As lambs approach weaning, their growth is becoming increasingly reliant on grass supply and quality, with ewe milk yield reducing fast.

Grass supplies remain pretty positive on farms, despite a dip in growth in recent weeks.

Rainfall over the last week has also boosted growth rates on drier farms which were starting to struggle with poor regrowth.

Opportune time

The lift in grass growth is coming at an opportune time to set the farm up for weaning.

The potential for a dip in performance post-weaning will be directly underpinned by the quality and quantity of grass available to lambs.

Therefore, it is important that plans are now put in place to ensure top-quality grass is available.

For some, the availability of after-grass coming into the rotation will address this challenge.

However, this is not straightforward, with heavy rainfall delaying cutting, which in turn could limit this opportunity.

There are steps around this, but action needs to be taken now.

Quick response

Swards that have been grazed and received fertiliser should respond quickly in current growth conditions and be available for grazing in a couple of weeks.

Another factor which may need to be addressed is swards, which were not grazed out sufficiently in the previous rotation and now have a high quantity of poor-quality grass at the base of the sward.

It is important if you are going to the effort of topping that swards are actually cut down sufficiently to 3.5cm to 4cm

These swards should be earmarked for topping or for grazing with dry hoggets or ewes post-weaning.

It is important if you are going to the effort of topping that swards are actually cut down sufficiently to 3.5cm to 4cm.

Cutting them down to 5cm to 6cm is a waste of time and money.

Regular fertiliser application

At this stage in the season, it is also important to keep even a small volume of fertiliser applied regularly, as it will help to maintain sward quality.

Applying as low as 10 units per acre on lowly stocked farms will help, while highly stocked farms should continue with an application of 20 to 25 units, depending on grass supply.

Swards that have been cut for first-cut silage or as surplus grass taken out of the rotation should be targeted for compound fertiliser or slurry to replenish nutrients removed in silage.

Weaning procedure

The two types of weaning practised on farms are gradual and abrupt weaning. Farmers find merits in both systems.

Gradual weaning, where a number of ewes are removed from the flock in stages, tends to reduce stress, with fewer lambs unsettled and those that are stressed generally settled quicker.

The downside here is where ewes and lambs are grazing poor-quality swards, with performance in weaned lambs hit harder.

There is also a labour component in flocking animals, but many combine this with weighing and drafting lambs, which balances this.

Abrupt weaning

Abrupt weaning, whereby all lambs are separated from ewes in one go, can lead to higher stress levels at first, but lambs generally settle quickly.

Disruption is minimised where lambs have access to high-quality leafy swards, which also limits any setback in performance.

It is important to note that in the latter option, good fencing is needed, with lambs taking longer to settle.

Weaning is also the ideal time to identify aspects such as ewes with pendulous udders or lumps in their udder.

Once weaned, the mistake is frequently made of failing to take remedial action quick enough.