I have seen a great response to the 23 units of urea I spread per acre 10 days ago. The farm looks a lush green colour and the small amount of grass that has been eaten is showing promising re-growth.

On Saturday I applied 47 units of CAN per acre on the sheep ground with the lowest covers as I felt urea would be too exposed on these low covers.

We didn’t release any more cattle to grass on Saturday as I thought ground was tender and with such a good week of weather ahead and plenty of grass available, I will release a significant amount next Saturday.

Lambing started on Friday morning, with a fine healthy set of doubles; let’s hope this is a sign of things to come. It has progressed steadily, with a few every day. I notice this year that the lambs are coming slightly smaller than other years. I haven’t really any problems with this as they slip out and are very lively and quick to their feet.

In previous years I would handle a large proportion of the ewes. I was probably too quick to jump in and take the lambs so this year I haven’t handled any ewes yet as they didn’t need any assistance. For ewes that don’t need assistance I would feel it’s much better to reduce handling the ewes and introducing infection to the womb.

In the middle of a very busy couple of days I had a visit from a group of agricultural science students from my old secondary school. This is my first time in hosting a group of student and I was slightly apprehensive if I would be able to interest them in anything to do with sheep, as they are not everyone’s cup of tea! But I have to say it was a very enjoyable two hours. I ran through all the basics from breeding, feeding and management of lambs and I hope they left learning a small amount.