Grass supplies: The grass supply situation on farms remains hugely contrasting, with farms on the western half of the country in a good position while farms along the eastern half continue to await rain to lift growth rates. Options for farmers tight on grass were discussed in last week’s management notes while for farmers in the west the main challenge at present is maintaining quality and having sufficient high-quality grass available for lambs post-weaning.

Many farmers with sufficient grass supplies have started topping to improve quality. It is important if you are going to the effort of topping that swards are actually cut down to 3.5cm to 4cm. The best option to achieve such a cut is with a mower rather than a topper. Cutting swards to 5cm to 6cm is a waste of time and money and will not address quality issues.

Where grass supplies are tight then topping should be avoided as in current weather it can delay recovery times and compound issues. While the quality of swards may be poor it will provide options to graze ewes post-weaning if required. If in doubt, splitting the area to be topped may be an option.

Resting these swards even where they are not topped for a period before weaning will provide an option to graze lambs post-weaning. It is important, however, that lambs are only asked to graze the best quality leafy material and not forced to graze down tight as this will hit performance hard.

The other challenge at present is grass heading out at a low height. This is not surprising as when grass comes under pressure it will head out to have a better chance of survival. Where moisture in the ground is good and some level of rainfall is being received then applying even a small level of fertiliser will help to maintain 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 where this is a realistic option 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. Where swards are suffering from a severe soil mositure deficit then there is little point applying fertiliser until rain arrives.

Worm control: This week’s sheep feature discusses worm control and the use of faecal egg counts (FECs) for identifying the need to treat lambs. A significant number of farmers participating in the sheep welfare scheme who selected the parasite control option should also now be looking at FECs.

Lowland flocks must carry out a minimum of two faecal egg counts during the period June 1 to 30 September to establish the worm burden and ascertain the need for treatment. For hill flocks, the measure requires carrying out one faecal egg count on lambs post-weaning for the presence of worms and treating accordingly.

Both systems will be policed by laboratory results, receipts for the purchase of an anthelmintic and records kept in the scheme action record book. A list of labs approved by the Department can be found under the farmer schemes and payment and sheep welfare scheme heading at www.agriculture.gov.ie.

It is also important not to forget to include lactating yearling hoggets in your worm control programme. As these animals are under more nutritional stress it generally takes them longer to develop a level of natural immunity.