On a blustery evening in the end of July, for this episode of Ovicast, Ciaran Lynch caught up with Co. Westmeath Farmer John Bell, a former winner of the Sheep Farmer of the Year completion and a previous host of the Irish Grassland Association Sheep event.

John runs a high output sheep system from a 46 ha grass based farm he manages a 500 ewe flock with an additional 130+ ewe lambs rearing lambs each year.

John started by giving a background to the flock, the system and the farm, he discusses some of the changes in the system over the past number of years and how he implemented a paddock grazing system on the farm including his use of temporary fencing.

Finally, he discusses lamb finishing on the farm and how he targets supplementation at finishing groups opposed to blanket feeding.

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

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

With the ram sales underway, Ciaran Lynch is joined on this week’s OviCast by Eamon Wall from Sheep Ireland who discusses ram selection.

Eamon begins by emphasising the importance of paying attention to ram functionality at the time of purchase. He then takes us through the basic of the Sheep Ireland genetic index explaining the Terminal and Maternal traits and the various individual sub-indexes.

Ciaran and Eamon then discuss the across breed evaluation as well as the overall Euro value. Eamon highlights the importance of the DQI and accuracy figures.

There is also a discussion on the move to genotyping and parentage verification and how this improves the accuracy of the evaluations. With the majority of the information included in the index coming from commercial flocks, Eamon emphasises the relevance of this in the evaluations for commercial producers.

Finally, Eamon discusses this year’s multi-breed ram sale.

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

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

With the breeding season kicking off, this week’s OviCast discusses the pros, cons and alternatives to early lambing systems.

In this episode, Ciaran Lynch is joined by Shane Moore, who is farming just outside Athleague in Co. Roscommon and Michael Gottstein, Head of Sheep in Teagasc.

Michael starts by outlining the key dates and requirements for early lambing systems for 2021 while Shane explains he has run an early lamb system for many years. He discusses why it initially suited his system and why he has moved away from it in recent years as sheep numbers increased on his farm.

One of the challenges that Shane’s early lamb system presented was the increasing cost and conversely the declining returns. Early lamb is characterised by a high sale price but Michael takes us through the economics of this system and some of the hidden costs involved.

As early sales provide a valuable source of cash flow on many dry stock farms, Shane discusses how he will offset this with a switch to carrying over light lambs for the hogget trade next spring.

Meeting a continual supply is an important issue for the industry and Michael discusses the role of store lambs carried over as a way to meet this demand and how this practice is gaining popularity on many farms.

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

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

Dealing with anthelminthic resistance is an issue on Irish sheep farms. Determining the efficacy of the products used is a necessary first step in adapting to this challenge and on this episode of OviCast, Ciaran Lynch is joined by Damian Costello, Sheep Specialist, to discuss why it’s so important to check products on farm.

The use of a drench test is one means to check how an anthelminthic product is working on a farm and Damian takes us through the various steps involved in conducting a drench test.

Finally, Damian explains how to interpret the result and determine the level of resistance to the chosen product.

For more information go to:

https://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2020/control-of-stomach-worms--improving-sustainability.php

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

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

Michael Gottstein, Head of Sheep in Teagasc joins Ciaran Lynch on this episode of OviCast to discuss mineral supplementation in sheep flocks.

A common practice on many farms during the season, Michael starts by discussing some of the findings of a recent study that has looked at this in more detail. He discusses the extent of mineral usage in Irish flocks and some of the drivers behind the decision process of why farmers are using mineral supplementation.

He also discusses some of the key minerals that influence production and clinical signs of mineral deficiencies. Focusing in particular on cobalt, Michael describes how it influences lamb performance.

Finally, he explains why it is important to see a performance benefit from the investment in supplementation to offset the cost and effort involved and how you might go about doing this.

For more episodes and information visit the OviCast show page:

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

Sheep BETTER farm participant Patrick Dunne who farms in the Wicklow Mountains joins Ciaran Lynch on this week’s OviCast.

Patrick describes his farming system and how it has changed over the past number of years from the original 300 ewe Cheviot hill flock that were run essentially as a lowland system to his current 500 ewe flock split between a lowland and hill system.

One of the drivers behind this change was to reduce costs in hill system by increasing the time these ewes spend on the hill. Patrick discusses a strict culling and selection procedure to select a more suitable ewe for the flock. The change in system has also allowed him to increase overall numbers and operate a higher output lowland flock which he discusses in more detail.

Patrick talks us through how he managed the flock during the prolonged dry spell which caused grass growth rates to drop significantly on the farm and the planned management strategy for the coming weeks for both systems.

For more episodes and information visit the OviCast show page:

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

Anthelminthic resistance is one of the key challenges for the sheep industry and will require a change in some of the routine control practices for the coming seasons.

To expand further on this subject, Ciaran was joined by Teagasc Researcher Dr Orla Keane who discusses four key areas that will help to maintain a susceptible worm population and prolong the efficacy of commonly used anthelminthic products.

These are:

1. Don’t dose adult ewes unless there is a demonstrated need

2. Use only products from group 1-BZ (white drenches) to treat Nematodirus in lambs

3. Quarantine drench - prevent ‘buying in’ resistance on arrival to the farm

4. Drench test/Faecal egg count

Orla shares her insights on why each of these steps will have a beneficial impact on the rate of development of anthelminthic resistance.

For more episodes and information visit the OviCast show page:

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

A lot of flocks have started the process of selecting their replacement ewe lambs for this season and with this in mind we’re joined by Dr Fiona McGovern who shares some of her insights in the area.

We start off by discussing some recent findings on the factors influencing ewe longevity and then move on to discuss the genetic component of a number of the key traits that influence production such as: lambing and mothering ability, lameness, mastitis and others.

Fiona discusses why a replacement policy should have scope for continual selection and culling during the year and how to use records and simple identifiers to target underperformer or problem sheep in the flock. Fiona also describes the variations she has seen from the detailed recording on maternal traits in the INZAC flock over the past number of years.

Finally, Fiona highlights the need to make use of genetic indices when selecting sires for future replacements, particularly when trying to improve flock performance for those hard-to-see traits.

For more episodes and information visit the OviCast show page:

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

Sheep Ireland’s Dr Alan Bohan joins Ciaran Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss the Data Quality Index (DQI) and performance recording on commercial farms.

As the season progresses we now turn our attention to weaning. We are joined by Sheep Specialist Michael Gottstein who starts by discussing why it’s important to wean lambs in a timely manner and how leaving lambs on for prolonged period can have an adverse effect on lamb performance and the ewes ability to regain condition.