Once lambing had come to an end, I we split the paddock up into four to begin a rough rotation. The chicory has been more difficult to manage in its second year and the sheep haven’t been able to keep on top of it as much as I would have liked.  The lambs seem to be growing well on it so it will be interesting to see how they go through the rest of the season.

Later in the month we gave the lambs of the mature ewes their first vaccine. They look to be growing well on the permanent pasture they were lambed on. Once they were vaccinated they were grouped up so we could start moving them between fields to get some control over the grass. Since the wet cold start to May, it has really dried out, we have gone from one extreme to another. Which is really starting to affect grass growth.

We have established a new grass ley in a very heavy arable field as a GS4 in an environmental scheme. We directed drilled it after a cover crop, which has had mixed results. In the really heavy areas, all the that seems to have taken is black grass, which will need reseeding.

The RamCompare results were released this month too, with the breeding values moved into Signet‘s monthly evaluation, there is also a very exciting new Lamb Value EBV, which looks like it will be incredibly valuable. One of our Hampshire’s made it into the top 20 of all breeds for lamb value, within the Hampshire’s we have 4 out the top 5 for Lamb Value.