Clean livestock policy

Compliance with the clean livestock policy has, not surprisingly, become a greater issue in recent weeks. There are reports of lambs classified as Category C and being rejected for slaughter or delayed from slaughtering until shorn. The greatest issues continue to be reported with lambs with wet soiled fleeces.

Procurement agents comment that they have a better chance of working with lambs with soiled fleeces where they are presented relatively dry with soaked fleeces giving fewer options to get away with clipping on the line.

Where sheep are being shorn pre-slaughter, agents also explain that there is still challenges where farmers clip the belly region but fail to clip the cut line which stretches from just under an animal’s neck right down to the tail.

Issues are also reported in crossbred or hill lambs with a long fleece of one or two blows of the shears along the belly region failing to deliver a satisfactory job with long wool falling in over cut lines when animals are on the line.

In such instances animals which are at risk of being categorised as Category C lambs will need partial or full shearing – or enough time for fleeces to dry and reduce soiling.

Capitalising on any break in weather, fasting animals before loading or housing in advance of slaughter will help reduce issues. A suitable absorbent material such as wood shavings will also greatly help where transporting sheep.

Ram management

The persistent inclement weather is taking its toll on all sheep and is particularly hard on young rams which have been running with large batches of ewes or covering a significant area of ground. Once breeding has concluded it is important to remove young rams in particular for preferential treatment.

Such rams will struggle to recover if left with ewes even where mating activity is low.

With grass dry matter at a low level there is merit in offering a low level of supplementary feed to rams that have lost significant condition. At a cost of €400/t a 25kg bag of a standard high-energy concentrate fed at 400g to 500g daily will provide feed for 50 to 60 days. A spend of about €10 to €12 will go a long way to safeguarding your investment. Feed can be cut once rams regain sufficient condition and get back on the right track.

Fodder budget

This week’s winter ready focus includes lots of topics relevant to sheep farmers. Benefits of winter shearing ewes or housed lambs along with reviewing straw supplies are discussed on pages 48 and 49. Martin Merrick also discusses the importance of carrying out a fodder budget and analysing silage for feed quality.

With cattle housed much earlier and variable reports on fodder supplies it is worth carrying out a fodder budget on the sheep side on all farms but especially mixed farms.

A ewe on average will require at least 1kg dry matter daily of good-quality feed to satisfy demand. For a 100-day winter this equates to 100kg dry matter. Dry matter content is important – for example a ewe will require 500kg fresh weight silage at 20% dry matter or 400kg at 25% dry matter, reducing to 330kg at 30% dry matter. Reports on silage quality also vary massively highlighting the importance of getting silage analysed.