The winter drilling continued into autumn with a race against the conditions. It turned fairly wet and sticky early in the month conjuring up memories of past years of wet autumns and winters. However, it dried up and we were able to get finished. Although we did have a colder wetter spell it has dried out and warmed up, meaning the grass has continued to grow well.

On the sheep front we condition scored and weighed our ewes before mating, to help breed for ewe efficiency. I have spent some time going through making a mating plan using Signet’s inbreeding calculator, balancing increases in inbreeding with genetic progress in the next lamb crop.

The mature Lleyn ewes have now been transitioned onto fodder beet. As they are being mated on fodder beet, we aim to have them on for at least a month before, so their rumens have had a chance to adapt.