Register Today for the OMAFRA Sheep Seminar on October 29

Grow the Market with More lbs of Lamb – A Profitable Choice? 2015 Sheep Seminar October 29, 2015 Locations: -Nottawasaga Inn, Alliston -Lion’s Community Hall, Napanee via WebEx (speakers will be in Alliston and the presentations will be viewed on a large screen at Napanee) -Select locations in Northern Ontario via WebEx 8:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Should you consider taking lambs to heavier weights? Does adding weight add profitability? Cash flowing heavier lambs Health issues in heavier lambs Predicting when lambs will be ready for market   For complete details and registration form please click here.     

Livestock Estimates Released, July 1, 2015

The Canadian livestock estimate has been released by Statistics Canada. Sheep inventories decreased 2.1% from July 1, 2014, as market lambs fell 2.1% to 405 600 head. The number of ewes declined 1.8%, while replacement lambs fell 3.0% compared with the same date in 2014. Read Full Article on Livestock Estimates  Table: Sheep Inventories  Table: Number of Sheep and Lambs On Farm

Ideas for Shearing Facility Design and Shearing in Ontario

Wool production is a year-long process. Yet it is during harvesting – a process that takes a matter of minutes – that quality is often adversely affected. Preparing your facilities and flock properly for shearing will make the job much easier and ensure quality does not suffer. Producers often assume that the shearer knows the best procedure for wool handling and preparation. However, it is the producer’s responsibility to make sure that animal handling is optimized and ensure buyers get the high-quality wool they desire. A number of factors go into designing and constructing a shearing facility that is effective for both workers and sheep. Read more in the OMAFRA factsheet Shearing Facility Design and Shearing in Ontario.

New from OMAFRA Low Labour Feeding Systems and Bunk Design for Sheep

This Factsheet discusses winter feeding set-up for the sheep flock and why a feeding set-up with flexibility is important. Flexibility in a feeding system is critical because: -Feed is the single largest cost centre in the lamb production operation. Managing this cost requires that the system has flexibility in accommodating various ingredients for cost-effective rations. -Infrastructure is a major long-term expenditure that is often larger than livestock investment and may approach land costs. Infrastructure that serves as an investment or asset should be adaptable to multiple uses, otherwise it becomes an expense that requires further investment (renovation expenses) to remain current. -Labour is another major cost on sheep operations. The need for labour varies by animal group, time of year…

OMAFRA’s Sheep Management Journal

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has a new sheep management journal. Designed after the popular lambing diary, it is pocket sized and spiral bound. The book is designed to collect information generated on the farm throughout the sheep management cycle. Producers can collect information about things like: on sheep and feed inventories, ram in and out dates, total numbers of lambs weaned and marketed, numbers of animals and days on pasture and health treatments. The book is divided into four main sections: animal management, health management, stored feed management and pasture management. This book provides a low tech method of recording much of the basic information needed to do a basic evaluation of sheep farm…

Rethinking Orchardgrass

This article was originally posted on Field Crop News by Joel Bagg Orchardgrass can be very productive, particularly in pastures and hay fields with aggressive cutting schedules. It is a very fast growing, perennial, cool-season grass. However, because it heads so very early in the spring and then declines quickly in digestible energy and protein, it has not been as widely used for stored forage in Ontario compared to other forage grasses. This is changing more recently, as plant breeders are researching and developing newer orchardgrass varieties with later maturity. An Alternative To Timothy? Timothy has always been the most popular grass in Ontario because of its late maturity, ability to mix with alfalfa and go through the small seed box,…