All flock replacements for the 2019 breeding season have been sourced on Tullamore Farm.

Forty Mule ewe hoggets were purchased about three weeks ago, while another 11 ewe hoggets and 20 ewe lambs were purchased in last week’s Donegal Mule Group sale.

The purchase price of the ewe hoggets averaged €170 while the ewe lambs averaged €117.50. These will be joined by 30 homebred Texel x Mule cross ewe lambs. The flock put forward for breeding increased from 170 head in 2018 to 250 head in 2019.

The last 11 Mule ewe hoggets will benefit from a period of good grazing but should be in good condition when breeding commences in mid to late October.

All sheep are undergoing a robust quarantine period and are receiving dual treatment for worms (Zolvix and Cydectin triclamox) as well as liver fluke.

Sheep are being monitored closely for any signs of lameness, with routine foot bathing taking place, while dipping of all sheep on the farm will be carried out in the next few weeks.

Ewe lambs and ewe hoggets will also receive vaccination for toxoplasmosis, enzootic abortion and clostridial diseases in the coming week.

Lamb drafting

Another batch of lambs was also drafted this week and slaughtered on Thursday. The 22 lambs averaged 19.76kg carcase weight and realised an average sale price of €94.38.

At an average liveweight of 46kg, the kill-out was recorded at 43%. The majority of lambs recorded a kill-out of 42% to 45%, with a few outliers.

Two stronger ram lambs achieved a kill-out of 39%, with another couple at 40% and 41%. Ram lambs were drafted from 45kg upwards.

At the opposite end, a couple of small well-conformed ewe lambs achieved a kill-out of close to 50%. Ewe lambs were drafted between 41kg and 45kg.

The lighter ewe lambs achieved a carcase weight between 18kg and 19.5kg with lighter lambs drafted before going into fat class 4.

Remaining lambs

There are now just 22 lambs remaining. About 15 of these weigh between 38kg and 44kg, and a few tail-end lambs which were reared artificially weigh back to 32kg.

There are now 181 lambs drafted for slaughter with 30 ewe lambs retained for breeding and 15 ewe lambs sold as replacement ewe lambs.

Grass

After a very strong growth last week thanks to a combination of mild, damp weather and recently spread nitrogen, growth has slowed back to a normal autumn rate of 43kg DM/ha/day.

Tullamore farm grass wedge 5 September 2019.

It’s unsurprising really, given that the days are getting noticeably shorter and daytime and nighttime temperatures have dropped considerably.

That said, growth is still running 12kg DM/ha/day ahead of demand.

At this time of year, the average farm cover is probably a more important figure than the growth rate. The grazing block is stocked at 2.1LU/ha facing into the final six to eight weeks of grazing.

Farm cover

At that stocking rate, a farm cover of 1,100kg DM/ha is the target for 15 September so the farm is in prime position to achieve this.

With ewe breeding only around the corner, sheep will soon need to be flushed on lush grass covers. As can be seen from the wedge above, there is a large number of covers coming suitable for this.

In the coming weeks, an autumn grazing planner will be drawn up for the farm ahead of the start of closing in early October.

Cattle

Calves continue to graze ahead under the electric fences while bull calves are now well in on concentrate feeding.

As already mentioned, with the nights cold, cows are being offered hi-mag lick buckets as a preventative measure against grass tetany.