Lambing is not without problems for Iain Green

Last year’s lambs are nearly all away, but despite being fed a huge amount of concentrate, the last batch has been slow to finish. The only saving grace has been that the hogg price has stayed up well.

The warm weather during March has allowed the grass to grow well, resulting in a large saving of concentrates for the ewes.

Lambing is in full swing, though it certainly has not been without its problems. Ewes are in tremendous trim, which has possibly led to the huge number of prolapses we have seen. The ewes, being true to form, have been leaving us for greener pastures in the sky. Hopefully, when we come to sell this year’s lambs they will match the current level and might allow us to forget these difficulties.

For the first time I can remember, we have finished drilling all the spring cereals before the end of March and have been over all the grass fields with the first application of fertiliser.

The weather has been so hot and dry and with a mild winter compared with the last two years. All the housed cattle have eaten less silage than normal, which, combined with the pits being full to capacity in the autumn, has resulted in a carryover of silage until next year. Although, as I write this article in the first days of April, the forecast is for cold weather and snow. So much for the early summer; the drop in temperature from last week is almost 20 degrees.

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