Farmer Focus: Tough lambing with Schmallenberg and rain
James Kimber © Kathy Horniblow Last month, I wrote about maintaining enthusiasm for farming. But goodness me, the past month has been a test.
I have been criticised for being negative and praised for straight-talking. Well, Schmallenberg sucks.
We got away with it in the February lambers, but have been badly hit by the virus in the late-March group. A new symptom of the virus seems to be floppy, non-viable lambs that aren’t deformed but cannot get going.
See also: Schmallenberg outbreak hits early lambing flocks
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An inability to regulate body temperature is one of the first signs. We’ve had lambs that have got going but then go floppy and can’t bear their own weight.
This has been extremely tiring and demoralising. I have never asked my wife, Belinda, to stop wasting time on live lambs before, but they are a dead loss.
I’ve added up how many have been affected, and it looks like it’s killing about 11% – and that’s before all the other losses from stillbirths and E coli.
Wet conditions forced us to house everything for two weeks. It’s been nice to have the option of sheds, but it’s been full on.
We have good grass cover on the rented ground, so I hope they romp away now.
The lambing students from Nottingham were good and understood lamb mal-presentation very quickly.
I think they saw everything, including a couple of caesareans in the Texels. A Bristol student joined us at the end, which was a welcome boost.
The last hoggets went on a strong trade, which was very fortunate given how many had died over the winter. So, where is the trade going now?
I am poor at guessing, but the Baltimore Bridge collision will result in container ships being in the wrong place for at least eight weeks.
The trip around Africa is extremely expensive, so Antipodean lamb won’t be cheap.
Schmallenberg has had a big effect, and of course the nightmare weather will peg the lamb crop down.
A strong hogg price will probably mean people cash in sheep on the trade, reining in the future breeding flock.
On with the next job: bull preparations for the spring sale. We have two great Charolais easy-calving bulls and two muscly Simmentals.
Unfortunately, the sales are on the same day, so it will require a bit of juggling.Â