Almost two years into their new Scottish sheep farming adventure, Tim and Louise Cooke continue to battle the challenges thrown at them by the weather.

The move from Hampshire at the start of 2022 to manage the Barwhillanty Estate in the Galloway hills, where they run 950 EasyCare ewes plus followers and 120 red deer hinds with their calves, has certainly presented a contrasting farming challenge.

A difficult 2023 outdoor lambing season, made more demanding by some awful spring weather in Kirkcudbrightshire, was followed by near drought conditions in May and June, which severely compromised grass growth.

“The protracted hot and dry weather during what should be our peak grass growing season slowed lamb growth and made us very short of silage early in the summer. It means we will be taking a second cut, which we didn’t do last year, so don’t really know how much extra volume or quality we will get. Our first cut was 130 bales down on our 2022 yield,” says Tim.

“As a result, we were only able to sell small batches of lambs through the market at Castle Douglas during July. The larger draws of lambs, destined for the abattoir, didn’t come until the middle of August. That said, they graded well – mostly R3Ls.”

Tim says he also saw more mastitis in the ewes this year. “We’ve probably had 8-10 ewes affected, particularly during the warm, dry weather in May and June. With less grass about we think the lambs were feeding more from the ewes and this may have triggered it.”

Lamb health has generally been good, although scald has been an issue. “The wet, humid July we’ve had seems to have created the perfect conditions for scald and flies. Fortunately, though, our rigorous vaccination policy against footrot has helped lameness control enormously. And we’ve also treated the flock regularly to prevent flystrike,” says Louise, who is also a vet.

Having had a few barren ewes at lambing, during June the Cookes took advantage of the subsidised FlockCheck diagnostic scheme organised by MSD Animal Health.

“We were able to blood test eight barren ewes of different ages for exposure to the infectious agents causing enzootic abortion (EAE) and toxoplasmosis,” explains Louise.

“None of the ewes were positive for EAE but one was positive for the toxoplasmosis causing parasite. This surprised us a little as we are remotely located here in our part of southern Scotland. It just goes to show how widespread this parasite is in mainland Britain.

“It’s probably simpler for sheep farmers to assume their flock is infected with this parasite and act accordingly. As a result, we certainly plan to vaccinate all our ewe replacements prior to tupping this year.”

Ewes were weaned on July 25, and as part of their late summer ‘to do’ list, Tim and Louise have been busy condition scoring future breeding animals to ensure the different groups are all fit for tupping in the autumn.

“We’ve also been vaccinating all the weaned lambs. Our breeding replacements have started on the Heptavac P Plus system with the finishing lambs getting Bravoxin Suspension. All the ewes will also receive a flukicide and mineral bolus before the breeding season,” says Louise.

Having been pleased with their new Exlana tups, the Cookes will go back to the same breeders this autumn.

“We like the fact you can select rams for different traits and will be looking for tups that can deliver sound feet, good resistance against worms and excellent lamb wool cover to give our newborns more protection against any challenging weather conditions during outdoor lambing. All our retained rams will also be fertility tested again this year,” says Tim.

Local vet Gareth Boyes from the Ark Veterinary Group has also visited the farm to update the Cookes flock health plan.

“We always look forward to Gareth’s annual visit. It’s another pair of experienced eyes and such a valuable session. And whilst the health plan doesn’t necessarily change much year on year, we always pick up on practical tips and new management angles, which will to help us to improve,” says Tim.

In terms of improving their forage acres so they can feed the flock more of what they grow on the farm, the Cookes have sowed a 10-acre herbal ley this year and direct drilled 10 acres of stubble turnips.

“We put some chicory in and although it established well the lambs were slow to take to it,” says Tim.

“It’s probably a slightly bitter taste at first but they got used to it. We’ve finished 100 lambs off it so far, but then gave it a rest as you must be careful not to graze it too short or you’ll lose it. The turnips have also helped offset the grass growth challenges – and direct drilling is slightly cheaper than other sowing methods – so we are keen to see how that works.

“To reduce costs and keep improving you have to try new things,” he says.