Jason Stanley is farming in Castleflemming, Errill, Co. Laois along with his wife Grace and their son Jacob. He converted to organic farming in 2011 and full organic status was achieved in May 2013. The farm which is 78 ha’s comprises of a mix of tillage and sheep production with half the farm dedicated to crop production and half is in grass for the sheep flock.
The sheep enterprise consists of 400 ewes lambing in early March. The stocking rate on the farm is 11.25 ewes/ha. All ewes are housed mid-late November in two large straw bedded sheds and let out to grass as they lamb. The main breeds of sheep on the farm are Belclare X Suffolk New Zealand. The rams used are Belclare & Charollais. The rams are introduced to the flock around the 10th October and left with them for 6 weeks. Ewes are lambed indoors and let out to grass as they lamb. Lambs are grazed on Multi Species Grasses (MSS), white clover and red clover grass swards. They are mostly finishing off grass and Jason finds the “red clover grass is excellent for lamb weight gains. The MSS is also an excellent forage for the lambs and particularly in a dry period it is the only grass that continues to grow”.
The target weights for slaughter are 38 – 44 Kgs and the first batch are usually ready in July. Jason is a member of the Laois/Offaly Producers Group. All finished lambs are sold to I.C.M in Camolin, Co Wexford. The later lambs are finished on forage crops of Fodder Rape along with red clover silage, oats and potatoes.
Ewes are fed for 8 weeks prior to lambing and the diet consists of red clover silage, oats & beans and is tailored to single/twin/triplet bearing ewes. This Total Mixed Ration (TMR) is fed with a Diet Feeder which Jason has found to be a huge benefit in terms of “creating a more efficient diet for the ewes, saving on feeding time and helps in terms of safety as there is no need to enter pens with feed and risk being knocked over”.
Jason makes red clover and MSS silage and also buys in red clover silage from another organic farmer to meet his winter feeding requirement along with the oats, beans and the forage crop that are all grown on the farm. No concentrate feed is purchased for his flock.
This tillage enterprise also includes Oats for Flahavans and Organic Barley seed for Boortmalt.
All the straw used for bedding is produced on the farm and is a very valuable source of fertiliser for the farm, along with organic Dairy Sludge from Glanbia which is imported and spread in April and May each year. Slurry is also imported if available to maintain soil fertility on the farm.
