OviCast

By OviCastEducation Government

OviCast episodes

July 13, 2022 The weights are in – BETTER farm update
Dr Frank Campion joins Ciarán Lynch for this episode of OviCast with an update of how performance has stacked up on the lowland flocks at weaning.

He discusses lamb performance and its implications for sales, feeding and finishing strategies on the farms.

Frank emphasises the importance of assessing the weight of lambs and their expected finish time at this stage of the season.

Finally, Frank highlights the importance of internal parasite control and monitoring worm burdens as the season progresses.

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast
14 min
July 05, 2022 Time to check and cull for mastitis
With ewes being weaned across the country it provides farmers with an opportunity to check udders for mastitis and other issues and remove these problem ewes from the flock.

Ryan Duffy, Technical Vet with HIPRA, joins Ciarán Lynch on the latest OviCast podcast to discuss the implications of mastitis in ewes and offers some practical advice on the topic.

Ryan explains the different types of mastitis that occurs, the need to cull ewes exhibiting any signs of infection, as well as the impact of udder and teat structure.

He also discusses the drying off process and the impact that can have before moving on to discuss mastitis that can occur in the dry period.

Finally, Ryan offers his advice for flocks that encounter a high incidence of mastitis annually.

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast
22 min
June 28, 2022 Weaning - management tasks and performance checks
With weaning occurring around the country, sheep specialist Michael Gottstein joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss some of the key management tasks over the coming weeks and the opportunity it presents to benchmark performance.

They discuss various aspects of flock performance from ewe output to lamb performance to reasons for culling.

Michael advises as to why it’s a good opportunity to assess lamb weights, batch lambs accordingly and establish finishing lamb group early and plan ahead.

They discuss culling and taking advantage of the high cull ewe priced this season to tidy up flock performance.

Finally, Michael encourages producers to examine how their flock has performed and think about what changes could be made to improve for next season.

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast
13 min
June 21, 2022 What you need to know about the Fodder Support Scheme
The Fodder Support Scheme opened for applications this week and sheep specialist Damian Costello joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to explain more about it.

Damian outlines the focus of the scheme and the potential payment and key dates involved.

He discusses eligibility criteria and maximum payable area plus explains how you can submit an application under agfood.ie and when payments are expected to be made.

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:
https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast
10 min
June 14, 2022 The latest on the finishing systems for hill bred lambs post weaning study
Postgraduate student, Mark Dolan, and Dr Frank Campion join Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss some of the results of an ongoing study between Teagasc and UCD examining the potential of using forage diets alongside conventional systems to finish hill bred lambs post-weaning.

Mark outlines the project now entering its third year and discusses the different forages grown, carrying capacities and lamb performance on the crops.

Frank outlines where these crops have a role as well as some of their limitations in conventional systems.

With increasing costs in lamb finishing predicted for the coming winter, Frank encourages those with an interest in the area to visit the open day in Teagasc Athenry on June 18th to find out more about the trial and the various options for lamb finishing.

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast
13 min
June 10, 2022 Update on the companion forage study
This week’s OviCast is joined by post-graduate student Lisa McGrane and Dr Philip Creighton to discuss some of the results of an ongoing study between Teagasc and UCD examining how companion forages – chicory, plantain, red and white clover - perform alongside a perennial ryegrass sward in sheep systems.

With four years data collected, Lisa discusses what impact these forages have had on ewe and lamb performance before moving on to discuss the impact of this on drafting, concentrate supplementation and carcass spec.

Keeping some of these forages in the sward can prove challenging, and Philip explains this in more detail as well as some of the aspects they are examining that may help improve persistency.

Finally with the upcoming technical open day in the Athenry Research Centre looming Philip highlights how this is an ideal opportunity to hear more about Lisa’s work and the other ongoing studies in Teagasc.

To find out more about the upcoming sheep open day why not watch the following short clip:
https://youtu.be/2mL4AqygOso

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast
14 min
May 31, 2022 Update from the BETTER farms
Dr Frank Campion joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast with an update on what’s been happening in the BETTER farm flocks.
They discuss grass growth, surpluses and silage and some of the management challenges during the past few weeks.
With the first round of weighing complete for the lowland flocks, Frank outlines how lambs are performing this spring.
They discuss the variation among flocks and across years and discuss how early lamb performance can actually impact management for the rest of the season and examine the options to reduce poor performers.
Finally, Frank offers his advice on keeping lambs on track for the coming weeks.
For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast
16 min
May 24, 2022 Parasite Control TASAH Consult
Dr Natascha Meunier from Animal Health Ireland is on this week’s OviCast podcast to tell us more about the Targeted Advisory Service on Animal Health (TASAH) parasite control consult which is a new fully funded programme from Animal Health Ireland.
Natascha starts by putting the challenge of resistance in context and why we need to proactively address it.
The parasite control consult is available to cattle and sheep farmers and Natascha explains the aim of the programme and what it offers farmers who wish to participate.
The TASAH programme will fund a veterinary farm visit from trained practitioners and two faecal egg counts, we discuss how this provides an ideal opportunity to start looking at the resistance status on farms.
We finish up with Natascha explaining how to register for this programme and avail of this initiative this season.
To find out more about the TASAH parasite consult please visit the dedicated page on the Animal Health Ireland Website:
https://bit.ly/TASAH_Parasite_Control
For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast
11 min
May 17, 2022 The key factors in producing high quality silage
Following on from the previous episode, Ciarán Lynch is re-joined by Dr. Tim Keady to discuss some of the various factors that influence silage digestibility.
Tim covers a wide range of factors from harvest date and pre-closing management to heading date and sward type and he also discusses the pros and some cons to wilting.
Tim explains the potential to make high quality later in the season and offers some tips to achieve this.
He discusses the impact of poor preservation and the role of additives with Tim explaining how these work. He also highlights the impact of chop length on stock performance.
Finally, Tim summarises the key points to consider to produce high feed value silage.
For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast
23 min
May 10, 2022 Silage – why quality matters
As silage season is kicking off, this week’s OviCast is joined by Dr. Tim Keady to discuss the importance of focusing on quality.
Tim highlights why high feed value silage is essential for the coming year and the opportunities it presents.
Tim sets the target of producing 75+ DMD silage to sustain high levels of performance and allow for concentrate saving in the coming winter.
He discusses the impact of silage quality on the performance pregnant ewes and beef systems before then discussing the concentrate sparing effect of high quality silage - something that will certainly come into focus in the coming winter.
Finally, Tim discuss how much high quality silage is required in the system.
For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast
19 min