Like many other farmers at the moment, farmers Pat and Catherine Murray from Gorey, Co. Wexford are experiencing late nights and early starts as they continue through the lambing and calving season.

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A pedigree Lleyn flock owner in Co. Mayo is confirming a 204% scanning figure in the run up to the 2024 lambing season.

The count comprises a mix of twins, triplets and quads.

Kenny O’Donnell farms at Carrowmore, near Belmullet. He runs a pedigree flock of 90 pedigree Lleyn ewes and followers.

“Lleyn ewes are noted for their fertility,” Kenny commented.

“This is the first time that we have ever broken through the 200% barrier. Not one of the ewes is carrying a single this season – it’s twins, triplets and quads across the board.”

Kenny also manages a commercial hill flock. The Lleyns were housed around Christmas time. Lambing is due to get underway on March 5 and will continue through until March 25.

The ewes are divided up into groups based on the number of lambs they are carrying.

“The greater the number of lambs, the higher the requirement for energy amongst the various groups,” Kenny explained to Agriland.

“Normally, I would expect the scanning figure to come in just below 200. But, the ewes had access to good grass last autumn. They were in tremendous condition when the rams went in.

“All the additional lambs will require that extra bit of care and attention. But it will be worth it, once they are all reared.”

Lleyn breeder

Kenny is the only pedigree Lleyn breeder in Co. Mayo. However, he is reporting a strong demand for the ewe and ram lambs that he has to sell on an annual basis.

“The inherent fertility of the breed is well-recognised. Lleyn ewes are good mothers, and they also perform well at grass,” he said.

According to the Carrowmore man, such breeding stock can be used in both lowland and hill situations.

“A Lleyn ewe can easily rear two lambs through to finishing weights when crossed with a terminal sire ram,” he continued.

“There is also a role for Lleyn genetics within hill flock. The role here is to boost the overall fertility of a flock. I have taken this approach with my own hill flock and it is working well.”

Kenny O’Donnell believes that Lleyn bloodlines have an important role to play within Irish sheep production systems.

“They are a prolific ewe; they are a milkier ewe; they are a medium-sized ewe, but, most of all, they are a very easily fed ewe. This is what makes the real difference at the end of the day,” he concluded.

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Antonio Enfedaque, a 61 year old Spanish farmer located in northeast Spain, has a total of 3,000 sheep on his farm.

Together with his two sons, Ángel and Antonio, Enfedaque is producing lamb that is called Ternasco de Aragón, classed as a protected geographical indication (PGI) that was created in 1999 for the promotion and marketing of lamb meat from native breeds of Aragon.

This native breed of sheep on the farm is Rasa Aragonesa, which is known for its short wool and its ability to stand low temperatures.

The farm had an annual turnover of €250,000 in 2022, and while the expected turnover in 2023 is not yet known, it is forecasted to be higher as a result of the price increase of lamb meat.

Enfedaque can sustain his farming practices through the support of a co-operative that he is a member of, called Oviaragon- Grupo Pastores Cooperative, that promotes and sells this premium product.

The Pastores Grupo Cooperativo consists of 800 shepherds in 400 villages that farm sheep on a total of 1,000,000ha, which contributes to the development of the Aragón region, as the organisation maintains it helps to sustain the population in this rural area.

While Spain produces over a quarter of the sheepmeat in the EU, the Aragón region is responsible for almost 10% of the product in Spain.

The Pastores Grupo Cooperativo will not allow members that have fewer than 100 sheep, as Ángel Tarancón, the director general of the organisation said they are not sustainable.

The cooperative is responsible for many stages of lamb production from farm to table, from providing vets to assist farmers, maintaining fattening centres for lambs and producing feed mixes for ewes and lambs.

Ternasco de Aragón is produced from the meat of young lambs that are selected for slaughter when they are just under three months of age, and that have been reared on their mothers milk for 40 days.

The meat itself is known for being tender and with a balanced flavour.

Enfedaque had over a thousand of his sheep grazing on alfalfa, a forage crop also called lucerne, the growing of which is possible through the irrigation system in place in the area.

The pastures that Enfedaque uses for his sheep to graze on are not owned by him, but are owned by the local municipality who manage their use.

Each flock of sheep that he has grazing are managed by a shepherd, and the sheep and shepherd are outside in the field for 12 months of the year.

Enfedaque has invested heavily in the farm, in particular the addition of a new shed with automation for animals feeding (pictured above), which was financed by his own funds and a bank loan.

It is a sector however that it is hard to find workers for, as Enfedaque said they are expected to work 12 hours a day for 365 days of the year.

He said if the workers are young people that are single, or if they are with someone interested in sheep, they will continue working there.

However, Enfedaque said if they are with someone who is not interested in sheep, the relationship is “over”.

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Farming on the Shetland Islands is undoubtedly a challenge, but for one farmer it is a challenge he has successfully faced for decades.

Laurence Odie farms with his son on Yell, one of the north isles of Shetland, where they have 650 breeding ewes and a small herd of pedigree Shetland cattle on their 150ha farm.

Odie also works at the livestock mart at Lerwick which regularly fills with sheep and cattle from the island’s crofts and hills, where he helps during busy periods, penning up sheep and cattle, loading livestock onto trucks and helping the business to run smoothly. 

“I like working with livestock and meeting people, so when the mart is busy, and I have time, I enjoy helping out,” Odie said.

Shetland sheep farming

Odie believes that the ever-changing conditions on the Shetlands create the right environment to breed hardy livestock.

“Sheep do well here, outwintering on the hill, with in-bye grazing for commercial and lambing ewes. Buyers know they are getting healthy, hardy livestock when they buy from Shetland,” he said.

The Shetland Island farmer founded the Laurence Odie knitwear factory, but since transferring ownership to its employees in 2019, he has been able to concentrate on farming at home and helping rural neighbours with their livestock.

On Odies farm, the wool produced by the sheep is used to make knitwear, and maximising wool quality for the knitwear is achieved through supplementary nutrition.

The remote location can make this challenging but it has been made simple by way of a joint order, with multiple farmers grouping together to purchase a 28-tonne artic load of feed, from a supplier on the mainland, East Coast Viners.

Odie has sourced feed with the company for over 20 years which he says has offered consistency in feed quality and quantity and has even developed a Shetland formula to suit the island’s unique terrain.

East Coast Viners grains are largely grown on the east coast of Scotland, within a 40-mile radius of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, where the business operates from.

Odie said: “One farmer buys the bulk feed order, with smaller farming businesses adding to it, filling up a 28t artic load to minimise transports costs.

“I then collect what we need and know exactly what we are getting and how it will support our flock. 

The feed used on the island has also benefitted the conception rates on Odies flock, as he said that when they lamb from mid-April, the lambing percentage has gone from 130% to 170%. 

Sheep breeding

On his farm, Odie crosses 90 of the 110 Shetland ewes with a Cheviot, which adds ewe lambs to the commercial breeding flock. 

He then uses a Shetland tup for over 20 Shetland ewes, which provides pedigree breeding stock for replacements and for sale. 

Suffolk tups are used across the commercial Shetland x Cheviot ewe flock, producing store lambs for sale at the mart. 

Most of the Shetland ewes winter and lamb on the hill and are only taken off the hill a few times each year.

Shetland breeding lambs are selected based on their wool quality and hardiness, as he explained there is a “strong wool trade here in Shetland” that sells products to Japan and the USA as well as domestic markets.

Odie keeps a closed flock and only occasionally buys in tups.

“Shetland has a disease-free status, animals entering the island are blood tested and dipped on arrival, and then isolated until all tests are clear, they are then re-tested in six months’ time,” he explained. 

Now at 70 years old and having lived all his life on Shetland, Odie credits his health to a strong sense of community, getting outside every day and enjoying the positive mart environment. 

“We all work together to keep things going, helping each other out,” he said.

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By Barbara Collins

Alan and Wendy Dempster breed sheep on their 50ac farm near Ballymoney in Co. Antrim. It is a fourth-generation, family-owned farm where they rear and breed 120 sheep.

The breeds are Suffolk and Texel crosses which they say make a good carcass. They are “hoping to work with Dutch Spotted lamb; it is very trendy at the moment, and we are interested to see what kind of meat they will produce”, Wendy said.

“My husband is a part-time sheep farmer. The sheep were housed for lambing in March, but they have now swapped to lambing outside in April because they think it is healthier. The dream is for him to go full-time.”

Wendy herself is a fairly recent recruit to farming. “My introduction to farming really happened during [the Covid-19] lockdown,” she explained.

“I had lived on the farm for about eight years with my husband and daughter but was really only ever involved at the weekends as I commuted to my accountancy job in Belfast all week.

“During the pandemic I was furloughed and started getting more hands on. It gave me a real appreciation for the work and dedication that goes into producing the high standard of lamb.”

Wendy started her own flock from orphaned lambs during the pandemic lockdown, bottle feeding six times a day to begin with.

“I was determined to learn the process from start to finish. Naively I named them: Snow White; Princess Fiona; Darcy; Missy; Harriett… you get the idea. These are some of the mothers to the Farm Quality Assured, grass-fed lambs which we now rear.

“The first lamb being born into my flock was extremely special to me and I love having the opportunity to be innovative in a hugely male dominated sector.

“It is small milestones that make my job in agri worth it. E.g., when I had an aged farmer from down the road tell me he had heard about my concoction for bloated lambs and could I make him up some?”

Diversifying from the sheep enterprise

Prices at the mart or the factory rarely pass £5.00/kg, with the average being £4.50/kg, so Alan and Wendy decided to diversify.

“After having the costs involved highlighted, we realised we needed to increase the value of our lambs to make sheep farming viable and the way to do so was to showcase the great quality of the product in a way to appeal to a larger market,” Wendy continued.

“We wanted to add value to our meat. I was interested in looking at different remedies. I love a wee bit of charcuterie and cheeseboard and that’s where the idea for lamb ham came from. There was nothing out there.

“I was on everything you could read or watch on how to cure lamb. It took a few months and a few mistakes but three months, takes about two weeks to cure. I use wet rather than dry cure because it’s quicker.”

She says some of her market research involved making dinner. 

“I held a few shepherdess suppers and got people to try it and the feedback was great. They were the first people ever to get to taste it. We had review cards and all but one said the lamb ham was the highlight of the evening for them,” Wendy said.

They converted a horsebox into a mobile kitchen and worked with the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) in Cookstown, Co.Tyrone to develop recipes. Since then, their business plan has evolved.

“The initial plan was to take our lamb to events and sell from our upcycled horsebox called the ‘Lamb Van’ at farmers’ markets and events. but we have since organically expanded into retail.

Lamb ham

So, is lamb a hard sell?

“It is seen as a special occasion meat, so the challenge was to get people to see its health benefits. People have this mistaken idea that lamb meat is very fatty, but it is actually a good type of fat,” Wendy explained.

She said that making and selling hand-held snacks is working for them.

“We hook them in with our lamb sausage rolls and burgers and then they come back for more,” she added.

“On the second day at an event, a young boy came to buy a lamb burger with the money his dad had gave him because he had loved the one he got the day before. That melted my heart. I sent him home with a few for his freezer.

“A few weeks later at an agricultural show he came back with his dad and brothers so they all could have burgers. Things like that make all the hard work worth it.

“Adding extra value to our lambs will hopefully make it possible for Alan to farm full-time. This is a driving factor for us,” Wendy said.

“I served my time as an electrician,” Alan added. “I always kept a few sheep. I knew from an early age where my passion lay. Sheep farming was in my blood.

“It is extremely hard to make sheep farming viable, especially with the ever-increasing costs involved.

“By increasing the value of the end product from the farm, I hope to make the transition to full-time. Time will tell,” Alan concluded.

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Agriland Media attended the International sheep dog trials in Blessington Co. Wicklow

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Based in Kilcoagh, Donard, Co. Wicklow, Paddy and Fionnuala Tyrell are suckler and sheep farmers, calving a herd of commercial sucklers and a flock of both pedigree and commercial ewes with the help of their four children; Jenny, Katie, Emily, and John.

Agriland recently paid a visit to the Tyrell’s farm to find out more about their farming system and some of the challenges they face on their Wicklow hill farm.

The farm has 25 sucklers and a flock of 370 ewes. Paddy and Fionnuala’s children have been developing a flock of pedigree Suffolk ewes over the past number of years and they sell their rams at the autumn sales at Blessington Mart.

The farm is located over 1,300ft above sea level and the higher altitude of the farm can delay grass growth in the spring.

Both Katie and Jenny study agriculture in college with Katie studying at University College Dublin (UCD) and Jenny studying at South East Technological University, formerly Waterford Institute of Technology.

Sheep

The ewes in the commercial flock are primarily Cheviot and Suffolk-cross ewes. Lambing begins on the farm around February 20, and continues throughout March, April and into May.

“We prefer to spread out the lambing season because it’s easier to manage the bigger numbers of ewes,” Paddy explained.

All twin-bearing ewes are lambed indoors and ewes carrying singles are lambed outdoors.

“Outdoor lambing works as long as the weather is good,” said Paddy.

The home farm consists of approximately 115ac and Paddy said that while the land is dry, much of it had to be reclaimed over the years.

Lambs are sold as stores from June to November. “The better lambs would be 45kg and the lightest of the lambs sold would be 35kg,” said Paddy.

“Replacement ewe lambs are kept and bred as hoggets to lamb at two-years-old.”

Suckler farming

A total of 25 suckler cows are currently on the farm. Heifers are served to an easy-calving artificial insemination (AI) Limousin bull and a Charolais stockbull is used on second-calvers and cows.

Heifer weanlings are generally sold in the autumn and replaced with bull weanlings. These weanling bulls are then sold at a year-and-a-half-old as store bullocks.

Paddy said that with bovine tuberculosis (TB) issues in the Wicklow region, the number of cows on the farm could drop in the event of a TB outbreak and the farm has had to change its management strategy due to this concern.

TB is a major issue in the region. “We had no cases of bovine TB on this farm for 27 years and then from from 2012 to 2017, we had over 130 reactors,” said Paddy.

“TB has made us have to rethink our entire management strategy with the sucklers,” Fionnuala added.

“We had more cows in the past but since TB has become an issue in the region, our numbers have dropped.

“Our plan was originally to expand the suckler herd. We lost a number of cows here one year to TB and bought in heifers to try rebuild numbers, but TB was much too prevalent in the area at the time and the heifers we bought in went down with TB as well,” she added.

“We didn’t join the Beef Data Genomics Programme (BDGP) the last time because the year we were due to join the scheme, five of the seven cows we were asked to genotype went down in the TB test so we decided not to join the scheme.

“Over the years, the uncertainty of TB has always left things uncertain for the cattle and hard to plan. The farm is the main source of income here and there’s a lot dependent on it.”

Deer fencing was erected around part of the farm which Paddy noted has been a huge help in reducing incidents of TB and keeping deer off the land.

Commenting on the plans for the future of the Wicklow farm, Paddy said he hopes to continue at a similar stocking level and continue to improve the quality of the livestock being sold from the farm.

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The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has called on Teagasc to clarify its forecasts for farm income and net margins on beef, suckler, and sheep farms for 2022.

President of ICSA, Dermot Kelleher said: “It looks to us in ICSA as if the report is glossing over the likelihood that dairy incomes will be 10-15 times higher per hectare than cattle and sheep incomes.”

Kelleher was reacting to the updated Situation and Outlook for Irish Agriculture published today (Wednesday, April 13) which assesses the cost escalations in agriculture and the impact for farmers.

“The document is an attempt to understand what the consequences of war in Ukraine are in terms of costs, but there is much more precise data given in relation to pigs and dairying than there is for the low-income sectors,” Kelleher added.

“This is not good enough and it is vital that the government gets a full picture of how input cost escalation is not evenly affecting all farm sectors.”

Impact on farm income for different sectors

The association has said that the government does not recognise that beef, suckler, and sheep sectors are much more vulnerable than the dairy sector.

“The dairying sector is being supported in every conceivable way by dairy processors but the same is not true in the meat sectors,” the ICSA president added.

“We see that the dairy sector is looking at a milk price double what it was six years ago, and dairy farmers are entitled to that. But the beef and sheep sectors are not getting that level of increase and ICSA has made it clear that beef price needs to be at least €6/kg.”

The report released by Teagasc has given estimates of net margin (or profitability) for the dairy and pig sectors and compared these with previous years.

“This is more precise than what we see in the beef and sheep reports,” Kelleher continued.

“The report suggests that net margin will be down by 25% on sucklers and 16% on beef farms, whereas it suggests that sheep farmers will have a net margin of €110/ha.

“We would really need to see what the actual per hectare net margin for beef and sucklers is. However, it seems to suggest that dairy farm net margins will be 10 to fifteen times higher per hectare than cattle and sheep systems.”

The ICSA stated that if this turns out to be the case, then the entire Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) strategy will completely fail to adequately support lower income and lower intensity farm systems.

It also will require a radically different approach to the current feed and fodder crisis, according to the association.

“The government will have to face up to the disastrous implications for the wider community of farmers in the cattle and sheep sectors in a much more proactive way and with a much more ambitious financial support package,” Kelleher concluded.

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Last week, Agriland paid a visit to sheep farmer Cathal McCauley from just outside Drumkeeran in Co. Leitrim.

The purpose of the visit to Cathal was to check out what stock he will have on offer at this Friday’s (August 20) Carrick Prolific Ewe Lamb Breeders’ Sale.

He has been making the trip over to Carrick-On-Shannon since the inaugural sale three years ago.

This year, he has 45 ewe lambs made up of both Suftex and Aber lambs going to the ever-growing sale.

Last week, Agriland got the chance to see what ewe lambs Cathal will have on offer this coming Friday – which can be seen in the video below.

Speaking to Agriland ahead of the sale Cathal said: “The Carrick Prolific Ewe Lamb Breeders’ sale is coming up this Friday, August 20, at the Showgrounds in Carrick-On-Shannon.

“The sale is kicking off at 6:00p.m with viewing allowed from 4:00p.m. It’s the third annual sale and it has been growing year on year.

“As a group, we strive to breed prolific ewe lambs and pass them onto farmers in order for them to improve the prolificacy of their flocks.

“The quality of lambs has been improving each year and farmers will have a great choice of over 1,100 lambs to choose from.

“A number of breeds will be on offer and include: Suffolk; Sufftex; Texel; Mule; Aber; Charbex; Belclare; Lleyn; Rouge; Charollais; and Cheviot-cross ewe lambs.

“Since the inaugural sale, it has progressed really well. Farmers in the group have really been striving to produce better quality lambs every year.

“The sale has been increasing in size from 600 lambs in the first year to now 1,100 lambs this year.

“Last year’s sale went very well, so hopefully it goes as well this year.”

Last year’s sale

Last year’s sale saw prices top €208/head for Cheviot-cross ewe lambs, with the average price across the sale coming in at just over €130.

Nearly 650 lambs were sold on the day, with prices up on the inaugural sale the year before.

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Aber and Sufftex ewe lambs for the Carrick Prolific Ewe Lamb Breeders’ Sale on the farm of Cathal McCauley. in Co. Leitrim.

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This Friday, July 30, will see the Big Boy Ram Sale return to the Showgrounds in Carrick-On-Shannon for the fourth year running.

The ever-growing ram sale – which kicks off at 5:00p.m – is set to see 180 rams on offer, consisting of both pedigrees and hybrids with a mixture of senior, shearling and ram lambs to choose from.

Speaking ahead of the sale, chief organiser, Stuart Dorran said: “It’s that time of the year again and we are very excited about the lineup of rams that will be on offer.

“There will be a super variety of hybrids to meet the ever-increasing demand for them, while an excellent number of purebred rams aimed at the commercial market will also be on offer.

“This year dying and trimming, carding of rams backs and ends has been banned from the sale. We have listened to customers and commercial farmers who believe rams should be presented as naturally as possible.” 

“Hybrids are really taking off and The Big Boy Ram Sale is the biggest supplier of them in Ireland. They have been bred to improve vigour and structural issues found in some purebreds,” he continued.

“Most hybrids on offer are the cross of a purebred registered dam and sire of two different breeds. 

“Furthermore, this year we are raffling two Chartex cross ewe lambs for our chosen charity, Embrace Farm. The two ewes will be on display on the day. Tickets can be purchased anytime via iDonate. All donations will go directly to Embrace Farm,” Stuart concluded.

Register to bid on or before Thursday, July 29, with Midland and Western Livestock Society at 086 388 3112, for a chance to go home with a new ram(s) for the upcoming breeding season.

Also, you can book a viewing time to see the rams from 3.00-5:00p.m on the day. Online bidding is via LSL.

The post The Big Boy Ram Sale set to see 180 rams up for grabs this Friday appeared first on Agriland.ie.

Farming in Co. Cavan, James Dunne, a suckler and sheep farmer, is getting ready to head for Carrick-On-Shannon once again, this year, for the Big Boy Ram Sale.

James has been making the annual trip to Carrick for the last four years, ever since the inaugral sale in 2018, organised by Stuart Dorran and like-minded breeders such as James.

The ever-growing sale is set for this Friday, July 30, kicking off at 5:00p.m at The Showgrounds, in Carrick-On-Shannon, Co. Leitrim.

Last year, the Cavan-native topped the sale with a Texel ram that sold for €1,120, and this year he is heading back again with 11 Texel ram lambs and seven Aber rams – a breed that have been growing in popularity in recent times.

During the week, Agriland caught up with James at his farm in Cavan, to check out what he will have on offer at the sale this year and to talk about how the Big Boy Ram Sale has grown since its inaugural sale in 2018.

Background on the sheep flock

James, who farms alongside his father John, also works full-time off-farm. When not working off-farm, he can be found helping his father run both their commercial and pedigree cattle and sheep enterprises on their 120ac farm of mixed-quality land.

Delving into the sheep side of the farm, the Dunnes run a flock of 160 ewes split between pedigree and commercial ewes.

The pedigree flock consists of 40 Texel ewes from which the ram lambs set for Carrick are bred from. These ram lambs were sired by Loosebeare Chief (pictured below), who was bought privately for a five-figure sum last year.

The majority of the pedigree flock are artificially inseminated (AI’d) (by Loosebeare Chief), with a proportion run with Bluefaced Leicester rams to produce Abers – with lambing commencing in the first week in February.

All Texel lambs are performance recorded through Sheep Ireland.

Speaking about using AI and carrying out embryo transfer work on a small number of ewes and the purpose of it, James said: “The purpose of it really is to be able to generate females from our own flock.

“So the idea is to pick out long-lasting females that have all the commecial traits that we look for, rather than breeding a ‘show Texel’.

“Who we are targeting are the commercial farmers on that front. We are looking to produce a Texel with lots of length, power, easy fleshing and Texels that are going to live long and have a bit more neck in them, and a little less head.

“Basically, we are striving to produce Texels with traits that commerical farmers want.”

The commercial flock is made up of Lleyn-cross Texel or Suffolk-cross ewes. Although, James is moving more towards that Aber-cross type of sheep – as he finds them a bigger and stronger type of ewe that produce lambs that have good skin, are easily fleshed and well able to finish off-grass.

Touching on the commercial flock, James added: “We scan anywhere from 1.85 to 2.1 lambs and the target is to wean a minimum of 1.75 lambs per ewe.

“We lamb the commercial ewes around the middle of March – after the pedigrees and keep the best ewe lambs for breeding and draft off the rest for the factory.”

A look at what rams will be on offer at the Big Boy Ram Sale

Touching on the Big Boy Ram Sale and how it has grown over the years, James said: “It’s been growing year-on-year.

“The sale sees rams put forward for sale that are the type and have the traits that a commercial farmer is looking for.

“It has grown in size and popularity since its initiation four years ago. This year, I’ll be putting seven Aber rams forward for it and 11 Texel rams. My rams are on a grass-based diet mainly, on top of getting half a kilo of ration daily.

“There will be up to 180 rams on offer at the sale this year, with a number of breeds for prospective buyers to choose from.

“There will be a good mix of both pedigree and hybrid rams on offer.

“I feel myself, that the quality of rams on offer is improving year-on year and the bunch I have going this year, I think is the best yet I’ll have had at it.”

Abers

Speaking about the Aber rams that will be on offer at Carrick-On-Shannon and how he came about breeding them himself James said: “I suppose where the Bluefaced Leicester-cross Texel hybrid came about was when I attended a number of flock visits over in the UK.

“I seen that cross work extremely well on commerical flocks. They are very hardy sheep, with good fleshing and mothering ability.

“And really leave that sharp female that can rare two lambs – that can be finished off-grass no problem.

“I came home then and because we had pedigree Texel ewes, we decided to purchase some Bluefaced Leicester rams from the UK – the best that we could find – and crossed them with a proportion of the pedigree ewes.

“We are very happy with how we are getting on with them and there appears to be a growing demand for them as well.

“The Aber shearling rams we have going to the Big Boy sale this year worked very well for us last year as ram lambs and are ready for work. I was very happy with how I got on last year with them, so hopefully, that will be the case again this year.”

Close up shots of rams

Topping the Charolais sale in Tullamore

As well as the sheep, the Dunnes also keep 35 suckler cows – made up of both pedigree and commercial cows.

Speaking about the suckler herd, James said: “We keep 12 pedigree cows, the most of which consist of Charolais cows, as well as some Angus and Simmentals.

“We run a predominately spring-calving system. We have a good year so far as regards the Charolais bull sales.

“We had three Charolais bulls at the Charolais Society sale in Tullamore in May and we topped it at €11,200 and also got €6,000 and €5,200 for the other two bulls on the same day.

“Like with the sheep, we are trying to breed from within, so it was very satisfying to get on so well with the bulls as they were bred from females we had bred ourselves,” James concluded.

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The Big Boy Ram Sale on the farm of James Dunne. Come have a look at these Texel and Aber rams.

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Recently, Agriland made the trip to Co. Cavan, to speak to sheep farmer David Beattie about his journey from taking over the family farm and starting with having no sheep, to building up a flock of 300 purebred Lleyn ewes.

David, who also works off-farm, started farming in his own right seven years ago, taking over the farm and running it himself after it had been leased out to an uncle of his prior to that.

The farm, before David took over, had been grazed by cattle and, according to David, the ground didn’t particularly suit cattle.

Therefore, he made the decision to go down the route of sheep farming seven years ago.

Speaking to Agriland about taking over the farm on his own, David said: “Up until seven years ago, the farm was leased out to my uncle.

“My father passed away when I was young, before I could really take it on – so it was leased out before taking it over myself seven years ago.

“I always wanted to go farming myself; there’s a reasonably good farm of land here of 120ac.

“The land, you could say, would be better suited to sheep rather than cattle – so that’s why I chose to go sheep farming and then I was looking for a good, hardy, prolific ewe, and I came across the Lleyn breed; I haven’t looked back since.”

David’s system

David runs a mid-season lambing system, with lambing commencing typically after St. Patrick’s Day.

He built a grant-spec sheep shed two years ago, which he uses to house and lamb-down his ewes in.

Ewes are generally only housed a week before lambing commences, with the ewes prior to housing, found cleaning up paddocks on neighbouring dairy farms.

No meal is fed, David said, until ewes are housed; once they are lambed-down, no more meal is fed and they are on a grass-only diet.

Ewe lambs are kept on as hoggets, with some kept as replacements and the rest sold at the Lleyn Sheep Society sale in Roscommon, yearly.

Up until this year, the majority of ram lambs were finished and sent to the factory; however this year, David is optimistic of there being a good store trade, and plans to sell his ram lambs as stores.

Why Lleyns?

David said he was drawn to the Lleyn breed for a number of different reasons.

He explained: “I find Lleyn ewes [to be] excellent mothers. The best way to describe them is that the man-hours per lamb is very small.

“They are good hardy sheep, have great maternal instincts and have plenty of milk to rear two lambs.

“They give very little feet trouble and to be honest I can manage the 300 ewes and their lambs very easily.

“Back seven years ago, I was looking for a breed of sheep that was prolific because at the end of the day, it’s all about the number of lambs you produce.

“I stumbled across the Lleyn breed, by accident really and I bought 11 ewe lambs seven years ago and from there, I built up the flock to where it is today.

“As well as breeding my own replacements, I was buying in ewe lambs and hoggets from the Lleyn society sale in Roscommon, to boost numbers that bit quicker.”

How prolific are they and are they easily lambed?

Touching on the prolificacy of the Lleyn ewes, David said his flock of ewes scanned 1.94 lambs and in the field at the minute, there are 1.8 lambs per ewe.

80 ewe lambs were also bred and are rearing 1.2 lambs currently.

He said: “They’re really good at multiplying. If you have 100 Lleyn ewes let’s says, there is a good chance you will have the best part of 100 ewe lambs fit for breeding from them 100 ewes.”

David said he has never had a vet call out to assist a ewe lambing in his seven years of having them.

He added: “This year was the first time I had a vet call out to the farm, but it wasn’t related to a difficult lambing.

“Lambing is generally not an issue. I used to lamb the ewes outdoors for a few years and it’s no problem for these ewes.

“But when you are performance recording and your lambing outdoors, it can be a tough task to do right, so that’s why I built the shed, to make that job that bit easier.”

Are the lambs easy to finish?

As David finishes his ram lambs, well at least up until this year, he said that he finds them relatively easy to finish.

He said: “I don’t find them hard to finish, but they are that bit slower to finish.

“A purebred maternal breed is obviously going to be slower finish than a terminal breed let’s say.

“They will finish comfortably off-grass as long as you keep it in front of them.

“In terms of growth rates, single lambs would be gaining about 400g/day, while the doubles would be fetching about 285g/day on average.

“They perform pretty well in fairness to them.”

Repeat custom

David said more and more farmers seem to be taking a liking to the Lleyn breed and he has seen this first hand with farmers coming to him to purchase his ewe hoggets.

On this point, David added: “The last number of years I’m finding that farmers are coming here and buying five or 10 ewe hoggets and they’ll come back again the following year for a few more.

“They are an ideal ewe to breed with your terminal breeds, that will produce good lambs, that you will get finished as quick as any other breed of sheep,” David concluded.

The post Sheep Focus: Building up a flock of 300 purebred Lleyn ewes in the space of 7 years appeared first on Agriland.ie.

Meet David Beattie, a sheep farmer from Co. Cavan who has built up a flock of 300 purebred Lleyn ewes since he took over the farm seven years ago. We chat about all things sheep and how the lambing season went in this video.

The post From zero to 300 purebred Lleyn ewes in the space of 7 years appeared first on Agriland.ie.

In this week’s Buildings Focus, Agriland made the trip to Co. Cavan to check out a grant-spec sheep shed on the farm of David Beattie. David talks about building majority of the shed himself and what it in-tailed.

The post A grant-spec sheep shed for a 300-ewe flock in Co. Cavan appeared first on Agriland.ie.

During the week, Agriland made the trip down to Knockroe, in Co. Carlow to speak to Padraig Joyce, a sheep farmer lambing down 300 ewes, made up predominately of Cheviots at the foot of the Blackstairs Mountains.

Of the 300-ewe flock, 240 of the ewes are Cheviots, while a further 60 are broken down mainly into Suffolk-cross ewes and a handful of Scotch ewes bought in last year.

The Cheviot ewes are run with a Suffolk ram with the aim of producing nice speckled-faced ewe lambs – which are highly sought after.

At the time of our visit, Padraig flanked by his two children, Tomas and Roisin, were halfway through lambing and took time out of their busy schedule to have a chat.

The Joyces prides themselves on breeding good-quality sheep and this has been backed up many times, having been prize-winners at the Borris Ewe Breeders’ show and sale over the last few years.

The Joyces strive to breed good-quality speckled-face ewe lambs for the well-known show and sale every year and last year, Padraig was the second-prize winner in the ewe lamb section at the first show and sale.

Padraig and his family took us through the management of their flock prior to and at lambing time, as well how ewes and their lambs are managed post-lambing.

Management of ewes prior to lambing

The 300-ewe flock was outwintered on two paddocks right beside the farmyard, with silage offered to the ewes and then after scanning, concentrates were added to the diet.

Ewes were split according to litter size and started off getting a small bit of meal before being gradually built up.

Padraig said that single ewes up to the point of lambing were getting up to 0.5kg of meal, while twin-bearing ewes were receiving up to 1kg.

Triplet-bearing ewes were getting well over 1kg of meal at the point of lambing, while soya bean meal was added two-to-three weeks out from lambing to boost colostrum production.

Padraig said: “We outwinter the ewes here and we find it works well for us. We offer good-quality silage and once we scan the ewes we get them started on meal.

“Because our ground is quite hilly and the soil is quite shallow, ground tends to stay reasonably dry over the winter – so the ewes don’t tend to rip up the ground and are very content. There is also good shelter in the field.

“It’s in the summer, when the weather is dry when we feel the pinch and ground starts to burn up.

“We introduce soya bean meal about two-to-three weeks out from lambing and it is hugely important ewes get some.

“You will only end up having ewes with no milk and when you have a big group like we have here, you are only going to run into trouble.

“We find the Cheviots to be great mothers and are very milky ewes – which is what we want.”

Lambing time

At the time of writing, the Joyces had 150 ewes lambed down – which is the halfway point for them.

The remaining 150 ewes are still residing in the 5ac paddock near the lambing shed. Although, in the evening, they are brought inside to the lambing shed.

Here they are fed silage and bedded with straw. The reason for bringing them in at night is simply down to ease of management.

Padraig checks the ewes late in the evening before Tomas comes out again at around 4:00a.m to check to see if any are close to lambing and to assist them, if needed.

Padraig added: “It’s a busy time here at the moment. We are about halfway through lambing and so far, so good, thank god.

“The way we work it here is we keep the ewes out by day and feed them meal just outside the shed in the yard and offer them silage out in the field.

“Then come the evening or late at night, if the weather is good, we bring them back into the lambing shed late at night where again they have access to silage.

“We have indiviual pens set up along the length of the lambing shed, so if we have any ewes lambing during the night, it’s handy to have them inside and just carry the lambs over into the pen.

“It’s just not practical to keep them out at night and to be keeping an eye on them out in the field.

“Tomas is on the night shift and checks in on them around 3:00-4:00a.m. Roisin and I would then go out in the morning and check in on the ewes again and then let them out to yard to feed them meal and then back out to the field.

“All ewes and their lambs are moved into an individual pen after lambing. Even if they lamb out in the field during the day, we would bring them in and let the ewe bond with her lamb(s).

“It just gives us a chance to keep a close eye on them, to see if the ewe will take to them no problem and then to make sure they are fed and get plenty of colostrum into them.”

Turnout of ewes and lambs

Once a ewe lambs, she is moved to an individual pen with her lambs to bond for 24 hours.

A small group pen is also set up in the lambing shed for ewes and lambs to take pressure off individual pen space.

Once Padraig is happy, a ewe and her lambs are turned out to paddocks around the lambing shed.

Padraig added: “The paddocks where the ewes and lambs are now, were fertilised a couple of weeks ago and have a nice cover of grass on them.

“Ewes are offered up to 0.5kg of meal after lambing for four-to-five weeks, while the lambs are introduced to creep about three-to-four weeks post-turnout.”

Speckled-faced ewe lambs

Nothing brings more joy to the Joyces at lambing time than to see a ewe have a speckled-faced ewe lamb(s).

However, more often than not, the lamb is a ram lamb. On the day of Agriland’s visit, a ewe lambed down with two speckled-faced lambs, but at closer inspection, the two lambs were rams – much to the disappointment of the Joyces who are witnessing a large number of ram lambs this year.

Padraig said: “The Borris ewe is highly sought after, with buyers coming from all parts of the country to source these types of ewe lambs, hoggets and mature ewes at the Borris sales.

“We have been lucky to win a few prizes along the way for ewe lambs down through the years – which is nice and gives you the confidence that you are going about your work the right way.

“Last year we won second-prize, in the ewe lambs section, at the first show and sale. Those ewe lambs went on to sell afterwards for €170/head.

“Then, Tomas won first prize for his ewe lambs at the second sale; they sold for €175/head.

“All going well, next August we’ll have another group of ewe lambs for the sale. Hopefully we will start seeing a few more ewe lambs appear in the coming weeks.”

The post Sheep Focus: Lambing 300 ewes in Co. Carlow appeared first on Agriland.ie.

In this video, we get a glimpse into farming 300 ewes at lambing time beside the Blackstairs mountains, in Co.Carlow. Padraig Joyce farms here, along with his family.

The post Lambing season on the farm of Padraig Joyce Co. Carlow appeared first on Agriland.ie.

In this week’s Buildings Focus, AgriLand’s Michael Geary made the trip to just outside Dungannon in Co. Tyrone to see a brand new slatted sheep unit on the farm of Sam and Stephen Thompson.

The post Buildings Focus: AgriLand’s Michael Geary speaks to Sam Thompson about his new slatted sheep unit appeared first on Agriland.ie.