Sheep Management: Sheep Expo, ANC payments and nitrates deadlines

Sheep Expo 2024

Some people trying to purchase tickets for Sheep Expo 2024 (taking place on 9 October) in recent days received a message that the event was fully booked. This was a fault on the booking system and there are still places available.

There were a few questions regarding the cost breakdown. You only have to pay for the session you attend.

The cost to attend only the morning conference and lunch is €20, the cost for the conference and afternoon visit to Tullamore Farm plus lunch is €30, the cost for just the gala dinner and FBD LambPlus Awards ceremony is €30, while the cost for the full day is €50.

There were a few queries regarding the difference between the morning and afternoon sessions in terms of the coverage of similar topics on the agenda.

The conference session will be focused moreso on the technical side of antiparasitic resistance and lameness, while the afternoon session will address these topics in a practical manner with interactive on-farm workshops.

Take the afternoon lameness session for example, attendees will be able to see first hand the main causes of lameness, including advice on how to identify these and establish the best control programmes for their flock.

This is invaluable information for flocks, with more farmers faced with the challenge of contagious ovine digital dermatitis(CODD). Many flocks have been treating sheep for footrot and failing to get on top of issues when the cause is in fact CODD.

The same applies to antiparasitic resistance, with keen interest in particular from flocks dealing with resistance to the main anthelmintic classes.

Morning and evening sessions take place in the Bloomfield House Hotel, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, with the afternoon session on Tullamore Farm. Further details and access to the booking portal can be found at www.teagasc/sheepexpo.

ANC payments

Last week’s advance payment under the Areas of Natural Constraint was made to 87,903 applicants. The number of farmers receiving payment in 2023 was 99,791, meaning there are around 12,000 applicants still to receive payment.

A significant number of these cases involve holdings not yet achieving the minimum average stocking rate of at least 0.1LU/eligible forage hectare. The stocking rate livestock value for sheep is 0.1LU.

In some cases, an applicant may need to furnish their sheep census/dispatch booklet to show they are satisfying the stocking rate. Queries can be sent to DirectPaymentsCorrespondence@agriculture.gov.ie or 057-8674422.

Slurry deadline

As it stands, the final date for spreading slurry on farms in Ireland is 30 September 2024, with the closed period beginning on 1 October.

This differs to Northern Ireland, where the spreading of organic manures excluding soiled water and farm yard manure is prohibited from midnight on 15 October to midnight on 31 January.

The prohibited period for spreading farmyard manure is the same in both jurisdictions, commencing on 1 November. Any remaining organic manures should be targeted at low fertility soils and swards that will be grazed early in spring and will benefit from a final application of nutrients.

Chemical potash can continue to be applied where a deficiency exists, this should be addressed in the latter half of the year in breeding flocks rather than the first half of the year due to concerns with grass tetany.