General sheep thread

spudeater

Is it gone too late in the year to spread MOP. Just wondering as soil samples just back and i have a lot of index 1 and 2 fields.

Birdnuts

spudeater wrote: »

Is it gone too late in the year to spread MOP. Just wondering as soil samples just back and i have a lot of index 1 and 2 fields.

With falling temps and heavy rainfall I would doubt it

DJ98

Does the tams grant apply to fixed sheep handling equipment?

Buford T. Justice XIX

Sheep Welfare Scheme payment is after being flagged on agfood for me tonight.

Siamsa Sessions

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Sheep Welfare Scheme payment is after being flagged on agfood for me tonight.

Got a text earlier to say it was paid alright. It all helps.

Saw on Twitter this evening too that ICSA are calling for a BEEP for sheep as an “add on” to the SWS. Not sure how it’d work given the size of flocks compared to herds

DJ98

What would a ram lamb want to be fed post nating to ensure hes in good order next year

charolais0153

DJ98 wrote: »

What would a ram lamb want to be fed post nating to ensure hes in good order next year

Doesnt need much if hes in good condition, just mauntenance. Needs a lot more if hes thin

wrangler

Another sheep farmer around here converting to dairying, nearly 1000 ewes gone out of our lamb group between mine and his now.
There might be a good return from sheep yet.....if ye's live long enough.:cool:

Hard Knocks

wrangler wrote: »

Another sheep farmer around here converting to dairying, nearly 1000 ewes gone out of our lamb group between mine and his now.
There might be a good return from sheep yet.....if ye's live long enough.:cool:

Don’t think you’re wrong
From looking at headlines beef prices are down & lamb seams to be up

Siamsa Sessions

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Don’t think you’re wrong
From looking at headlines beef prices are down & lamb seams to be up

Lamb seems to be holding its own at the moment alright. Can't see too many entering the sector either from other enterprises:

* Dairy: not a hope (yet!)
* Beef: going into dairy
* Tillage: going into dairy (up to this year)
* Pigs/poultry: too specialised to change
* Others???

The only new entrants seem to be nostalgic dreamers like me-self!

ganmo

i had a quick look at the sheep census '17. sheep numbers can go up or down quickly.
anyone remember what happened in '05/'06?

Hard Knocks

ganmo wrote: »

i had a quick look at the sheep census '17. sheep numbers can go up or down quickly.
anyone remember what happened in '05/'06?

Around here lots of farmers want to come away from lambing & calving, but you have a valid point with the poor beef price & influx of dairy beef there could be a few switching from beef to sheep to minimize costs but the cost of fencing might deter

Dickie10

a lot of beef men hate the sight of sheep and it comes from the days when they were younger, running after sheep broke out because there fathers didnt have decent fencing or were afraid to spend money on wire and posts and went arounf putting bits of briairs in gaps. also handling facilties were poor and lads didnt watch what breeds they had and were they suitable to there system, ddint feed or scan so they were left with dopey lambs from ewes with not enough milk from under feeding or not correct mineral supplementation. not scanning left singles you couldnt pull out of ewes from overfeeding these. poor quality lambing set up with bad sheds or poor lighting. all these things need to be spot on to have any easy life with ewes, because we all know its hard enoough work in the best conditions. lads that rock up and buy ewes and expect to put in no planning or thought to it will be gone out of it again within a few years

Dickie10

for these reasons i can see very few new entrants to sheep farming, more likely to see numbers increase among decent sheep men.overall though the numbers will go down , not sure howw Brexiit will afeect us though seems to be very little word about our sheep sector with regard to this. however that is nothing knew sheep always were the forgotten sector

Siamsa Sessions

Hard Knocks wrote: »

ganmo wrote: »

i had a quick look at the sheep census '17. sheep numbers can go up or down quickly.
anyone remember what happened in '05/'06?

Around here lots of farmers want to come away from lambing & calving, but you have a valid point with the poor beef price & influx of dairy beef there could be a few switching from beef to sheep to minimize costs but the cost of fencing might deter

I don’t think people realise the costs when getting into a few sheep. I certainly didn’t and have often seen statements like “sheep don’t require big investment to get into them”.

Tis all relative compared to dairy and ewes are cheap compared to suckler cows, but there’s still a fairly hefty investment needed if you’re going to get set up right with sheep

Oldira

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Sheep Welfare Scheme payment is after being flagged on agfood for me tonight.

I only got paid on half the number I originally applied for...applied for 54 but just got paid on 27. Any idea why that would be?/

DJ98

charolais0153 wrote: »

Doesnt need much if hes in good condition, just mauntenance. Needs a lot more if hes thin

What would a maintenance diet consist of? Have him housed.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Oldira wrote: »

I only got paid on half the number I originally applied for...applied for 54 but just got paid on 27. Any idea why that would be?/

Possibly haven't completed the requirements for the scheme? Your best bet would be to ring them to find out, i'd say.

Green farmer

Why would anyone want to get into a poorly paid job like sheep when the factories taking the p**s at every opportunity. Much easier money to be made from other sectors. building sites and nearly every other sector in the economy is booming again.

DJ98

Green farmer wrote: »

Why would anyone want to get into a poorly paid job like sheep when the factories taking the p**s at every opportunity. Much easier money to be made from other sectors. building sites and nearly every other sector in the economy is booming again.

If sheep are done right it's possible to make money from them, they are a quick return

Siamsa Sessions

Oldira wrote: »

I only got paid on half the number I originally applied for...applied for 54 but just got paid on 27. Any idea why that would be?/

I'm assuming you had 54 paid last year and still on the census?

Dinzee Conlee

Sheep will never be massive money, as they are too easy to get into to pull a crop of lambs out of... Lads forget about fencing and handling facilities and hardship in the summer, when they see lambs making big money...

Then, after a load of lads have gotten into em, the number of lambs is higher the next year, and that fixes the problem of high prices... Then those lads see all the problems, only get average money for their lambs, and they sell the lot again... for a few more years...

orm0nd

there's a bit of an increase in ewe numbers in places , though I doubt if it would match the exodus, mostly guys getting on in years and giving up sucklers, and keeping a few extra ewes



wrangler mentioned about 1000 ewes from 2 flocks , I know of another circa 1500 from about 3 or 4 lads going dairying also .

ganmo

orm0nd wrote: »

there's a bit of an increase in ewe numbers in places , though I doubt if it would match the exodus, mostly guys getting on in years and giving up sucklers, and keeping a few extra ewes



wrangler mentioned about 1000 ewes from 2 flocks , I know of another circa 1500 from about 3 or 4 lads going dairying also .

the sheep welfare scheme brought a lot of new entrants into the game and others upped their numbers 10/15 and it only takes 500 out of the 35000 to keep 10 extra ewes each to cancel out a few of them big lads

Young95

I’m considering putting up clipex sheep fencing as I can avail of 60% grant aid. Those anyone here have any feedback on it or have done it themselves? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Green farmer

DJ98 wrote: »

If sheep are done right it's possible to make money from them, they are a quick return

Don’t get me wrong I’m sheep only and wouldn’t like anything else, but for a young lad, it’s easier to get a trade and pull a grand a week from the building sites in comparison to the scale of sheep farming land and capital you’d need to do that.

Birdnuts

wrangler wrote: »

Another sheep farmer around here converting to dairying, nearly 1000 ewes gone out of our lamb group between mine and his now.

The rush into Dairy reminds me of the folks getting into high flying bank shares back in 07'

Sheep breeder

ganmo wrote: »

the sheep welfare scheme brought a lot of new entrants into the game and others upped their numbers 10/15 and it only takes 500 out of the 35000 to keep 10 extra ewes each to cancel out a few of them big lads

Stand in any sheep mart this summer and watch the number of ewes sold every week and the amount of hoggets not sold and gone to the ram and lads hoping to sell in lamb next spring.
The only ewe that will be indemand is the ewe with the lamb at foot with work done for the buyer.

Hard Knocks

Sheep breeder wrote: »

The only ewe that will be indemand is the ewe with the lamb at foot with work done for the buyer.

True & the buyers will want her for less than what’s she’s worth too

Sheepman2

Hard Knocks wrote: »

True & the buyers will want her for less than what’s she’s worth too

I think the opposite, genuine ewe with 1 or 2 lambs can be very hard bought at reasonable money in the spring