Series of walks planned on BETTER Sheep Farms
Commencing on Wednesday, August 23rd, a series of farm walks will get underway next week on farms enrolled in the BETTER Farm Sheep Programme.
A collaboration between the Teagasc Sheep Specialist and Research teams and led from Teagasc Athenry by Dr Frank Campion, the programme aims to establish focal points for the on-farm implementation, development and evaluation of technologies that are relevant to the sheep sector.
Located across the country, the enrolled farms are a mix of both lowland and hill producers and their farms are used as a hub to support the wider adoption of grassland management, breeding and production system technologies.
The first farm walk in the series will take place on the farm of Des Powell, Templederry, Co. Tipperary, E45 AY99, on August 23rd at 6.30pm. The focus of this walk will be on preparing for breeding.
Des Powell operates a lowland sheep and beef farm in conjunction with his parents George and Frieda. The farm is made up of 97ha of grassland, which is divided into two blocks, but all situated within approximately 2km from the main farm.
The land area farmed consists of approximately 65ha of owned land, with the remainder of land a mix of short-term rented and leased land. He is building towards a target of 400 ewes. Des runs Belclare, Suffolk and Charollais rams; replacement females are retained from the Belclare and Suffolk tups.
The next day, August 24th, sees Paul Boyle open the gates of his farm to another farm walk. Located in Tymeen, Letterbarrow, Co. Donegal, again taking place at 6.30pm, this walk will focus on store lamb options and preparing for breeding for hill flocks.
Paul runs two flocks – a hill flock of Scotish black face ewes, grazed on a combination of privately owned and commonage hill grazing, as well as an adjoining area of improved grass land, and a lowland flock comprising of 65 crossbred ewes. Careful attention is given to ewe body condition score in advance of the breeding season and this will be detailed at the event.
The final event in this series will take place on the farm of Eddie Galvin, Fenniscourt, Bagnelstown, Co. Carlow, R21 TP94, on September 7th. With a 6:30pm start, this event will focus on finishing lambs using forage crops. The experiences from research activities undertaken in Teagasc Athenry will be discussed, with a focus on grazing management practices and lamb performance.
For more information on these events, visit the BETTER Farm Sheep Programme webpage.