A SERIES of free events focusing on the management of overwintered ewes will start on Tuesday December 13, with a farmer meeting at Carstairs Village Hall in Lanark, hosted by the Baillies of Carstairs Mains.

The aim of the four QMS-funded workshops is to explore cost effective, practical solutions to provide forage to ewes over the winter period once grass growth slows.

Organised by SAC Consulting, part of SRUC, the events are targeted at those who farm breeding ewes and find they have abundant grass in the summer but are stretched over the winter to have sufficient to meet their ewe’s nutritional requirements.

“Sheep farmers often face the challenge of having too many sheep in the winter for the grazing available," said QMS knowledge transfer specialist Michael Blanche. "It can be a significant cost to support these ewes nutritionally by other means.

“This series of workshops will look at the low cost techniques some farmers are successfully using to overcome this challenge. These include producing forage crops, rotational grazing and targeted nutrition.”

The first of these events will be hosted by Andrew and Jen Baillie of Carstairs Mains farm, who have a livestock enterprise made up of breeding sheep and cattle. The sheep include a 400 head commercial flock and a 200 head pedigree flock of Beltex and Texel ewes.

The Baillie family have tackled the challenge of lack of winter grazing by introducing an “all grass wintering” management technique. This involves the use of rotational grazing after tupping, using relatively small electric fenced paddocks, allocating the right amount of grass for the ewes and moving them on frequently.

The workshop on December 13 will begin at 10.30am in the village hall, where attendees will hear an introduction to the Carstairs Mains system, before visiting the farm to view the ewes on the rotational grazing.

Lunch will be followed by a technical afternoon session back at the hall, looking at some alternative options for overwintering ewes. The workshop will end at 3pm.

The December event will be followed by three further workshops in early 2017 which will focus on different methods of overwintering ewes:

• Tuesday February14 at Fearn Farm, Tain by permission of John Scott;

• Wednesday February 15 at Brogan Farms, Newburgh, Ellon by permission of Dane Davidson;

• Tuesday February 21 at Theepwood Farm, Galston, by permission of Jimmy Gibb.

To attend the Carstairs event, contact SAC Consulting in Lanark on 01555 662562 or email fbslanark@sac.co.uk. For further information about all of the events visit www.qmscotland.co.uk/events