Hi all,
My first post here. I'm hoping you might be able to assist me in dispelling a few myths that have crept up in conversations with some of my peers. I’m quite happy to be wrong in my assumptions and opinions. I also welcome any constructive suggestions, however please don’t overly criticise the opinions of others that I am sharing as these people hold valid justification for their opinions and in all honesty are much better farmers than I will ever be, and I hold their expertise and judgement highly in many aspects of farming.
Myth 1 [Grass is too-short to make silage]
I measure the grass from the base of the sward (the ground) to the tip of the highest leaf. The grass cover on the fields can often vary and so I use my judgement to consider the average, often erring on the side of caution.
The grass in our silage field reaches in excess of 12cm and/or the plants are clearly at the three leaf stage with even a few plants starting to send up seed heads. I would consider this the ideal time to cut for first-cut, high DMD silage.
We have a high worm burden with our lambs (this year especially high). Forcing the lambs to graze down to 3.5cm-4.5cm to maintain sward quality negatively burdens them with worms.
At weaning my aim is to place the weaned ewes in the field behind the lambs and force them (ewes) to clean out the sward down to ~4cm. This I hope will reduce the worm burden and boost the performance of the lambs who will only be required to graze down to ~6cm. Ideally the ewes behind the lambs would not be related (however cannot guarantee this) and instead be from a different grouping. To help break the bond between lamb and ewe more, creep gates would have been used straight after lambing allowing the lambs access to the next field in the rotation. (Creep gates removed after weaning)
We have an indoor lambing flock which we assist (in some way to lamb) over 50% of them. (Possibly higher as this is anecdotal) for me the operation is far too labour intensive. I would like to see a switch to outdoor lambing where assistance is minimal. Initially just letting out 2 weeks prior to lambing onto saved, sheltered fields.
Thanks for reading. Do you agree with these 'myths' or not? I expect there to be some truth to them but not to the extent that it will prevent me pushing the sheep enterprise forward in the direction I believe it needs to go. Please reply numbering your responses 1-3
Kind regards,
Asheilio
My first post here. I'm hoping you might be able to assist me in dispelling a few myths that have crept up in conversations with some of my peers. I’m quite happy to be wrong in my assumptions and opinions. I also welcome any constructive suggestions, however please don’t overly criticise the opinions of others that I am sharing as these people hold valid justification for their opinions and in all honesty are much better farmers than I will ever be, and I hold their expertise and judgement highly in many aspects of farming.
Myth 1 [Grass is too-short to make silage]
I measure the grass from the base of the sward (the ground) to the tip of the highest leaf. The grass cover on the fields can often vary and so I use my judgement to consider the average, often erring on the side of caution.
The grass in our silage field reaches in excess of 12cm and/or the plants are clearly at the three leaf stage with even a few plants starting to send up seed heads. I would consider this the ideal time to cut for first-cut, high DMD silage.
I am being told the following:
- that the grass is too short and would wilt to nothing.
- that the grass will not get picked up by the tedder
- the aftergrass will be blighted with patches of rotting grass because it was not picked up by the tedder
- farmers who get high dmd silage have a better fertility status on the fields and thus the three leaf stage occurs at increased lengths 18cm-20cm for them.
We have a high worm burden with our lambs (this year especially high). Forcing the lambs to graze down to 3.5cm-4.5cm to maintain sward quality negatively burdens them with worms.
At weaning my aim is to place the weaned ewes in the field behind the lambs and force them (ewes) to clean out the sward down to ~4cm. This I hope will reduce the worm burden and boost the performance of the lambs who will only be required to graze down to ~6cm. Ideally the ewes behind the lambs would not be related (however cannot guarantee this) and instead be from a different grouping. To help break the bond between lamb and ewe more, creep gates would have been used straight after lambing allowing the lambs access to the next field in the rotation. (Creep gates removed after weaning)
I am being told the following:
- Lambs and ewes will still break into each other no matter how stock-proof the fence.
- Doesn’t matter who owns the lamb, the ewe will still break in and search the field.
- Even if the ewes have been successfully weaned, the prospect of fresh grass over the wire is too great and they will eventually break through!
We have an indoor lambing flock which we assist (in some way to lamb) over 50% of them. (Possibly higher as this is anecdotal) for me the operation is far too labour intensive. I would like to see a switch to outdoor lambing where assistance is minimal. Initially just letting out 2 weeks prior to lambing onto saved, sheltered fields.
I am being told the following:
- The lambs wont survive being born in a wet, cold and windy night. (from south Ireland btw)
- Wont be able to catch a ewe in trouble?
- Wont be able to catch the lambs to tag and tail them.
Thanks for reading. Do you agree with these 'myths' or not? I expect there to be some truth to them but not to the extent that it will prevent me pushing the sheep enterprise forward in the direction I believe it needs to go. Please reply numbering your responses 1-3
Kind regards,
Asheilio