Considering swedes as potential low cost winter feed for sheep

Maintenance

Swedes and fodder beet are grown to provide a maintenance ration for in-lamb ewes from late December though, until lambing, while stubble turnips also provide additional forage.

Growing a range of crops in this way spreads risk and, due to varying drilling dates, helps with workloads and availability of grass.

Mr Powell says: “We aim to drill the fodder beet in early May, swedes by the middle of June and stubble turnips in August. This staggered establishment works well in terms of overall management and is certainly beneficial in terms of ensuring we have enough grass at critical times.”

All ewes have a mineral bolus, which includes iodine, as swedes are low in this trace element, but otherwise Mr Powell explains the only other management needed is the provision of a run-back area and good water supply.

He says: “I find ewes prefer swedes to other root crops and tend to do better on them. It is a simple and relatively low-cost system that works for us.”

Ewes will receive baled silage when they come off roots and come inside to lamb, with only cross-breds having concentrates from about three weeks before.

Lambing starts in mid-March and runs through to mid-April. Improved grassland is available for ewes and lambs from turnout, with rotationally grazed leys containing high sugar rye-grass, red clover and perennial chicory, supporting good lamb growth rates in the early season.

This allows some lambs to be finished in May and June at about 32kg for the ethnic market. The change in direction with genetics is resulting in cross-bred breeding ewes with a mature bodyweight of about 65-70kg, which Mr Powell finds to be good hardy ewes.

This is a key factor in allowing increased stocking rates. Ewes are also more prolific, typically scanning at about 180-190 per cent, and as there is less requirement for flushing, this has freed up land that can now be used as seasonal grazing for ewe lambs coming off the hill.

Abermax and Aberblack terminal sires, which have replaced continental breeds, are also contributing, with finished lambs reaching target weights earlier.

Overall, with improved genetics, more productive grassland and root crops providing very low-cost winter feed, Mr Powell is on target to keep production costs down at a level that keeps his business sustainable.

While expanding the farmed area may not be possible, boosting efficiency across the existing unit most certainly is.