The first of these lambs were drafted for slaughter at Irish Country Meats' (ICMs') Camolin, Co. Wexford site on January 30 (2026), with the overall average drafting date being March 20.

Every year, the ABP Demo Farm runs a store lamb system alongside the main calf-to-beef operation.

ABP's Advantage Beef Programme farm liaison officer Sean Cassidy said that the store lamb system "proves to be an invaluable asset to the grassland management of the farm whilst providing an additional enterprise and stream of income".

Upon arrival, all lambs are vaccinated to prevent pasteurellosis, pneumonia, and clostridial diseases.

A blowfly preventative pour-on is also administered. From here, the lambs receive a monthly cobalt drench as well as a run through a zinc sulphate footbath when they are in the mobile handling unit.

Fluke and worm doses are administered if required according to dung sample results.

The lambs are grazed across the farm into the winter months and are moved regularly to keep fresh grass in front of them.

From January, concentrates are fed to the lambs at grass at a rate of 1kg/head/day of a high-energy finishing nut.

Some baled silage is also supplemented when grass starts to get tight.

Some paddocks are then closed after the lambs to build grass covers and in order to have a supply of grass for the yearling cattle, which are turned out in February.

All lambs are weighed on a regular basis during concentrate feeding with the aim to draft lambs at 52kg liveweight.

The lambs slaughtered in spring 2026 yielded an average carcass weight of 23.5kg, which Cassidy said "is slightly higher than desired and is an area to improve on for next year".

174 lambs graded 'U', with the remainder falling into the 'R' grade category.

Commenting on the store lamb system, ABP Demo Farm manager Matthew Quinn said: "We find the store lambs very useful on the farm to leave better-quality grass in the spring for the beef cattle, especially if you have a wet spring like this year and struggle to get cattle out.

"The other obvious benefits to the system are cash-flow at this time of year for a dairy-beef operation.

"They are also particularly useful for grazing reseeded ground to encourage tillering and not damage the new grass.

"Overall, the lambs performed very well this year on the farm."

Farmers interested in finding out more advice on the ABP Demo Farm store lamb system can contact a member of the ABP farm liaison team.