Tullamore Farm has been busy on both sides of the house, with lambs and bulls being drafted for slaughter this week.

Thirteen lambs came into €160.27 on average at a price of €7.75/kg.

The lambs averaged out at 44kg liveweight and killed out on average at 20.7kg. All lambs were receiving no additional meal and were being finished using grass and milk.

Farm manager Shaun Diver commented: “I’m happy with the results, with all the lambs killing out really well.

"It has given me good confidence for going back to offload lighter lambs next time round, as a number of the lambs drafted killed over their weight bracket.”

This week, all lambs were dosed with a clear drench in preparation for them being weaned in the next week to 10 days.

If grass growth and quality continues to improve, Shaun hopes to get away without feeding concentrations until mid-July or August.

Shaun said: “Usually, we plan to have approximately 60% to 70% of lambs drafted by September, with 40% of the lambs drafted from October to December. There will also be a few stragglers that will carry on till Christmas.”

Grass cover

The grass cover this week is 580kg DM/ha, which has increased by 90kg from last week’s grass cover.

The average growth rate per day is 53kg DM/ha/day, with the demand per day settling at 48kg DM/ha/day.

Bulls

A further 10 bulls were drafted for slaughter this week, with the average liveweight of the bulls at 680kg. The average carcase weight of the bulls was 393.95kg, meaning that the 10 bulls killed out at 57.7%.

The average grade of the bulls was U=2, with the average price per kg settling at €5.24/kg.

Shaun said: "I’m happy with the result, as the bulls killed out well at 57.7%. It is clear to see that they were well fit to kill, which was reflected in the fat scores.

"There’s only nine bulls remaining on the farm now, which will be drafted off hopefully in the next few weeks."

Tullamore Farm open day

This year, Tullamore Farm will host its national open day on 26 July. The open day will have an overview of the entire farm system and performance of both the beef and sheep enterprises and demonstrate how the farm system has evolved since its inception in 2017.

Financial performance to breeding and genetics, grassland management, soil health and fertility are a number of areas to be discussed on the day.

The day will run from 10.30am to 5pm. For enquires, email events@farmersjournal.ie. The farm’s Eircode is R35AT81.