Kildare farmer Dan O’Loughlin who farms in Mountrice, Monasterevin, Co Kildare, hosted a Teagasc Grass10 early spring grass walk on Friday last.
The farm has embarked on a drive to improve performance from grazed grass and, as such, was an ideal location to demonstrate what changes can be made on sheep farms and the benefits of such.
Dan O'Loughlin and his Teagasc adviser Christy Watson.
Dan currently has a flock of 208 mid-season lambing ewes and 68 ewe hoggets which are being run dry. The flock has increased from 180 ewes lambing in 2018 and has now also switched to a closed flock policy.
The increase in numbers and switch to retaining ewe hoggets over purchasing from outside sources has been influenced by 7ha of ground switching from tillage to grassland. This brings the total area under grass to 32ha.
As well as sheep and tillage, there is a small equine enterprise and the farm has also traditionally capitalised on surplus grass by making hay or haylage for sale.
Gradual improvements
Dan has been focused in recent years on making gradual improvements in the farm’s grazing infrastructure. The map of Dan’s farm details the grassland area.
The focus has been on the area to the left, with seven paddocks numbered 2A to 2G replacing three permanent divisions.
The benefit of installing additional paddocks in 2018 was not fully apparent due to the farm suffering badly from drought, but Dan says there were still major advantages when grass was close to performing at normal growth rates.
“You would think that the whole farm was sprayed with Round-up for a lot of the summer. We suffered badly and at stages were wondering if grass swards would recover at all,” he said.
“Having paddocks in place set us up stronger in spring and again allowed quicker recovery when grass growth recovered.
The average litter size of ewes lambing this spring has been significantly affected by last year's drought.
"We made over 400 round bales of hay and haylage despite the conditions and this would not have been possible were it not for the paddock system.”
Dan has been so impressed by the higher level of grass utilisation in paddocks 2A to 2G that he is going to tweak temporary fencing to split the four paddocks numbered 2A, 2B, 2E and 2F into six paddocks for the 2019 grazing season.
This is being done with temporary fencing, with good results achieved so far.
“The mains fence and temporary or permanent electric wire works a dream. I have some hill-cross store lambs purchased in recent years that would test any fence and it has worked a dream on them.
“In the bigger fields, I was going regularly with a topper to maintain grass quality.
"Last year, I was able to skip a paddock in spring, come in and make 20 bales of haylage, apply 18:6:12 to replenish nutrients removed and be off again with top-quality grass for grazing.”
Easier life
The range of fencing equipment on offer has improved dramatically in recent years and Dan advises farmers to have a good look at what is on offer and invest where there is a good return in reducing labour.
“I purchased a few geared reels and they have made a massive difference in the length of time it takes to move or change fences. Geared reels are more expensive, but if you look after them they’ll last a lifetime.
“I also purchased some steel posts (pictured above) that three reels can be quickly attached to and disconnected from, while other bits such as insulated fence hooks make life easier.”
Piping running on top of paddocks and water troughs, which can be easily moved, also service paddocks at a low cost.
The paddocks numbered 4A and 4B have switched from tillage to grass, with boundary and internal fencing erected through a combination of sheep wire and one strand of electric wire with the internal fence comprising four strands of electric wire.
This was erected in such a way that left the width of a roadway for aiding movement from the yard to paddocks, which greatly cuts down on the labour involved in moving sheep.
Dan says the fact that electric wire is present also gives potential to split paddocks 4A and 4B quickly.
Power of reseeding
The value of reseeding was highlighted by Teagasc adviser for the farm Christy Watson. Paddock 4A was closed on 1 November 2018 and when measured last week had a cover of 2,000kg DM/ha.
This compares with the permanent pasture in paddock 1, which was closed on the same day but was measured with a lower cover of 1,271kg DM/ha. This shows the potential for higher growth in reseeded swards in the shoulders of the year.
There were also a number of other lessons highlighted from the farm cover. Paddock 4B was also reseeded and closed on the same day, but with a much lower cover of 890kg DM/ha.
Explaining the reasoning, Christy said the paddock was cut for silage in late September, which had a lasting effect, while soil phosphorus and potassium levels also need addressing.
Christy advised farmers that every effort should be made to avoid harvesting reseeded swards in at least their first season’s growth.
The importance of closing up paddocks in time was also demonstrated by permanent pasture closed on 1 December having a cover of 618kg DM/ha, less than half that of equivalent paddocks closed a month earlier.
The average farm cover was measured at 626kg DM/ha, slightly behind 650kg DM, but Dan is confident that urea applied last week will bring the farm back on track.
This is discussed in more detail in the sheep management notes.
Breeding programme
As mentioned previously, the farm has also switched to a closed flock policy. The decision stems from a goal of having more control over potential output and also limiting the risk of introducing disease.
A New Zealand Suffolk ram was purchased in 2018 and mated with Belclare-cross and other crosses in the flock, such as Texel-cross ewes.
The New Zealand Suffolk-sired ewe lambs.
These ewe hoggets will form the basis of the flock in future and will be mated to a Belclare ram in 2019. Dan plans to operate a crisscross breeding programme with these two breeds for replacements.
“I like to have 1.6 to 1.7 lambs to sell or keep as replacements and I don’t think this will be possible without some Belclare influence. I scanned 2.09 lambs per ewe in spring 2018 and this put the farm in a great position.
“I sold 230 lambs and retained 80 ewe hoggets, which works out about 1.72 lambs produced and this is where I want to be.”
The flock’s 2018/2019 breeding performance is like numerous other farms that are still suffering the effects of last year’s drought.
A total of 208 ewes scanned below target, with an average scanning rate of 1.81 lambs per ewe, with fewer triplet litters and 80% more single litters. However, Dan is hopeful of performance quickly bouncing back to normal levels.
Kildare farmer Dan O’Loughlin who farms in Mountrice, Monasterevin, Co Kildare, hosted a Teagasc Grass10 early spring grass walk on Friday last.
The farm has embarked on a drive to improve performance from grazed grass and, as such, was an ideal location to demonstrate what changes can be made on sheep farms and the benefits of such.
Dan O'Loughlin and his Teagasc adviser Christy Watson.
Dan currently has a flock of 208 mid-season lambing ewes and 68 ewe hoggets which are being run dry. The flock has increased from 180 ewes lambing in 2018 and has now also switched to a closed flock policy.
The increase in numbers and switch to retaining ewe hoggets over purchasing from outside sources has been influenced by 7ha of ground switching from tillage to grassland. This brings the total area under grass to 32ha.
As well as sheep and tillage, there is a small equine enterprise and the farm has also traditionally capitalised on surplus grass by making hay or haylage for sale.
Gradual improvements
Dan has been focused in recent years on making gradual improvements in the farm’s grazing infrastructure. The map of Dan’s farm details the grassland area.
The focus has been on the area to the left, with seven paddocks numbered 2A to 2G replacing three permanent divisions.
The benefit of installing additional paddocks in 2018 was not fully apparent due to the farm suffering badly from drought, but Dan says there were still major advantages when grass was close to performing at normal growth rates.
“You would think that the whole farm was sprayed with Round-up for a lot of the summer. We suffered badly and at stages were wondering if grass swards would recover at all,” he said.
“Having paddocks in place set us up stronger in spring and again allowed quicker recovery when grass growth recovered.
The average litter size of ewes lambing this spring has been significantly affected by last year's drought.
"We made over 400 round bales of hay and haylage despite the conditions and this would not have been possible were it not for the paddock system.”
Dan has been so impressed by the higher level of grass utilisation in paddocks 2A to 2G that he is going to tweak temporary fencing to split the four paddocks numbered 2A, 2B, 2E and 2F into six paddocks for the 2019 grazing season.
This is being done with temporary fencing, with good results achieved so far.
“The mains fence and temporary or permanent electric wire works a dream. I have some hill-cross store lambs purchased in recent years that would test any fence and it has worked a dream on them.
“In the bigger fields, I was going regularly with a topper to maintain grass quality.
"Last year, I was able to skip a paddock in spring, come in and make 20 bales of haylage, apply 18:6:12 to replenish nutrients removed and be off again with top-quality grass for grazing.”
Easier life
The range of fencing equipment on offer has improved dramatically in recent years and Dan advises farmers to have a good look at what is on offer and invest where there is a good return in reducing labour.
“I purchased a few geared reels and they have made a massive difference in the length of time it takes to move or change fences. Geared reels are more expensive, but if you look after them they’ll last a lifetime.
“I also purchased some steel posts (pictured above) that three reels can be quickly attached to and disconnected from, while other bits such as insulated fence hooks make life easier.”
Piping running on top of paddocks and water troughs, which can be easily moved, also service paddocks at a low cost.
The paddocks numbered 4A and 4B have switched from tillage to grass, with boundary and internal fencing erected through a combination of sheep wire and one strand of electric wire with the internal fence comprising four strands of electric wire.
This was erected in such a way that left the width of a roadway for aiding movement from the yard to paddocks, which greatly cuts down on the labour involved in moving sheep.
Dan says the fact that electric wire is present also gives potential to split paddocks 4A and 4B quickly.
Power of reseeding
The value of reseeding was highlighted by Teagasc adviser for the farm Christy Watson. Paddock 4A was closed on 1 November 2018 and when measured last week had a cover of 2,000kg DM/ha.
This compares with the permanent pasture in paddock 1, which was closed on the same day but was measured with a lower cover of 1,271kg DM/ha. This shows the potential for higher growth in reseeded swards in the shoulders of the year.
There were also a number of other lessons highlighted from the farm cover. Paddock 4B was also reseeded and closed on the same day, but with a much lower cover of 890kg DM/ha.
Explaining the reasoning, Christy said the paddock was cut for silage in late September, which had a lasting effect, while soil phosphorus and potassium levels also need addressing.
Christy advised farmers that every effort should be made to avoid harvesting reseeded swards in at least their first season’s growth.
The importance of closing up paddocks in time was also demonstrated by permanent pasture closed on 1 December having a cover of 618kg DM/ha, less than half that of equivalent paddocks closed a month earlier.
The average farm cover was measured at 626kg DM/ha, slightly behind 650kg DM, but Dan is confident that urea applied last week will bring the farm back on track.
This is discussed in more detail in the sheep management notes.
Breeding programme
As mentioned previously, the farm has also switched to a closed flock policy. The decision stems from a goal of having more control over potential output and also limiting the risk of introducing disease.
A New Zealand Suffolk ram was purchased in 2018 and mated with Belclare-cross and other crosses in the flock, such as Texel-cross ewes.
The New Zealand Suffolk-sired ewe lambs.
These ewe hoggets will form the basis of the flock in future and will be mated to a Belclare ram in 2019. Dan plans to operate a crisscross breeding programme with these two breeds for replacements.
“I like to have 1.6 to 1.7 lambs to sell or keep as replacements and I don’t think this will be possible without some Belclare influence. I scanned 2.09 lambs per ewe in spring 2018 and this put the farm in a great position.
“I sold 230 lambs and retained 80 ewe hoggets, which works out about 1.72 lambs produced and this is where I want to be.”
The flock’s 2018/2019 breeding performance is like numerous other farms that are still suffering the effects of last year’s drought.
A total of 208 ewes scanned below target, with an average scanning rate of 1.81 lambs per ewe, with fewer triplet litters and 80% more single litters. However, Dan is hopeful of performance quickly bouncing back to normal levels.
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