Scanning for early lambing flocks has shown that some rams were impacted by the high temperatures experienced this summer.

Navan-based scanner Pat Oliver said many flocks were hit this year where “a ram wasn’t working in August”, compared to the norm, and that there needs to be greater awareness of the impact high temperatures have on breeding rams.

Overall, he said that the numbers doing early lambs are “less and less” every year and that this has been a “trend the last three years”.

Oliver said a new trend he is seeing this year is that a number of farmers will only have lambs for three weeks in January where they would have traditionally left rams with ewes longer to finish out the flock.

He said these required scanning early to identify those not in lamb so they could be let off to the ram again. This, he said, is down to farmers trying to reduce meal costs.

Wexford-based scanner Pat Creane also said that he’s “never seen” as few early lambers and while scans may be good, the numbers are back.