The unsuitable weather in recent weeks has turned many farmers off shearing ewe and store lambs.

For farmers that will be grazing catch or fodder crops over the winter months and finishing lambs, it is worth considering crutching or shearing belly wool, particularly in hill and crossbred lambs that have a higher risk of having their fleece soiled.

The advice is even more relevant this year, given that factories are likely to clamp down further on the clean livestock policy introduced this time last year.

The full details were released in 2016, but there has been no pictorial update since to visually demonstrate the type of lambs deemed suitable or unsuitable for slaughter.

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