Ground conditions in many parts of the country have gone from bad to worse in the last week, with western and northern regions particularly hard hit.

The low dry matter content in grass is affecting intake and performance levels in lambs.

This will be most severe where underfoot conditions and utilisation are poor.

In such circumstances, there may be no other option than to supplement lambs to maintain reasonable performance.

Offering 300g daily will help, rising to 500g or higher where lambs are short of flesh and will have serious difficulty finishing.

Where offering the higher allocation, it is important to build meal feeding levels gradually to prevent digestive upsets.

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