Farmer Focus: Disappointing summer and lamb growth rates
© Tim Scrivener Things feel like a lot of hard work this year with the sheep, which we think can only be down to the weather.
We haven’t been able to weigh lambs as regularly as in previous years because we had to have our weigh bars repaired and, down to a lack of time with the direct sales, have been so busy.
See also: How to troubleshoot poor lamb growth rates
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Last week, we managed to weigh our April/May born lambs, which have averaged a disappointing 28kg, compared with 31kg last year and 32kg in 2022.
We had bloods taken to see if it’s a trace element issue, but all levels have come back fine.
This is a good thing, but doesn’t explain the slower growth rates and means it’s not a quick fix.
In the past we have struggled with low iodine, yet these results also came back fine. We also do regular faecal egg counts, so we know it’s not worms either.
A higher scan rate this year means fewer singles, but it’s still disappointing to go backwards. They all look fit and healthy. They aren’t thin, they just aren’t weighing well.
This flock is on a grass-based system and the grass hasn’t grown as well as previous years and has already started to bolt in some fields.
We will have to look at maybe mowing a few fields to reset them and get some decent grass growing back.
Luckily, due to the nature of our business model we don’t need all our lambs ready at once and, providing we have 15-20 ready a week, we are fine to cover orders.
We finished on hoggs and started on the new season lambs on 10 June.
The past few months have been very busy with lots of events, including the Lincolnshire Show where we had our catering trailer and catered for Chandlers Farm Equipment on their stand.
The catering trailer is out nearly every weekend, and we have another pop-up shop soon. Managing the livestock and running direct sales is a tricky balance – Chris and I are spreading ourselves very thin.
Our part-time staff are an amazing asset to our small team, though we possibly need extra people for us to get a better work-life balance, which at the moment is pretty non-existent.