Grazing challenges: A sharp deterioration in ground conditions is creating grazing challenges in many areas, particularly with heavy covers. Utilisation is suffering greatly. There may be no option with these covers but to take a light grazing moving on ewes when grass becomes soiled and returning at a later date to re-graze.

Splitting paddocks will also help increase utilisation but take care to take account of lower utilisation and grass dry matter when apportioning grass supplies. Ewes in mid-pregnancy require 1.1kg to 1.3kg grass dry mater (DM), meaning allocations need to be increased to 1.7kg DM to over 2kg DM where utilisation drops to 60-70%.

With supplies under pressure there may be a temptation to go back in on closed paddocks. This should be resisted at all costs. At this stage of the year, flocks operating at a stocking rate of 10 to 12 ewes and lambing in early March should have at least 60% of ground closed by late November and 80% closed by mid December.

Earlier housing: Weather will force many farmers operating at higher stocking rates to house earlier than planned, which could have knock-on consequences. Forage supplies are generally good but it is no harm to double-check if housing earlier. A good rule of thumb is that 1t of pit silage at 25% DM will feed 10 ewes for 25 days while a 650kg 4 x 4 round bale of silage at 30% DM will feed 10 ewes for about 20 days. This can be multiplied upwards depending on numbers.

Earlier housing may also see straw supplies disappear quicker. A lowland ewe will require 7kg straw bedding per week to absorb all urine while hill ewes require about 4kg to 5kg straw. One 4 x 4 round bale weighing 140kg will bed 18 to 20 lowland ewes and 30 to 35 hill ewes for one week. This requirement may reduce 20% to 30% for ewes fed hay or high-DM haylage, while spreading straw through a straw blower will also reduce usage.

The weight of bales can vary greatly. Round 4x4 bales average 150kg but can weigh 140kg to 180kg, 8x4x3 bales weigh about 360kg (range 350kg to 380kg), while 8x4x4 bales vary more and can weigh just below 500kg to 600kg, with an average weight of 550kg.

LambPlus participation: The deadline for breeders to join the Sheep Ireland LambPlus scheme for 2020 is 1 December 2019. The fee is €50 for breeders of breeds that use the Sheep Ireland database to host their society flockbook. This includes Belclare, Beltex, Blue Texel, Charollais, Galway, Irish Suffolk, Rouge, Texel and Vendéen breeds. The fee for other breeds to join LambPlus is €100, with the higher fee applicable for breeders with sheep in the two groups. Hill flocks and commercial flocks are free to join for 2020. The application fee and other information can be found at www.sheep.ie.

Mart event reminder: The final Irish Farmers Journal sheep mart event supported by FBD takes place next Thursday 5 December in Inishowen Mart, Carndonagh, Co Donegal. The event starts at 7pm, with free health checks taking place from 5pm to 7pm. Topics include winter feeding of ewes, health protocols and market update.