Forage crops – carrying capacity & grazing setup

Drs Philip Creighton & Frank Campion join Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss some key aspects of forage crop management. Philip begins by discussing the importance of assessing the yield of the crop and he also outlines how to work out the expected carrying capacity. As good utilisation is vital, Philip outlines how to approach setting up grazing divisions and manage these in difficult conditions. On the subject of divisions Frank highlights the importance of fencer setup and takes us through how they are transitioning lambs on to the various crops in Athenry. He also highlights the importance of shearing lambs prior to grazing forage crops. Finally, Frank outlines the on-going trial assessing the performance of hill bred store lambs when grazed on forage crops. For more episodes from OviCast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast/