Earlier housing dates on suckler, beef and dairy farms and a bank of grass still present on some of these has opened up the opportunity for purchasing lambs and temporary grazing arrangements. Take note that short-term renting of lands is not allowed under the terms and conditions of the Areas of Natural Constraint.
Earlier housing dates on suckler, beef and dairy farms and a bank of grass still present on some of these has opened up the opportunity for purchasing lambs and temporary grazing arrangements.
Take note that short-term renting of lands is not allowed under the terms and conditions of the Areas of Natural Constraint.
Moving sheep on a temporary basis is, however, allowed as the owner of the lands where sheep are grazing is not losing control of the land.
The requirement to submit movement documentation depends on what type of farm the sheep are moving to.
Where the movement is to tillage land to graze green cover, for example, or to a holding possessing no stock, sheep can be moved to and from the temporary grazing without dispatch documents and without notifying the Department of Agriculture.
For movements to a holding where there are livestock present, then the Department of Agriculture must be notified. As there is no change in ownership of the animals, the onus lies with the owner of the sheep. This can be done by completing a dispatch document as normal and sending the pink copy to the local DVO. Notifying the Department of a return from grazing can be completed by sending the white copy of the dispatch document and clearly stating “return from temporary grazing”.
A common exception which applies for a high number of movements is where sheep are being moved to a livestock farm where there are fragmented parcels.
If there are no livestock on any part of the land sheep are being moved to, then sheep can be moved without notifying the Department.
Farmers wishing to gain nitrates credit of the movement to reduce their annual production must have recorded the movement with the Department or where this is not necessary as outlined above then notice of the movement, using Record 4, Temporary Movement Form, must be sent to the nitrates section in Johnstown Castle, Wexford.
It is worth clearly agreeing all elements at the outset such as how long the sheep can be grazed for, who is responsible for herding and fencing, etc.
Costs vary greatly, with some farmers seeing good merit in getting lands grazed without purchasing sheep in their own right.
Typical costs vary from 60c/week to 80c/week for strong lambs to €1/week for ewes.
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Sheep prices: lambs on the rise
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