John Fagan: It’s disillusioning to realize that I would be better off selling my herd and renting out my land

Some people can’t believe I would lamb that many out there but I don’t have much of a problem with it and losses are kept to a minimum if the ewes are fed properly in advance of lambing.

I keep triplets and singles in which makes it easy to do adoptions as it’s generally the singles and triplets that need the most attention.

I condition the ewes all the time, and sometimes if a handful of ewes aren’t thriving in the barn, I’ll just let them out and feed them outside, where they generally thrive much better.

Spacing in the barn is very important, as is access to clean water. A pregnant ewe drinks up to six liters of water a day, so I keep a close eye on her troughs to make sure they’re clean and working properly.

I had a case of twin lamb disease last year which luckily I caught in time. Have some Calciject and some energy supplements handy as things like this are bound to happen on a Sunday when everything is closed.

This is where the molasses really helped the herd. I see the sheep licking it constantly to keep up their energy and aid in digestion. His introduction was a game changer for me.

Grassland is now the focus of my attention and I have applied as much manure as possible along with 25kg/ac of urea to the fields that can handle it.​

The weather has been favorable for fertilizer application, and while expensive, it is necessary if you want grass in the spring.

It helps tremendously that I closed the fields in October as they will have over 120 days of rest before cattle are allowed to graze.

In grassland farming, you have to think months in advance to keep things running smoothly. I’ve given up the habit of measuring grass but I dusted off my record meter only to find it doesn’t work but I won’t give it up as measuring grass has been really helpful.

The online Pasturebase system powered by Teagasc is excellent – not too complicated and worth a try.

I have about 60 Hoggets left for sale and can’t believe the massive price drop. In hindsight I shouldn’t have bothered buying food to finish the last batch and should have just rounded it up and sold it when the base was €6.30.

I broke my own rule of buying food to get lambs ready! I am no further than acting in good faith to properly finish lambs rather than selling them under-fleshed.

It’s disillusioning to realize that you’d be better off selling your herd outright and renting out the farm than actually farming them. Land is rented for 300-400€/ac and dairy farmers are crazy about weed.

Falling prices, the prospect of selling Kildare meat, rising input costs, cuts in CAP payments and insufficient funding for ACRES are nails in the coffin of large-scale sheep farming.

I laughed when the recent IFA sheep meeting in Athlone cited the prospect of online payments and access to the US market for lamb as the best solution to the crisis.

This comes after Teagasc’s Michael Gottstein showed that sheep farmers live on profits of €7 per ewe.

I’ve heard it all before: remember the electronic tags that gave us access to the Chinese market? That was five years ago, and how many kilos of lamb have been sold to China since then?

Speaking of China, an ancient Chinese proverb says: “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness”.

As farmers, we have to think about how we can stay afloat. There’s no harm in teaming up with a dairy farmer and exploring a diversified income that could be made outside of farming. Is tourism an option?

Reduce your herd count to a level that exposes you less to buying expensive inputs that decimate your profits. Is organic sheep farming an option for you?

The glass is half full when you want it.

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John Fagan farms Crookedwood, Co Westmeath