Early lambing: The focus feature this week is on sheep breeding. This week in our focus section look at potential market forecasts and factors that may influence breeding decisions. Where aiming to lamb in January, the time frame to prepare ewes is reducing fast. Where ewes are being sponged, conception rates of in the region of 70% are common, but they can range from as low as 50% to over 80%. Sponges should be removed 12 days after insertion, while administering PMSG at this stage will help conception rates and boost litter size.

Rams should be introduced 44 to 46 hours after sponge removal. As rams will be expected to serve a high number of ewes in a short period of time, a ram to ewe ratio of 1:8 is recommended in July. This can possibly be increased to 1:10 or slightly higher in August, provided rams are fit to work and not too fat.

Rams should be switched between groups or grouped in small batches to guard against infertility or sub-fertility issues. It is also important to ensure ewes are in prime condition. They should be dried off well in advance of sponging and be in the recommended body condition score of 3.5.

Grassland management: Grass growth rates continue to range anywhere from 20kg to 30kg DM/ha on farms where fertiliser use is low, to 40kg to 50kg DM/ha where in the region of 15 units of fertiliser was recently applied. Farms with productive swards that are applying 25 to 30 units have recorded growth rates as high as 70kg to 90kg DM/ha.

These higher growth rates are being recorded on some of the Teagasc BETTER farm programme sheep farms, but are warranted as farms are operating at a high stocking rate and need to keep grass growth rates moving to supplement silage reserves/allow ground to be taken out for reseeding and also continue to build covers and be in a strong position when growth rates seasonally decline.

Low-stocked farms will also benefit from applying a small volume of fertiliser, as it will help to keep some life in the sward, help shorten recovery times and boost sward quality. At this stage of the year, lambs should be entering swards at a pre-grazing height of 7cm to 9cm.

This target is being greatly exceeded in some cases and in such a scenario, it is important to split paddocks and keep lambs moving into fresh grass once the leafy grass portion of the sward has been grazed.

Blowfly strike: The damp humid weather is giving rise to an increased risk of blowfly strike. There have been reports of cases in ewes shorn early and possessing a good cover of wool and in lambs that received blowfly treatment with a product offering a shorter window of cover earlier in the season. Where treatment is taking place, it is important to be mindful of withdrawal dates. It is also important where treating an active strike to note that many preventative products do not also possess treatment capabilities.

TAMS deadline: Remember, the next tranche of TAMS closes for application on midnight on 7 August 2020. There is no information as yet as to when a subsequent tranche may open, and if so for how long.