Arable farmer’s guide to store lambs

[Mc115reed]

Finished all our hoggs on covercrops this spring. The ewes, grazing the same mixes, got 'plenty fit enough', leading to too many prolapses.

My ewes spent all winter on soil and had no corn at lambing and we’re still fitter than ever and had a lot of prolapse problems... spring flush of grass was what geared them up not where they lived for the winter

 

[Jimbo26]

@Kiwi Pete is there any yield reduction after grazing and then taking it through to grain harvest?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

@Kiwi Pete is there any yield reduction after grazing and then taking it through to grain harvest?

I guess it depends a lot on management as well as yield expectations, certainly with low to medium yields it boosts them significantly, plus reduces the costs hence the profit chasm between this type of cropping, and the "just use more sprays and fert" type of cropping.

Also, depends on weed pressure a lot, as the early sheep grazing literally 'nips them in the bud', FWIW we don't have blackgrass down here, or at least not resistant BG.

In the more humid parts of Oz, for example, it's basically standard practice to graze problems out early.

 

[Greythundercloudys]

Yes this could be a very risky year for that, but if your on a good farm buy mule wedders, they are cheaper to buy and will grow like mushroom, if you can get them around 50 odd pounds. Plenty buyer's in the store ring, folk up here have loads of grass, lmbs selling away just the same as normal, the fat is holding up well still.

 

[lloyd]

Inject and drench bought in lambs straight away.
Some lambs will come from areas poor in minerals
so put a regulated amount out.