Alternative forages: There has been a fair bit of discussion in the last year surrounding alternative forages, with the jury still very much out on their potential role in Irish grazing systems. There is no doubt that they have potential to increase animal performance, with the issue being poor longevity. At the Teagasc sheep conference on Tuesday night, Professor Paul Kenyon of Massey University, New Zealand, outlined that to enhance longevity of a herb clover sward requires totally different management practices to conventional grass swards.

Paul said crops should never be grazed below 8cm in height as this will reduce the ability of the crop to compete with grass or weeds and result in poor persistency. The optimum grazing height outlined is grazing between 8cm and 16cm, with a crop rested for at least three to four weeks post-grazing or until it has reached at least 16cm. As such, a rotational grazing system is essential, with animals requiring a five to seven-day adjustment period. This means that to obtain the maximum value from the crop, animals must be capable of being retained on it and not coming on and off the crop. Because of this, precise management is required in budgeting the number of animals a crop can sustain.

The crop is also unsuitable for grazing in wet weather over the winter as the crown will become damaged, letting in bacteria which can kill the plant. Chicory was highlighted as the plant that is most at risk to damage.

In a New Zealand environment, the period where grazing cannot take place was listed at one to two months in mid-to-late winter, with the exact period depending on soil type and rainfall levels, so this is likely to have implications in an Irish setting too.

He said that following these practices can extend the lifetime of the crop to four to seven years in New Zealand, with soil type again highlighted as having an influence (crops like drier soils).

Part two of the conference examining how genetics and breeding can reduce labour at lambing along with a presentation on Laryngeal Chrondritis, a disease of the upper respiratory tract of sheep, takes place on Thursday 28 January from 8pm to 9pm.

Tullamore Farm: This week’s sheep feature details the results of scanning in Tullamore Farm. The farm has recently shorn ewes and ewe lambs with three factors influencing the decision.

The first is to take advantage of the production benefits in terms of an increase in lamb liveweight and easier monitoring of body condition. The flock has increased in size and shearing allows more animals to be accommodated indoors. Farm manager Shaun Diver faced some challenges in recent years with ewes going on their back in spring and this will hopefully solve this problem, with the added benefit of delaying shearing until after weaning.

It is getting late for mid-season lambing flocks to consider shearing, with at least seven to eight weeks of wool regrowth advised before turning ewes and lambs outdoors. A practice that can provide benefits in terms of helping lambs to suckle easier while preventing the build-up of dirt around the udder region is to crutch wool around the tail head and belly region.