Lamb price provides additional incentive to rear surplus lambs

摘要

Predictions that lamb prices could remain strong next year should be an added incentive to do the best by surplus lambs this spring, says Volac Technical Specialist Ian Watson."It's always worth rearing as many lambs as you can, but it could really pay next year," he says. "Our advice is to plan ahead and re-examine current practices in order to rear as many surplus lambs as possible. Every sheep producer has to cope with surplus lambs to a certain extent, but when prices are weak the motivation to be as productive as possible just isn't there. It should be now."In addition to rearing orphans, Mr Watson recommends removing any third and fourth lambs from their mothers to help boost lamb survival rates and performance. When deciding which lamb to remove from a triplet-bearing ewe, he advises removing either the smallest or the largest one to leave a balanced pair.