local adviser. Top tips for buying or selling store lambs
The way lambs are marketed can have a big impact on the number of sellers attracted to your lambs, while buyers should beware of the tell-tale signs that may end up costing you dearly.
Top tips for selling
Group lambs at an even weight, size and lamb type: If there is a large variation, split the group in two. Keep tight-woolled lambs, crossbreds or hill lambs together as buyers have a strong preference when buying. Group lambs on gender: At present in lowland sales, wether and ewe lambs are selling best. There is a premium for ewe lambs with breeding potential, making it very worthwhile to market suitable ewe lambs together. In hill sales, some producers finishing lambs intensively indoors still prefer ram lambs. EID tags: Farmers purchasing ewe lambs with breeding potential will in many cases be willing to pay a few euro extra for lambs that are electronically tagged. Top tips for buying
Avoid batches of lambs where there are one or two light lambs thrown into the mix: These lambs may take longer to finish and end up being the ones that put your budget under pressure.Put all lambs standing: If purchasing in a sale, assess lambs closely and put all lambs standing. Investigate if lambs lying down continually have lameness issues. Don’t lose track of the budget: It is easy to get caught in a bidding contest at present given demand for store lambs. Stick to the budget and pass lambs that are getting too expensive.Poor performers: Poor-performing lambs that are very dry in the wool or short condition will take longer to start performing. Where possible, avoid lambs that are showing signs of being stunted in growth. Target market: If pushing lambs into higher weights and hoping to attract butcher buyers, the market has a preference for wether lambs. Wether lambs will often be easier than ewe lambs to push to heavier weights without going overfat. Read more
Watch: the ploughman's wrap - 97,500 visitors to Screggan on day one
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