Ewe condition

This week’s sub-zero temperatures are creating plenty of challenges in terms of keeping water running in sheds, supplementing animals located in terrain which is tricky to travel to, etc.

There are also cases of sheep having had sufficient access to forage / supplementary feed where conditions have been more favourable than the torrential rainfall that preceded the cold snap.

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A picture is emerging on many farms that grass reserves have been depleted much earlier than in recent years.

Much of this year has varied from the norm, and it is important that ewe condition/feed reserves are used as the barometer for housing/introducing supplementary feed rather than working off the normal date for such management practices.

Ewes should be handled at every opportunity to monitor body condition as, given the cost of concentrates, any flesh cover lost in the coming weeks will end up being very costly.

For ewes in mid-pregnancy, access to moderate-quality silage (67 to 70 DMD) will generally be sufficient to maintain body condition, with ewes requiring at least 5kg freshweight at 20% dry matter.

Intake will be significantly higher with top-quality and chopped silage. There has been a high volume of hay saved this year.

While hay will on average generally be of a lower feed quality than silage, animals can still meet maintenance demand by virtue of a potential for a higher dry matter intake.

For outwintered ewes in an extended grazing system, access to autumn grown grass will satisfy maintenance needs, with ewes requiring a daily allocation of 1.3kg grass dry matter.

Feed buckets are an option on hill farms but these come at a cost and you should weigh up their convenience versus introducing forage or concentrates.

Marketing lambs

The majority of factories are working as normal next week, with some plants planning to keep throughput similar on Friday, while others are planning a smaller kill.

Plants are closed on Monday 26 December and Tuesday 27 December and will operate largely as normal for the remainder of that week.

If you have lambs approaching drafting then it is worth making bookings in a timely manner, as procurement agents will be lining up supplies in advance.

Given the high cost of concentrates there is no merit in delaying drafting of lambs that have reached carcase weight limits or have reached their limit and performance has stagnated.

The closed period for sales in marts varies significantly, with some marts holding the last sale of the year this week and some delaying their opening date until the second week of the New Year. As such, it is wise to check what the situation is if this is your route to market.

LambPlus deadline

The deadline for applications to the 2023 LambPlus programme has been extended until 31 January 2023 due to the launch of the Sheep Improvement Scheme.

The extension is aimed at providing breeders not currently participating and interested in marketing rams that will satisfy scheme requirements in 2023 more time to get accustomed with the scheme.

It is important that farmers with hill breeds who intend to market DNA sire-verified rams get a DNA sample collected from rams used this season before rams leave the farm.