Rainfall over the weekend and early part of last week has been welcomed by the programme farmers and will help to relieve the pressure on grazing demand.

Some farmers were considering grazing silage fields such was the shortage of grass, but this will hopefully not be required now.

However, they are still taking a wait-and-see approach, as grass growth rates are approximately 30kg DM/ha behind the seasonal average of nearly 100kg DM/ha.

Spring lambs drafted

February-born lambs are starting to come fit for slaughter on a couple of the lowland farms.

The first lambs were drafted for direct slaughter last week. As lambs start to move off farm, this will also ease the pressure on grazing ground.

Dermot McAleese - Loughgiel, Co Antrim

Dermot McAleese is one of the programme farmers who was pleased to see the recent rain.

To give grass covers a chance to build, Dermot was buffer-feeding silage to his spring-calving cows, while giving them access to a field close to the shed.

Thankfully, all stock are now at grass on a full-time basis, with cattle and sheep stocked together in a mixed grazing system. Dermot has been using mixed grazing as part of the worm control strategy on the farm.

Assessing your options for external parasite control

Watch: Way Out West – aiming for top grades in Belcarra

NI Sheep Programme: rain provides relief but grass remains scarce

Rain has been welcomed on the programme farms, but grass growth is still well below normal for the time of year. Programme adviser Senan White gives a brief update from the farms.