Sheep Event 2025

This year the IGA are travelling to the Higgins farm in the village of Skreen in West Sligo on the 8 th of July for our annual sheep event kindly sponsored by Mullinahone Co-Op.

Philip Higgins farms 90 ha in partnership with his son Jonathan. The farming system has transitioned over the last 5 years from a sheep and suckler beef system to a sheep and contract heifer rearing enterprise.

The sheep enterprise consists of a prolific mid-season lambing flock made up of 200 Texel X Mule and Suffolk X Mule ewes and 50 replacement ewe lambs lambing down in mid–March. This year the ewes scanned at 1.9 and the ewe lambs scanned at 1.4 lambs per ewe joined. The ewes are mated to Texel, Suffolk and Belclare rams with a Beltex ram used on ewe lambs. In recent years Philip and Jonathan have established multispecies swards as part of an annual reseeding programme on their farm. These swards have been used post-weaning to finish lambs and reduce concentrate input. All lambs are finished on the farm and sold through the Sligo/Leitrim Lamb Producer group to Irish Country Meats in Navan. Faecal sampling is used throughout the summer months to determine when lambs require dosing, and this has resulted in fewer worm treatments being required over the grazing season.

The contract heifer rearing enterprise consists of 340 contract-reared pedigree Jersey heifers. 170 weaned calves arrive on the farm in May and are returned to the dairy herd in-calf in Oct of the following year. A heat detection neck collar system is in place to facilitate a compact breeding season.

A high level of animal performance both at grass and over the winter period is achieved on the farm through the use of a paddock system for both enterprises and harvesting high DMD silage. A nutrient management plan is in place for the farm, protected urea is used as a
nitrogen source, and all slurry is land spread using a low emission system acquired under TAMS.

The sheep and contract heifer rearing enterprises complement each other when it comes to grassland management as the ewes can be used post-weaning to clean out paddocks after the calves, heifers and weaned lambs, thus ensuring a high level of animal performance at grass.

The multispecies swards have delivered strong performance during their first two years of establishment, with swards transitioning to a productive grass-clover mix, as the herbs naturally decline. They are now established annually as part of an ongoing reseeding programme.

The event will focus on the establishment, management and performance achievable from multispecies swards when planned and grazed correctly. There will also be discussion around the grazing enterprises on the farm and attendees will have the opportunity to learn directly from Philip and Jonathan about their system, challenges, and successes.

Commenting on the event Martin Ryan CEO Mullinahone Co-Op said, “we are delighted to partner with the Irish Grassland Association for this event. Grass and grassland management is a critical success factor in Irish livestock production. It is the primary driver of profit and the platform on which we differentiate our output in the marketplace. It is fundamental to our economic and environmental sustainability.”

This is an evening event with refreshments available from 6 pm and with the event starting at 6.30 pm and finishing at 8.30 pm.

All farmers are welcome to come along to the Higgins farm at Leekfield, Skreen, Co. Sligo (Eircode: F91 D924), which will have something for all sheep farmers and those interested in contract rearing.