Prioritising light lambs: With weather conditions turning and heavy covers present on many farms, it is important to have a plan in place to ensure remaining lambs continue to perform and are not still on the farm, competing with ewes for diminishing grass supplies late into the year. For many, grass supplies are sufficient and of high enough quality to finish lambs. However, where grass supplies are tight, or quality is poor, lambs may benefit from meal supplementation at this stage of the year, rather than waiting until grass supplies have been depleted or quality declines significantly, resulting in higher meal supplementation requirements. The store lamb trade is also presently very strong, with lowland lambs selling for €2/kg to €2.15/kg and hill lambs from €1.40/kg to €1.60/kg. Farmers with a high percentage of lambs remaining, and running the risk of eating into grass supplies best placed for ewes, should consider this market outlet.
Castrating male lambs: While some specialised feeders have a preference for entire male hill lambs for intensive finishing, most buyers on the market are most active for wether lambs. Where castrating light lambs, it is essential to ensure that a clostridial disease vaccine (tetanus) has been administered in advance of castration.
Where aged ram lambs are present on the farm and are lacking flesh, meal supplementation will be required to improve flesh cover and bring lambs to a more marketable condition. Supplementation at 300-600g/head/day, depending on grass supply, will return the most economic response. Ram lambs at this stage of the year should be grouped separately to ewe lambs and grazed where possible out of sight of female sheep.
Temporary grazing: Recording requirements for temporary movements of sheep for short-term grazing vary depending on farming activity and land layout offering the grazing on the farm. If there is no livestock on the farm, sheep can be moved to and from the temporary grazing without dispatch documents and without Department notification. Note details of animals moved need to be recorded and maintained by the flock owner.
If sheep are moving to a farm/land parcel where there is livestock, then the movement to and from the holding must be notified to the Department via your local DVO (within seven days of movement). As there is no change in ownership, the onus is on the owner of the sheep to notify the Department.
Notification of sheep moving back to the holding is straightforward – send the white copy of the dispatch document clearly marked “return movement from temporary grazing”. An exception to this is where the farm you are moving sheep to is fragmented and has separate parcels of land. In this case, sheep can be moved to a parcel of land (outside the main holding) without notifying the Department, provided there is no livestock on any part of the land parcel that the sheep are being moved to.
Note also that where credit is required for nitrates allowances purposes, notification of the movement must be recorded with the Department nitrates section in Johnstown Castle.
Prioritising light lambs: With weather conditions turning and heavy covers present on many farms, it is important to have a plan in place to ensure remaining lambs continue to perform and are not still on the farm, competing with ewes for diminishing grass supplies late into the year. For many, grass supplies are sufficient and of high enough quality to finish lambs. However, where grass supplies are tight, or quality is poor, lambs may benefit from meal supplementation at this stage of the year, rather than waiting until grass supplies have been depleted or quality declines significantly, resulting in higher meal supplementation requirements. The store lamb trade is also presently very strong, with lowland lambs selling for €2/kg to €2.15/kg and hill lambs from €1.40/kg to €1.60/kg. Farmers with a high percentage of lambs remaining, and running the risk of eating into grass supplies best placed for ewes, should consider this market outlet.
Castrating male lambs: While some specialised feeders have a preference for entire male hill lambs for intensive finishing, most buyers on the market are most active for wether lambs. Where castrating light lambs, it is essential to ensure that a clostridial disease vaccine (tetanus) has been administered in advance of castration.
Where aged ram lambs are present on the farm and are lacking flesh, meal supplementation will be required to improve flesh cover and bring lambs to a more marketable condition. Supplementation at 300-600g/head/day, depending on grass supply, will return the most economic response. Ram lambs at this stage of the year should be grouped separately to ewe lambs and grazed where possible out of sight of female sheep.
Temporary grazing: Recording requirements for temporary movements of sheep for short-term grazing vary depending on farming activity and land layout offering the grazing on the farm. If there is no livestock on the farm, sheep can be moved to and from the temporary grazing without dispatch documents and without Department notification. Note details of animals moved need to be recorded and maintained by the flock owner.
If sheep are moving to a farm/land parcel where there is livestock, then the movement to and from the holding must be notified to the Department via your local DVO (within seven days of movement). As there is no change in ownership, the onus is on the owner of the sheep to notify the Department.
Notification of sheep moving back to the holding is straightforward – send the white copy of the dispatch document clearly marked “return movement from temporary grazing”. An exception to this is where the farm you are moving sheep to is fragmented and has separate parcels of land. In this case, sheep can be moved to a parcel of land (outside the main holding) without notifying the Department, provided there is no livestock on any part of the land parcel that the sheep are being moved to.
Note also that where credit is required for nitrates allowances purposes, notification of the movement must be recorded with the Department nitrates section in Johnstown Castle.
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