Dr Tim Keady joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss various aspects of winter grazing and how it impacts ewe performance.

Tim starts by discussing the potential mutual benefits of moving sheep to winter grazing both for the flock owner and host farmer and he also discusses the role of extended grazing before moving on to discuss the frequency of grass allocation with Tim offering his tips on managing grazing at this stage of the year.

Tim explains the feed values of grass during the winter, the factors that influence it and how it affects ewe performance by comparison to ewes being feed on a grass silage indoor system.

Tim also offers his advice on managing ewes in outdoor wintering systems and some of the pitfalls to avoid.

Finally he finishes up discussing winter grazing dry ewe lambs with Tim highlighting some weight gain targets, advice on how to achieve them and why it’s important to avoid setbacks during this phase of production.

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

Sheep Specialist, Damian Costello, is on this week’s OviCast to discuss the Sheep Welfare scheme.

Damian starts by giving some background to the scheme before discussing the changes to the reference number for the coming year and what this well mean for participants.

He also reminds us of the various tasks in the current scheme and the proposed changes for the planned next phase as well as the suggested payment rate.

Damian reminds participants of the importance of maintaining records and necessary receipts before he then discusses the options for new entrants to the scheme.

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

Dr Noirín McHugh and postgraduate student Edel O’Connor join Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss the ongoing project examining methane emissions in sheep.

Noirín first highlights the importance of this work in the current climate, while Edel explains how they are using portable accumulation chambers to measure emissions from up to 72 sheep per day in Teagasc Athenry and on commercial farms.

Edel explains how much methane different ages of sheep emit and how this compares to other livestock while they discuss the variation observed in the level of emissions from sheep and Noirín explains how they have collected records on over 7000 sheep and examined the underlying genetic component.

She describes how this will be incorporated into the Sheep Ireland Index in the future to breed lower emitting sheep similar to what has happening in New Zealand.

Finally Noirín acknowledges the support to get this project off the ground which is one of the first of its kind in the northern hemisphere.

Find out more about the project:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgdlLaDjiPU

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

As part of Animal Health Awareness week, on this week’s OviCast are Department of Agriculture Vets Caroline Garvan and Damian Barrett.

Damian begins by explaining the objective of Animal Health Awareness week and its importance in the current climate while Caroline explains why Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major concern and the concept of the one health approach.

They discuss the usage within the sheep sector and how the overall industry figure is calculated and Caroline explains why some types of antibiotics are deemed critically important due to their use in human medicine and how the route of administration can impact the development of AMR.

Both Damian and Caroline discuss how good animal health can impact productivity, how we should approach health issues on farms and ways sheep farmers can reduce their antibiotic use.

They move on to discuss some of the health challenges facing the sector at present and discuss the programme of informative webinars that will take place as part of this year’s Animal Health Awareness week that runs from 18th-24th November.

For more information:

https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/45f45-antimicrobial-resistance-amr/

http://www.animalhealthsurveillance.agriculture.gov.ie/currentnews/lambliverflukeantibodytestresults-september2021.html

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

Presenting lambs clean at the abattoir becomes more challenging as the year progresses and on this week’s OviCast, Ciarán Lynch is joined by Michael Gottstein, Head of Sheep in Teagasc to discuss this topic further.

Michael starts by explaining the Clean Livestock Policy (CLP) and its importance, highlighting the key areas on the lamb that cause issues and how the industry has implemented changes to address this.

He discusses the predisposing factors that will lead to lambs becoming dirtier and what practical steps can be taken at this time of the year to reduce this.

He also discusses remedial clipping and its role, with Michael highlighting the need to ensure that transport vehicles are clean and suitable for the task.

Finally, Michael summarises the key areas for producers that are finishing lambs in the coming weeks and months can focus on to help keep lambs clean.

Find out more:

https://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2017/clean-livestock-policy-for-sheep-a-guide-for-sheep-producers.php

https://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2017/clean-livestock-policy-for-sheep-a-guide-for-sheep-transport.php

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

As liver fluke is a large risk at the moment, Teagasc’s Dr Orla Keane joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss selecting the appropriate treatment for this stage of the season.

Firstly Orla gives a quick recap on the risk that fluke poses and the stages of its development. She discusses the various classes of flukicide available with Orla explaining what stage of fluke they are suitable to treat and the role others could play later in the season.

Orla highlights the challenge of using combination fluke and wormers as part of routine fluke treatment in adult sheep and why it’s better to use a targeted flukicide; she also discusses the situations where these combinations could be put to better use.

Finally, Orla highlights the need to use a flukicide that targets the immature stage of liver fluke at this point in the season.

A summary of flukicides licensed for sheep in Republic of Ireland can be found here: https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2018/Products-licensed-for-control-of-parasites-in-sheep.pdf

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

Damian Costello, sheep specialist with Teagasc, joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss temporary grazing this back end.

Damian highlights some considerations when taking on temporary grazing and how it can benefit both parties involved.

He emphasises the need to ensure all animals are tagged before leaving farm and he discusses at length the various movement notification considerations for a variety of scenarios.

Damian also takes us through the need to retain movement records afterwards and how to apply for credit under the nitrates regulations.

For more detail, here is the link to the NSIS guide: https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/93969/c539786b-96ba-4500-89ec-a9f020779cea.pdf#page=1

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

As we enter the final grazing rotation of the season, Ciarán Lynch is joined on this week’s OviCast by Dr. Philip Creighton who offers some grazing advice to keep us on track from now to set up our spring grazing.

Philip starts by discussing the importance of achieving good graze outs and how that influences sward production next spring. Philip also offers tips on dealing with heavy covers that are on many farms this October and he discusses the closing targets and why they are important.

Finally, Philip highlights why it’s important to avoid the temptation of re-grazing closed paddocks and why we need to prioritise these for spring grazing.

Teagasc sheep autumn closing planner:

https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/daily/sheep/teagasc-sheep-autumn-closing-planner.php

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

Sheep specialist, Damian Costello, joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss why farmers should consider raddling rams this breeding season.

Damian discusses the two types used - either raddle paste or ram harnesses - and offers tips on their use and ways to leave it easier to catch rams to top these up.

He explains which order different raddle colours should be and discusses how to make use of changing raddle colour to better predict lambing date and plan feeding programmes in late pregnancy.

Damian and Ciarán discuss how raddling can be used to monitor ram fertility and the level of repeats and finally Damian offers some practical tips to safeguard against this in flocks.

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

This week’s OviCast is a farmer focus interview with Brian Nicholson who farms just outside of Johnstown in Co Kilkenny. Brian runs a large-scale sheep flock and is a participant CPT flock with Sheep Ireland.

Brian discusses sales in this year’s lamb crop and his plans for finishing the remaining lambs this autumn before moving on to discuss the breeding plan for the farm and he takes us through the various breeding groups from the commercial flock of 290ewes to the ewes that will be AI’D and natural mated as part of the central progeny test programme with Sheep Ireland. Brian discusses the various breeds used and how he manages this aspect of his flock.

He moves on to talk about his grazing management for the autumn and how he used forage rape to winter part of his flock and how it fits into his overall system.

Finally, Brian discusses why he has moved away from joining ewe lambs to lamb at 1 year old opting to run them dry and how they are used as a grazing management group the following year.

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast