OviCast

Sheep Specialists, Michael Gottstein and Damian Costello, join Ciarán Lynch on the latest OviCast podcast to discuss the sheep farming year and look ahead to what’s in store for 2023.    Michael first looks back at 2022 and some of the challenges it posed discussing how some farms were better able to adapt to these challenges and what made their systems more resilient.    Damian discusses some key...

Dr. Frank Campion and postgraduate student, Mark Dolan, join Ciarán Lynch on the latest OviCast podcast with an update on the ongoing work examining finishing hill-bred lambs on a range of forage crops.  Mark first gives the background to the project and what crops they are grazing, followed by an update on crop yield and utilisation this year and the reason for some of the differences observed. ...

Teagasc Advisor, Serena Gibbons, is on this week’s OviCast podcast to discuss farm safety this winter.  Serena first discusses the recent data from the Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS) highlighting the number and location of accidents on farms.  She highlights the extra challenges the recent cold snap poses and has some practical tips to deal with it as well as the need for some caution around r...

Michael Gottstein, Teagasc's Head of Sheep, joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast podcast to discuss the new Sheep Improvement Scheme launched by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.    Michael starts by outlining the timeframe for the scheme and the payments available.  He discusses how to apply for the scheme and the options for new entrants.    He explains how the reference n...

Dr. James O’Shaughnessy from the Dept. of Agriculture Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Backweston joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast podcast for a broad discussion on the risk fluke poses this winter.    James describes the impact it has on animal health from acute to chronic infection and discusses the forecasted fluke risk for this winter and how that can vary across the country...

Dr Tim Keady is on this week’s OviCast podcast to discuss some key aspects of finishing lambs in the latter half of the season.    Tim gives some context on the numbers finished in the latter half of the season and the levels of performance achieved at grass in late autumn along with the impact of concentrate supplementation.    He also discusses indoor finishing systems and some of the key consid...

David Coen from Sheep Ireland joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to explain genotyping rams.    David outlines the benefits of genotyping rams and the kind of information it can provide from scrapie genotypes to parentage verification to genomic evaluations.  David and Ciarán also discuss the processes and costs involved for producers.    David then explains the ram genotype task in the Pro...

Teagasc advisor, David Argue, joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast podcast to discuss some important aspects of ram lamb management as the breeding season draws to a close.    Management during the first season can have an impact on ram longevity, David begins by emphasising the importance of having rams acclimatised prior to turnout.    He discusses management of ram lambs during the breedin...

Sean Godfrey from Sheep Ireland is on this week’s OviCast podcast with an update on what’s happening in the Central Progeny Test (CPT) farms.     Sean first explains the role of the CPT flocks and the other sources of commercial data that goes into the evaluations.    He discusses the number of ewes and rams involved, plus the mating strategy on the farms from the use of cervical AI to mob mating...

As part of Sustainability Week, Teagasc advisor Tom Coll joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast podcast to discuss the 12 steps from the Teagasc Signpost team to reduce gaseous emissions on sheep farms.    Tom starts by highlighting how some of these steps will require a change of mindset, others are common practice on sheep farms which will not only have environmental benefits but will also re...

Teagasc sheep specialist, Damian Costello, joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast with key tips around ram management during the mating period.    Firstly, Damian emphasises the need to make sure the ram is physically sound and any aliments are addressed prior to turnout and how this could impact ram fertility.     Damian talks about the use of raddle and the need to observe mating activity and...

Dr Philip Creighton is on this week’s OviCast to discuss some key aspects of grazing management this autumn.    Philip first talks about current grazing conditions and supply on farms as well as some of the challenges this autumn.    He then discusses the closing plan and how this may need to be modified on farms where supplies are tight.    Philip explains how clover or multi species swards may h...

Shane Moore, BETTER Farm Participant who is farming just outside Athleague in county Roscommon, joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to talk about lamb performance and drafting.    With the breeding season around the corner, he discusses breeding ewe lambs and how this year’s cohort are shaping up.    Shane also discusses grassland management, overall production this year and how he has made...

Sheep Specialist, Michael Gottstein, joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss some important aspects of lamb drafting at this point in the season.    Michael discusses the national kill and type of carcass being supplied and he discusses the expected kill out percentage in lambs and what can influence it.    He also explains the issues with under-fleshed carcasses, both in terms of del...

With another college year starting off, Emma Tobin from Kildalton Agricultural College joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to highlight the different full time and part time courses that are available.    Emma discusses the blended approach to learning from the classroom to the practical side of flock management as well as some of the newer technologies they use.    She also discusses the co...

Séamus Fagan from the Department of Agriculture’s Regional Veterinary Lab in Athlone joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast podcast to discuss Haemonchus contortus infection in sheep.    Séamus explains how this parasite is sometimes referred to as the barber’s pole and how it affects sheep.    With some cases appearing around the country this year, he discusses the symptoms, transmission and c...

BETTER Farm participant, Francis Gonley, and programme manager, Dr. Frank Campion, are on this week’s OviCast podcast to chat about Francis’ system and lamb finishing this autumn.  Francis starts off explaining his lowland and hill system, grass growth and how the lambs have performed this season.  He discusses his reasons for selling off the lighter lambs from both flocks as stores, while Frank d...

Sheep BETTER Farm Programme participant, Brian Keane, and his Teagasc Advisor, James Doran, join Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to get an insight into the system he is operating and how he is managing this season.    Brian, who is farming near Enniscorthy in Co Wexford, first gives some background to his farming enterprise which comprises of sheep suckers and tillage.    He discusses how the...

Seamus McMenamin, Sheep Sector Manager with Bord Bia, is on this week’s OviCast podcast to discuss current trends and the outlook for the sheep market in the coming months.    Seamus begins by discussing current trade and throughput this year to date. Since spring, Seamus explains the impact reopening has had on lamb consumption both on the domestic and international market as well as the trends i...

Patrick Dunne, who is a participant in the Teagasc BETTER Farm Sheep programme, is on this week’s OviCast to discuss the impact of OPA on his flock and how he has addressed the issue over the past number of years.    Patrick goes back a number of years to explain how it was impacting the flock and  the lack of awareness of what was causing it. He discusses how he went about getting a diagnosis and...

Dr Philip Creighton joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss grazing management as we head into the autumn.    Philip starts off by discussing grass supply and demand across the country and the need to take stock of these for the coming weeks and months. He goes on to outline the grazing targets for the coming weeks.    He discusses August fertiliser applications, the importance of  ta...

With ram sales in full swing, Kevin Mc Dermott, Sheep Ireland Manager, joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast to discuss using genetic information when making your purchasing decisions.    First, Kevin highlights the benefits genetic improvement has in a flock as he discusses the results from on-farm validations.    There is a discussion on what information is available for recorded rams in sal...

Post-graduate student, Sarah Woodmartin, and Dr Fiona McGovern join Ciarán Lynch on the latest OviCast podcast to discuss ongoing work examining the effect of companion forages influence intake, digestibility and methane production in sheep as part of a wider Grass2Gas project.    Sarah first gives a bit of background to the project before discussing what is being examined, some of the preliminary...

Dr Frank Campion joins Ciarán Lynch for this episode of OviCast with an update of how performance has stacked up on the lowland flocks at weaning.    He discusses lamb performance and its implications for sales, feeding and finishing strategies on the farms.    Frank emphasises the importance of assessing the weight of lambs and their expected finish time at this stage of the season.    Finally, F...

With ewes being weaned across the country it provides farmers with an opportunity to check udders for mastitis and other issues and remove these problem ewes from the flock.     Ryan Duffy, Technical Vet with HIPRA, joins Ciarán Lynch on the latest OviCast podcast to discuss the implications of mastitis in ewes and offers some practical advice on the topic.    Ryan explains the different types of...