OviCast

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Latest Episodes:

Joining ewe lambs – the key criteria that influence performance Sep 22, 2020

Show notes

Dr Tim Keady joins Ciaran Lynch on this episode of OviCast to discuss in detail the subject of joining ewe lambs - a topic of relevance to many sheep producers this year. Tim starts by discussing the increased interest in joining ewe lambs this season as well as some of the common practices observed on farms. Tim presents results from his studies at Athenry on joining ewe lambs. We discuss the influence of ewe genotype and the effect of weight at joining on productivity. Tim outlines key aspects of mating management including, time of joining, duration of the joining period and use of the ram effect. He then discusses the impact of lambing ewe lambs at 1 year old on their performance when lambing at 2 years of age. Finishing up Tim highlights the need to managed ewe lambs correctly to maintain performance. For more episodes from OviCast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast/

Farmer focus: Denis O’Riordan on hill farming, selling lambs and managing ewes in West Cork Sep 15, 2020

Show notes

Denis O’Riordan, one of the BETTER farm programme participants in Co. Cork, joins Ciaran Lynch on the latest episode of OviCast giving an insight into his farm and the system he is managing. Running a 350 Blackface ewe hill flock, we discuss current management on the farm, his plans for selling lambs, selecting and managing replacements as well as breeding decisions for the flock. Finally, he also discusses some of the changes he has made since joining the programme. For more episodes from OviCast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast/

Forage crops – carrying capacity & grazing setup Sep 08, 2020

Show notes

Drs Philip Creighton & Frank Campion join Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss some key aspects of forage crop management. Philip begins by discussing the importance of assessing the yield of the crop and he also outlines how to work out the expected carrying capacity. As good utilisation is vital, Philip outlines how to approach setting up grazing divisions and manage these in difficult conditions. On the subject of divisions Frank highlights the importance of fencer setup and takes us through how they are transitioning lambs on to the various crops in Athenry. He also highlights the importance of shearing lambs prior to grazing forage crops. Finally, Frank outlines the on-going trial assessing the performance of hill bred store lambs when grazed on forage crops. For more episodes from OviCast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast/

Managing autumn reseeds Sep 01, 2020

Show notes

Dr Philip Creighton joins Ciarán Lynch on the latest episode of OviCast to discuss management of autumn reseeds. Philip starts by discussing current conditions and the limitations of late reseed being established in September. He then moves on to discuss grazing management, opening covers and residuals as well as management during the current difficult grazing conditions. Philip emphasises the importance of having a clean reseed and shares his insights on post emergence spray as well as fertiliser application. Finally, Philip explains when a reseed should receive its final grazing and why it’s important to consider how it fits into the closing plan for the farm. For more information go to: https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2017/Reseeding-booklet.pdf For more episodes from OviCast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast/

Autumn shearing – performance benefit? Aug 25, 2020

Show notes

Dr Tim Keady joins Ciarán Lynch on the latest episode of OviCast to discuss the effects of autumn shearing on the performance of ewes, ewe lambs and store/finishing lambs. With the cost of shearing versus return from wool at a low point, Tim starts off by emphasising why it’s important for producers to get a performance benefit from it where possible. Tim takes us through the results of many studies conducted in the area, examining fertility traits, subsequent progeny performance, growth rate and carcass gain. He then outlines where the measurable gains are and dispels some of the perceived performance benefits. Aside from the performance differences they also discuss management benefits to shearing at this stage of the season finishing up with Tim’s views on how late in the season he would consider shearing. For more episodes from OviCast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast/

Getting ewe condition right Aug 18, 2020

Show notes

Dr Frank Campion joins Ciaran Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss the importance of getting ewes in the right condition at joining. Frank outlines how to assess condition, what it equates to in terms of live weight and the time needed to increase ewe condition. There is also a discussion on the factors influencing condition managing thin ewes separately and culling ewes that fail to improve in ewe condition. Finally, Dr. Campion explains the carryover effects of condition at joining on the productivity of the ewe the following year. For more episodes from OviCast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast/

August grassland management focus Aug 11, 2020

Show notes

Dr Philip Creighton joins Ciaran Lynch on this week’s episode of OviCast to discuss grassland management for the coming weeks. Philip discusses the current situation around the country, growth rates, grass dry matter and grazing management. He offers his tips on dealing with heavy covers and discusses why it’s important not to delay removing surplus from the rotation and taking stock of grass demand on the farm for the coming weeks. Finally, there’s a discussion on the importance of building autumn covers, planning the final round of fertilizer and setting up the rotation for the coming weeks. For more episodes from OviCast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast/

Farmer focus: John Bell – paddock system & finishing groups Aug 04, 2020

Show notes

On a blustery evening in the end of July, for this episode of Ovicast, Ciaran Lynch caught up with Co. Westmeath Farmer John Bell, a former winner of the Sheep Farmer of the Year completion and a previous host of the Irish Grassland Association Sheep event. John runs a high output sheep system from a 46 ha grass based farm he manages a 500 ewe flock with an additional 130+ ewe lambs rearing lambs each year. John started by giving a background to the flock, the system and the farm, he discusses some of the changes in the system over the past number of years and how he implemented a paddock grazing system on the farm including his use of temporary fencing. Finally, he discusses lamb finishing on the farm and how he targets supplementation at finishing groups opposed to blanket feeding. For more episodes from OviCast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast/

Ram selection – making use of indices Jul 28, 2020

Show notes

With the ram sales underway, Ciaran Lynch is joined on this week’s OviCast by Eamon Wall from Sheep Ireland who discusses ram selection. Eamon begins by emphasising the importance of paying attention to ram functionality at the time of purchase. He then takes us through the basic of the Sheep Ireland genetic index explaining the Terminal and Maternal traits and the various individual sub-indexes. Ciaran and Eamon then discuss the across breed evaluation as well as the overall Euro value. Eamon highlights the importance of the DQI and accuracy figures. There is also a discussion on the move to genotyping and parentage verification and how this improves the accuracy of the evaluations. With the majority of the information included in the index coming from commercial flocks, Eamon emphasises the relevance of this in the evaluations for commercial producers. Finally, Eamon discusses this year’s multi-breed ram sale. For more episodes from OviCast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast/

Early Lamb Systems? Jul 21, 2020

Show notes

With the breeding season kicking off, this week’s OviCast discusses the pros, cons and alternatives to early lambing systems. In this episode, Ciaran Lynch is joined by Shane Moore, who is farming just outside Athleague in Co. Roscommon and Michael Gottstein, Head of Sheep in Teagasc. Michael starts by outlining the key dates and requirements for early lambing systems for 2021 while Shane explains he has run an early lamb system for many years. He discusses why it initially suited his system and why he has moved away from it in recent years as sheep numbers increased on his farm. One of the challenges that Shane’s early lamb system presented was the increasing cost and conversely the declining returns. Early lamb is characterised by a high sale price but Michael takes us through the economics of this system and some of the hidden costs involved. As early sales provide a valuable source of cash flow on many dry stock farms, Shane discusses how he will offset this with a switch to carrying over light lambs for the hogget trade next spring. Meeting a continual supply is an important issue for the industry and Michael discusses the role of store lambs carried over as a way to meet this demand and how this practice is gaining popularity on many farms. For more episodes from OviCast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast/

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