As the days shorten and a new flush of growth appears in our fields, it’s easy to think the grazing season is winding down. However, for many UK livestock farmers, autumn brings a heightened risk of a serious and often fatal condition: grass staggers. Also known as hypomagnesaemia or grass tetany, this magnesium deficiency can strike cattle and ewes without warning, making it crucial to be prepared.
With huge scope to maximise productivity from forage, Wynnstay has launched a new Forage4Profit campaign, which is designed to support farmers to improve meat or milk from forage.
The 2022 Kingshay report indicates that the average milk from forage on UK dairy farms is 2,900 litres, showcasing that there is huge scope for improvement, with some of the best farms reaching over 5,000 litres.
Practical management at tupping has a beneficial impact on both the profitability and practicalities at lambing. Effective and reliable marking lets you know which ewes have been tupped, by which ram and when!
The nutrition of the ewe is key in achieving an optimum body condition score (BCS) at tupping, ensuring high levels of fertility, and a maximum lamb crop next season. It can take up to 6 weeks to increase a ewes BCS by one point, therefore it is important to act sooner rather than later.
If your lambs are struggling with low-quality forage or limited grazing options, you should consider creep feeding your lambs. Creep feeding provides supplemental nutrition to lambs while they are still nursing.
For those with well-managed grazing systems and access to plentiful grass, creep feeding may not be required. However, to hit daily live weight gain (DLWG) targets and meet market requirements, reliance on low-quality forage or limited grazing won’t deliver the desired results, and it will pay to feed creep feed to bolster performance.
Elevated energy demands placed on pregnant ewes in late gestation mean sheep can lose condition and suffer from twin lamb disease. This produces ketones as fat reserves are used as an energy source as opposed to glucose in the bloodstream.
With the onset of winter rapidly approaching and grass quality decreasing, Wynnstay’s beef and sheep manager, Bryn Hughes, advises farmers to plan ahead for housing cattle over winter.
Beef and Sheep manager, Bryn Hughes advises farmers to make informed adjustments to their ewe management practices for greater success during the lambing season.
Wynnstay customer Rob Powell has found wintering ewes at home, on grass and root crops, a cost-effective option.
Farmers are being advised to get ewes in the correct condition ahead of tupping to prevent low scanning rates.
It was widely reported that scanning rates were back 15-20% on some farms in 2022/23 because the drought-affected feed availability pre-tupping, this could happen again this year and farmers must plan ahead.
