Lamb castration: Entire male lambs will perform better than wether lambs early in the season. However, if not managed correctly this benefit can be quickly lost later in the year. This is especially the case if farm infrastructure does not allow ram lambs to be run in one separate group or feeding is limited with difficulties in getting the required fat cover on lambs. There are also marketing issues to consider. The decision to castrate also needs to take into account the type of lambs present. Forward ram lambs may benefit from being grouped together, left entire and supplemented if required, while castration is likely to suit lighter lambs that will not be finished in the immediate future.

Under the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme, lambs can only be castrated with a burdizzo up to three months of age. It is important to administer a clostridial disease vaccine in advance of castration to help guard against tetanus and also take necessary precautions for blowfly.

When castrating be careful to avoid catching the urinary tract when closing the burdizzo, clamp the jaws shut and release immediately without overlapping the castration site on each side. Delayed opening or longer-term closure can lead to extra injury and swelling.

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Marketing store lambs: Mart managers report interest building in sales for store lambs, with many buyers experiencing a good year in 2015 and returning to sales with confidence. Managers explain that even at this early stage of the season there is a price differential between lambs that are evenly matched on weight, size and gender and poorly matched mixed batches of wether/ram and ewe lambs. There is also more demand for short-tailed lambs with clean tail ends. Another notable selling aid for batches of ewe lambs suitable for breeding is possession of electronic tags (electronic and permanent tag set) with fewer buyers reported as competing for suitable replacements with one permanent tag.

Potential for reseeding: The high grass growth rate is providing an opportunity to reseed. The mistake is frequently made of not burning off vegetation before reseeding which makes it harder to control weeds in emerging swards. Given the overall cost of reseeding, a pre- and post-emergence spray is a small cost in safeguarding your total investment. Addressing soil fertility is also another critical component, with establishment and persistency of ryegrass swards negatively affected where the pH, phosphorus or potassium levels are limiting. Where fertility is especially deficient, it may be better to concentrate on improving soil fertility before undertaking reseeding.

When selecting grass varieties, the Pasture Profit Index should be consulted to select the optimum seed variety for grazing/fodder production and soil type present.

Sheep BETTER Farm event: Teagasc is holding a BETTER farm open day on the farm of David McLaughlin, Ballymacarthur, Greencastle, Co Donegal, on Wednesday 13 July. The open evening, which runs from 6.30pm to 8.30pm, is a DAFM-approved Knowledge Transfer sheep event and will cover a range of topics including flock performance, grassland management and reseeding.