OviCast

Grass tetany is one of the challenges in early spring and on this week’s OviCast, Teagasc Sheep Specialist, Damian Costello, talks to us about this in more detail. 

Damian explains how it occurs, the pre-disposing factors and high risk periods. 

We discuss the symptoms and treatment in acute cases and Damian describes the various preventative measures and how these can be implemented on farms.  

Read more about it here:

https://bit.ly/Grass_Tetany_24

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

Sheep specialist, Michael Gottstein, is on this week’s OviCast to discuss some timely advice for hill flocks in the run up to lambing. 

Michael discusses some of the key areas to focus on this spring highlighting how ewe condition is a challenge. 

We discuss the basics of nutrition and some of the feeding strategies that might be employed. 

We finish up on to discuss some health areas that require attention in the lead into lambing.  

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

When focusing on improving fertiliser use efficiently, one often overlooked aspect for the return on investment is the fertiliser spreader itself. 

For this episode of OviCast I’m joined by Teagasc machinery specialist, Francis Quigley, to take us through some of the practical considerations around this piece of equipment. 

Francis explains many aspects from basic maintenance checks before the season commences, to correct set-up on the tractor and its impact that can have on the spread pattern. 

We also discuss calibration, use of technology and the impact of the operator.

For more information: 

https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/soil--soil-fertility/fertiliser-spreaders/

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

For this week’s OviCast, we catch up with Dr Frank Campion to get an update on the BETTER farm sheep flocks. 

We discuss this year’s scanning results, dealing with issues and benchmarking performance. We move on to ewe condition score on the farms at scanning and since tupping and discuss the practical steps farmers can take to manage this. 

We finish up discussing grass supplies, preparing for lambing and culling problem ewes. 

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

For this week’s OviCast, we’re joined by Seamus Fagan from the Department of Agriculture’s regional veterinary lab in Athlone. 

As a follow-on from his talk at the recent Sheep Conference, we discuss the importance of records to highlight flock health issues on farm and to help provide a better flock history, particularly in the case of abortion. We discuss the submission process and the timeline for results. 

We also discuss some of the challenges seen in the lab this spring with a notable fluke challenge present on farms. 

Finally we finish up discussing some of the findings from the ongoing thin ewe survey.  

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

For this week’s OviCast, I’m joined by my Teagasc colleague, Catherine Egan, host of the Beef Edge podcast, as we discuss financial management tips on drystock farms with Teagasc Financial Specialist, Kevin Connolly.

Kevin first explains the benefits of completing a profit monitor and we discuss what data is required and the ways to simplify this process. 

Kevin takes us through the information the profit monitor can generate and how it can be used to highlight key areas to focus on, allowing farmers to benchmark their own farm performance. 

We finish up with Kevin offering his three key pieces of advice for listeners to undertake in 2024.

For those interested in completing a profit monitor you can find out more at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/rural-economy/farm-management/financial-analysis/farm-profit-analysis/

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

For this week’s OviCast we head west to Corrandulla, Co. Galway to hear from sheep and beef farmer Michael Forde who is a participant on the BETTER farm programme. 

Michael first discusses his farming system and some of the challenges of a managing a fragmented farm. 

We chat about the impact of a difficult 2023 on lamb performance, sales and ewe condition and how he managed the flock this winter. 

Plus we discuss the steps he has taken to address ewe condition since housing, this year’s scanning results and his feeding plans for ewes in late pregnancy. 

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

On this week’s OviCast we look forward to the Teagasc National Sheep Conference with Dr Philip Creighton previewing the topics being covered. 

Philip discusses the times and locations of this year’s conferences and highlights the speakers and the topics they are covering.

These include ‘Nutrition during pregnancy: management and the consequences’, to ‘Simplifying farm transfers: key considerations and strategies’ and ‘Diagnosing and managing flock health issues - on farm experiences’.

For more details visit: 

www.teagasc.ie/sheepcon24

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

With scanning complete on many flocks, on this week’s OviCast we chat to Sheep Specialist Michael Gottstein about making use of this information. 

We start off talking about this year’s scanning results and move on to discuss the immediate management changes that can be made by setting up feeding groups. 

Michael discusses why we need to divide them on the basis of scanned litter size and lambing date but also highlights the importance of assessing and managing ewe condition score this season. 

We also discuss pregnancy rate and the causes of higher empty rates. Scan results are also a useful benchmark and we finish up the episode chatting about using this information to highlight key areas to focus on in the short and longer term. 

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast

For this week’s OviCast, we hear from a recent Let’s Talk Sheep webinar with Sheep Specialist Damian Costello speaking about key management advice at housing this winter.

Damian covered various aspects from some of the challenges faced this year to managing ewe condition to practical advice at housing.

Damian also answers some audience questions on the topic.

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast