April 11, 2021, 6:00 am
During the week,
Agriland made the trip down to Knockroe, in Co. Carlow to speak to Padraig Joyce, a sheep farmer lambing down 300 ewes, made up predominately of Cheviots at the foot of the Blackstairs Mountains.
Of the 300-ewe flock, 240 of the ewes are Cheviots, while a further 60 are broken down mainly into Suffolk-cross ewes and a handful of Scotch ewes bought in last year.
The Cheviot ewes are run with a Suffolk ram with the aim of producing nice speckled-faced ewe lambs – which are highly sought after.
At the time of our visit, Padraig flanked by his two children, Tomas and Roisin, were halfway through lambing and took time out of their busy schedule to have a chat.