Our overall scanning percentage was a little up on last year, but still disappointing at 158%. This means that for every ewe scanned, they are expected to have a little over one and a half lambs. The industry desired average would be somewhere around 175%, or a lamb and three quarters per ewe scanned. So, clearly we are a little low, but maybe the target is too high?
The ‘Overton Window’ is the range of ideas acceptable to the population and I wonder if it is too high? A target scanning % of 175% is fine if you are lambing on newer grass fields, or perhaps feeding extra feed. But, can that be achieved on older pasture? And after two pretty poor years, drought in 2025, wet and cold in 2024. I know farms that still do, but maybe their genetics are better than mine. So, should we be feeding supplementary feed to the sheep? Should we be planting more newer grass leys?
All in all, it is outcomes that matter most. If we manage to rear 150%, of the 158% predicted lambs, we will be doing well. We can’t be with the sheep 24 hours a day and some losses are expected in an outdoor system, that’s just a reality. Not to mention the economic reality that all farms are facing. I couldn’t do all hours of the day on my own and the worst thing you can do is disturb the sheep at night, so breeding in easy lambing and lamb survival is the best thing that can be done going forward.
The cows are all in and as we come towards what we hope is the end of the winter, we are tight for feed and bedding straw. I have been buying silage and a few extra loads of straw to get us through. In fact it is really only in the last few weeks, with the damp, wet weather that we seem to be using more straw than planned.
All being well, we will get some cattle outside on to grass in early March. I cannot think that this rain is going to carry on for much longer. There is little sign of settled weather in the forecast, but the predicted rain is lighter, so perhaps, as it warms up the flooding will abate and the grass will take up the abundance of moisture and dry the ground. Getting even one group of heifers outside would help.
We will TB test the cattle in mid March and aim to get most of the cattle out after that. It is a worrying time, but as we have had clear tests over the past few years we are optimistic of a good result.
So, with dad doing the cattle feeding, I am now concentrating on pruning the apple trees, hedge laying and fencing. All satisfying jobs, especially the hedge laying. I helped a couple of lads from our Young Farmers club to do some practice prior to the County hedge laying match in early February. And the big news is that they won! I can’t take too much credit, but it is a long time, if ever that Lugg Valley YFC have won a class at the hedging match, as well as finishing second overall.
Lastly in mid February, Sam Stables from We are Farming Minds, walked 142 miles from Ross on Wye livestock market to The Farmers Club in London. This was a part of Mind Your Head week 2026 and Sam raised over £40,000 of valuable funds that will be used to support rural mental health.
Mental health and resilience in farming is something that we hear a lot about at the moment and perhaps the biggest problem is the uncertainty around agriculture at the moment. However, as I type in mid February, today has been a lovely bright day and I was thankful earlier for some respite from the rain and perhaps a hint of the better weather we know will come.
Rich, Risbury -
rich@risburycourt.com
85
Picture courtesy of Wendy Preece
Regenerative Farming
LIVE24-SEVEN.COM
BUSINESS ON THE FARM
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