Texel Primestock magazine 2022

TEXEL

12 22 E 20 SU G IS IN R SP

Primestock A T E X E L S O C I E TY P U B L I C AT I O N

Versatile and vigorous suits Borders flock

Texels central

to large Staffs flock

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Easy finishing #addtexeladdvalue

in Co Down

Right choice of genetics combined with improved forage management essential for increased efficiency

Despite breeding, finished, store and cull stock achieving prices many could have only dreamt of just a few short years ago. Rising input costs are putting pressure on sheep margins for many flocks.

Choice of genetics is a critical decision and often underestimated, however, the medium- and long-term effect genetics plays in commercial flocks, whether selecting new sires for terminal use or maternal replacements can be costly over many years when the wrong decision is made.

Changes in crossbred ewe type 2003-2020 3500000 Number of ewes put to the ram

W

hatever industry you operate in there is an insatiable drive towards improving efficiency and productivity, in short increasing your margins, something which is likely to become increasingly difficult in the coming months.

3000000 2500000 2000000 1500000 1000000 500000

Texels have become dominant in both terminal and maternal genetic selection. The breed’s inclusion in many commercial flocks is not based on fashion, but on its ability to add high performance to the key profit traits; growth, lean meat yield and hardiness.

#addtexeladdvalue £ Texels add £23m/year to industy. £ Performance recorded Texels add £63/year to progeny. £ 85% of Texel lambs hit spec. £ Texel lambs regularly earn 45p/ kg to 60p/kg premiums over market averages.

Texel Primestock is published by the Texel Sheep Society Ltd.

While every effort is made to ensure accuracy of the information contained in this publication, no responsibility can be accepted by the Society for any errors or any reliance on the use of information by readers.

Texel Primestock | 2022

2012

2020

Year of survey Texel crosses

Mules

Suffolk crosses

Source; GB Sheep Breeds Survey 2003, 2012 and 2020

Flock efficiency

Genetic choices are an extremely high priority for producers, as they fight to maximise flock margins and attempt to manage input cost volatility. But it is also critical to be scrupulous with input purchase and use, ensuring efficiency at every opportunity and making the best of everything within your control.

Texel Primestock 2

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• Choose Texel genetics to meet your breeding goals. Use estimated breeding values to support this decision.

• Maximise lambs/reared ewe through pre-tupping nutrition and trace element requirements.

• Improve growth and carcass through use of texelplus recorded stock.

British Texel Sheep Society, Unit 74 - 4th Street, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2LG Tel: 024 7669 6629 Email: office@texel.co.uk

texel.uk In touch with Texel @BritishTexel #addtexeladdvalue

Accessing the right Texel genetics for you!

• Search out your local Texel sale at texel.co.uk/sales, or search local flocks on itexel.co.uk

V

ersatile, adaptable and dependable may not be the first words that come to mind when thinking about sheep, but they’re the key attributes which have made Texels the number one choice terminal sire.

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Forage efficiency • Regularly undertake soil testing and correct indices where required.

• Target fertilisers at fields needing growth improvement.

• Consider rotational grazing to maximise dry matter production and utilisation.

• Reseed tired pastures to boost grass production and make efficient use of fertiliser inputs.

• Consider forages that require less nitrogen, such as legumes.

Feed efficiency

The breed, which arrived on UK shores less than 50 years ago dominates the sheep sector because it can thrive in many different climates and farming systems and delivers added value progeny no matter what your market.

Whether you want to sell prime lambs, breeding stock or store lambs Texels can be relied upon to be at the top of the trade day in, day out, month in, month out.

When it comes to reliability and reducing business risk Texel really is the best option for your flock.

Texels have an innate high utilisation of feed • Analyse conserved forages to better match feeding requirements.

• Split groups for targetted feeding.

• Consider use of alternative feeds to reduce cost.

These past 12 months have once again seen the sheep sector enjoy strong prices across the board, with sheepmeat continuing to enjoy bumper demand from both the home and export markets.

• Integrate alternative forages to fill feed gap.

Processors continue to recognise the quality in volume the breed offers no matter what type of customer they are serving, delivering premium prices for farmers everywhere.

Health efficiency

Whether you use Texels as a terminal sire or as part of your maternal flock, the breed passes on key commercially valuable traits of growth and conformation to its progeny while Texel-sired females are milky and prolific, making them ideal commercial ewes for many flocks.

• Engage in active health planning to target preventative treatments, such as abortion and clostridial vaccines.

• Target nutrition to boost colostrum quality and reduce mastitis risk.

• Undertake faecal egg counts to target anthelmintic use.

Texels lead the AHDB ram compare trials (2016-2020).

11 of the top 15 sires for carcass merit, over the project’s duration 2016-2020 were Texels • Seven of the top 10 rams for carcass merit in the project’s 2020 research season were Texels.

• Carcass merit index provides a ranking that takes account of EBVs for carcass weight, carcass confirmation and carcass fat class. The index serves as a guide for commercial producers towards the genetic merit used in a typical commercial flock.

The sheep sector, like every other sector will be challenged this year by input price rises. Making more efficient use of all inputs and potentially doing without some will require strategic thinking for many.

There can be no doubt that everyone in the sheepmeat supply chain will have to lookclosely at how they can maximise margins over the coming 12 months.

In doing so Texels provide an opportunity to add value to your flock while also producing sustainable, high protein food for a growing population.

John Yates Chief Executive

#addtexeladdvalue

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Finishing Texel lambs the Wright way Supplying 5000 lambs a year to a range of outlets with 95% going into the butchery trade means the Wright family, Staffordshire, have exacting standards in everything they do.

T own production.

hose high standards extend to breed selection within their 1400-ewe flock and the store lambs they buy in to supplement their

As Matthew Wright explains: “Our customers have high standards and expectations and that means we have to apply the same level of scrutiny to our own system to ensure we are able to meet their demands week in, week out.

“That means sourcing the right breeding stock, ensuring flock health is as good as it can be and managing nutrition and all other aspects of the flock to the highest level we can.”

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On the genetics front the family buys about 500 Texel x Mule and Suffolk x Mule ewe lambs a year, putting 75% of them to Texel rams, with the family having used Texels since 1990 when their first ram cost them £500.

“We’ve bought Texel rams every year since and the breed continues to perform for us.

Texels have been our ram of choice since 1990, says Matthew Wright.

Farm Facts Wright family, Cannock, Staffordshire • Finishing 5000 lambs a year • 1400 ewe flock • 180%+ scanning • 75% of ewe lambs put to Texel tups

“We start lambing on 15th January and run teaser rams with all the ewes before the tups go out to ensure we get high conception levels. Tups then run with the ewes for four weeks before being pulled out for a month and then put back in to serve any ewes which haven’t held to the first chance.

“Historically we synchronised 200 ewes to lamb in December, but as we’ve increased the size of the flock we’ve moved to January lambing and no longer synchronise any of the flock,” says Matthew who farms with his wife, Lowri, and mother and father, Helen, and Andrew.

With a mix of ewe types in the flock the family find using a majority of Texel sires brings consistency to their lambs which fits the needs of their customers. “It tends to be lambs from the Suffolk x Mule ewes which are the first to be drawn for sale, but those from the Texel cross ewes are never far behind. The quality of lamb from both sets of ewes tends to be fairly uniform,” he adds.

“However, we do find the lambs from the different ewe types tend to finish at different weights which works well for us. Some of our butcher customers want lighter carcasses at about 18kg, so having some lambs which we can draw at 37-38kg liveweight works well and means we can maintain those relationships which have served our business well for so many years.

“Every lamb we sell is targeted at between 18kg and 22kg, with R and U grades the aim throughout the flock.”

The early lambing nature of the flock means the family have usually got all their own lambs away by mid to late June, with ewes then moved away from grass leys and tightened up on to parkland grass.

“At that point we start buying in other lambs to finish in order to meet the needs of our

customers who require lambs every week of the year. Most of these will be Texel crosses too,” he explains.

“Texel lambs tend to be more balanced carcasses. Other terminal sires can deliver more extremity in some cuts, but it is Texels which tend to deliver evenness across the carcass, suiting all markets.

“The aim for us is to have versatility in our selling and supply options and not limit ourselves,” explains Matthew.

Texel cross replacements are sourced as ewe lambs from regular suppliers.

A big part of ensuring the ewes and their lambs perform to the best of their ability is down to ensuring ewe health is maximised through use of preventative treatments wherever possible, he adds.

“We use both enzootic and toxoplasmosis abortion vaccines, a clostridial vaccine and vaccinate all ewes against orf and foot rot every year.

“Ewes are also drenched as they leave the lambing shed which we believe plays a big part in keeping lambs healthy in early life through lower worm burdens on pastures. If we can get the health and feeding right in the ewes that goes a long way to keeping lambs healthy and thriving,” says Matthew.

Evenness of carcass make Texels the number one choice..

The aim is for the flock to scan at just over 180%, although not too much higher as the family find it often results in too many triplets when scanning above that level.

“Triplets make too much extra work at lambing, something we can do without.”

After lambing, ewes and lambs are turned out to clean pastures in small groups of about 20 ewes and lambs, with these groups gradually mixed together into groups of about 60 ewes and their lambs and then further grouped up as the lambs get a little older.

“Lambs are creep fed from about four weeks old to ensure they finish quickly and maximise killing out percentage, while feed is withdrawn from ewes once grass growth is sufficient to maintain milk yields.”

Ultimately, says Matthew, the system has to be kept as simple as possible. “We can have as many as 4000 sheep on the ground at a time as well as large numbers of finishing cattle and a dairy herd too, so we have to keep things straightforward wherever possible.”

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Texels deliver in Co Down Simplicity and flexibility make Texels the terminal sire of choice for one Newtonards, Co Down-based farming family.

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Farm Facts Alexander Ross, Newtonards, Co Down • 265 ewes • 185% scanning

unning 265 ewes across 160 acres alongside 60 finishing cattle, Alexander Ross and his wife Catherine and sons, Daniel, Christopher and Stephen, aim to finish all their own lambs from the flock which lambs at between 180% and 190%.

• Target 21kg carcass • Health a priority

“We’ve been using Texels for as long as I’ve been farming and despite having tried other breeds there’s always been Texel tups on the farm and I can’t see that changing any time soon.

“They continue to perform for us, with lambs finishing quickly and easily and earning good prices whether sold as finished lambs or stores,” explains Alexander Ross.

Lambing the first 120 or so ewes in early February the family send all ewes away for the winter, resting their own grass ready to turn ewes and lambs out to after lambing.

“The first ewes will come home to the polytunnel about a fortnight or three weeks ahead of lambing and are fed silage and concentrate according to scanning results.

Triplets will be fed 1.5kg/head/day, with twins fed 1kg/head/day and singles about 0.5kg/head/day.

“We then aim to get ewes and lambs out to grass as soon as we can after lambing and ewes are not fed once they go out to grass.”

to flush ewes on. The great thing is that Texel lambs respond rapidly to feed, so the benefit is seen quickly,” he adds.

With a flock made up of either Texel or Suffolk cross ewes, the family find Texels add value and uniformity to their lambs, helping them hit specification when sold through the Strangford Down Lamb Marketing Group.

Lambs from the flock are targeted at a 21kg carcass weight, with nearly all lambs achieving U and R grades with a small number of E grades as well. “A few more E grades would be good, but I’m happy with the way our lambs perform and the aim is growth and easy finishing which our lambs achieve.”

Alexander says the aim is to start drawing the first lambs at the end of May, with creep feed offered to the early lambers from about a month old. “It’s always a tricky decision, but I always look at it as either feeding them early or feeding them later. I’d sooner feed them early and get them away.

Feeding later usually means feeding more to achieve the same result.

Replacement females for the flock are sourced from the first breeding sale at Ballymena each year, with flock health a priority for Alexander. “All replacements are vaccinated against abortion and also enter the Heptavac P+ system when purchased.

It doesn’t matter whether they’re already on Heptavac P+ or not, we start them from scratch again so we can be sure they’re protected.

“We want nearly all the lambs sold before we put the tups out again in September to ensure we have enough grass available

“At tupping all ewes receive a trace element bolus and are drenched, with a fluke treatment given in December and a further

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Texel lambs finish quickly and easily for Alexander Ross and family.

trace element bolus and Heptavac P+ booster given 4-5 weeks ahead of lambing.”

Alexander says lambs then receive their first Heptavac P+ dose at three to four weeks old, with lambs receiving a nematodirus drench when they have their second Heptavac P+ and ewes having a worm drench at the same time.

“For me it is important to do everything we can to maximise lamb performance and health is a priority for that. Lambs are wormed as needed through the summer and also have a vitamin and mineral dose at weaning to help them through the stress of that,” he explains.

“Texel lambs deliver for us and respond well to the effort and inputs we make in managing them. Ultimately, you know that if you’ve got a Texel lamb there will be plenty of buyers for them,” says Alexander, who also works for a local dairy farm.

“Rams are bought as shearlings, mainly from the Northern Irish National Sale, Ballymena, with the aim being to buy tight skinned, long rams with a good bit of shape too. Those tight skinned rams are the ones we prefer. I find they throw lambs which generally weigh better than looser skinned tups.”

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Texels continue to dominate the GB sheep industry, accounting for 27.2% of all rams used in the GB national flock, according to the 2020 GB Sheep Breeds Survey.

Moreover, 26% of all ewes in GB were mated to Texel rams and, tellingly, the next nearest breed accounted for less than a third as many rams at just 8.7% of all rams used and was mated to just 8% of the national flock.

The continued dominance of the Texel breed as a sire is a result of the added value Texels brought to their progeny. It is well known that Texel sired lambs are in demand across GB, both as prime lambs and as breeding replacements, with Texel sired lambs earning up to 80p/kg premiums in live markets.

The survey also revealed 2.6% of the national flock to be purebred Texel and 15% of crossbred ewes were found to be Texel sired. Overall, the breed and its crosses represented 12% of all ewes in the GB.

To enter visit www.texel.uk/competition or scan here

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Texels prove vigorous and versatile The versatility of Texels for producing both quality prime lambs and replacement breeding ewes, makes it an ideal breed for the Minto family’s mixed beef and sheep system at Townhead, West Linton.

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ain Minto farms alongside his father, Tom, and full-time staff member Ian Wallace, on the 900-acre unit which has been in the family for four generations.

The steading sits at 800ft, rising to 1600ft at the top of the hill and the stock has been tailored over the years to suit that type of land. In all, there’s now 280 Blackface ewes, 500 crossbred ewes, 40 pedigree Texel ewes, 20 Bluefaced Leicester ewes and 130 suckler cows, with these being mainly Limousin and Angus crosses, put to Charolais bulls, with the calves sold as stores.

Blackface ewes are all crossed with Bluefaced Leicester rams, to breed

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Farm Facts Iain Minto, West Linton • 900 acre upland farm • 500 crossbred ewes • 400 store lambs purchased • 200% + scanning • Average 21.2kg carcass weight

Scotch Mules. About 100 of the Mule ewe lambs are sold for breeding; the wethers are finished on farm and the rest of the ewe lambs are kept as replacements for the Mule flock, which are all crossed with Texels.

Some of those Texel cross Mules are retained each year, resulting in a crossbred flock of roughly half Texel Mules and half Scotch Mules. Excess Mule and Texel Mule gimmers are sold at Lanark Market in early autumn.

Iain explains: “I really like the Texel Mules; they hold their condition well and are cheap to keep through the winter, only needing silage most years until the end of February, unless the weather is really bad.

Texels finish quickly, allowing store lambs to be bought-in for finishing, says Iain Minto.

They normally get some concentrates from the beginning of March. They hold their value well too – with cast ewes regularly selling at more than £100.

“The crossbred flock are all tupped by homebred Texel rams and other than ewe lambs being kept as replacements, the rest are finished at home. Most, about 800, are sold through Woodhead Bros, but we take around 150 to Lanark Market. We pick out the ones we think will suit the butcher buyers at the market.”

The crossbred ewes normally scan at between 200 and 210%, with the percentage of lambs reared at 180-190%.

They are all lambed inside, starting in midMarch, and are back outside as quickly as possible post-lambing.

“The Texel cross lambs have great vigour about them; they are up and sucked quickly and can get back outside within 48 hours, which is a lot healthier than being stuck in the shed for any longer,” Iain says.

Prime lambs are finished straight off grass and sold from the end of June onwards, aiming for 21kg. Last year, all the Texel lambs averaged about 21.2kg, with the top batch of 78 Texel cross lambs averaging £115.70p, on 21st July through Woodhead Bros. In addition, the lambs sold through Lanark Mart during the summer, averaged £112.

About half the crossbred flock at Townhead is homebred Texel x Mules.

Keeping him busy year-round, Iain also buys in 400 Texel cross store lambs in late August, to finish at home and sell from November onwards.

“Because Texel lambs can be finished quickly, it frees up space and gives me the capacity to buy in some stores. For store lambs, I need them to be healthy and have the ability to go on and grow and the Texels are ideal for that – they have a bit of everything and I’ve found them to be more resistant to worms than other breeds.

“There aren’t huge costs involved in finishing them; they go onto grass, rape and get some pellets, so it’s worthwhile most years. In 2020 the first lot of bought in stores were sold at the end of November, averaging £123, having cost £80 a head all in, including haulage.”

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Proven performance drives college flock profits High performance Texel rams are allowing a North Wales college to finish lambs early at premium prices.

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or Coleg Glynllifon farm manager Rhodri Owen, a team of Texel sires fit well with the farm’s Lleyn ewes which form a closed flock of 600 females, made up of 500 ewes and 100 ewe lambs.

“We tup about 100 ewes pure to produce our replacements and then put Texel sires across the remaining 400 ewes and another Continental sire is used on the ewe lambs.

“The first 300 ewes lamb to Texel sires in January, with the remaining 200 lambing in February, including the 100 lambing to Lleyn tups,” he explains.

“Ewes are all run with teaser rams to help ensure a tight lambing pattern, with the January lambing ewes kicking off on 10th

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January and the remaining 200 starting on 10th February followed by the ewe lambs in early March.”

Ewes are housed about three weeks ahead of lambing and fed concentrates and hay, with hay preferred as it helps keep ewes’ muck drier during the housing period, reducing straw use.

“We try and avoid feeding ewes outside if possible, but will offer some concentrate when required.

“With the ewes grazed on rotation we aim to ensure there is enough grass in front of them all the time and use creep to drive lamb growth rates to help achieve the best returns possible from the early market,” Rhodri explains,

Fast finishing helps ease grass pressure at Coleg Glynllifon.

“We installed a 20ha technograzing system in 2017, splitting seven fields in to three lanes which are then further subdivided into 24 paddocks.

“Two of these lanes are set aside for the sheep each year, with sheep moving paddock every three days and remaining in these two lanes for the entirety of the grazing season. Grass is measured weekly to determine stock rates and this has really helped ensure there is enough grass in front of ewes and lambs, helping boost lamb growth and enabling us to achieve good weights earlier in the season,” he adds.

However, having switched to an earlier lambing system Rhodri feels using creep feed is a worthwhile addition to help push lambs forward as quickly as possible.

“We creep feed every lamb, including replacement ewe lambs as this helps them reach the desired weight for tupping.

“Grass-based finishing was working well, but I felt we could achieve more with creep in the system too and the Texel cross lambs have great growth rates which creep feeding helps to enhance even further. It has added consistency to our finishing times and helped lift performance particularly among those lambs which perhaps without feed would have taken longer to finish.”

Texel rams are sourced from a local performance recorded flock with all rams being in the top 10% of the breed. “These high performance rams definitely pass that performance to their progeny and as they’re reared in a grass-based system their lambs thrive in our rotational grazing platform.

help maximise lamb numbers and minimise the chances of abortion.

“There are plenty of cats around the college estate, so it’s a sensible precaution and protects the flock and our investment in it.”

Further helping boost lamb numbers is the breeding policy of only retaining twinborn ewe lambs in the flock as breeding replacements. “The target is to scan at 180% across the flock through use of prolific female genetics and then boost income through producing high quality, quick finishing prime lambs. Generally, more than 50% of our lambs will grade as U grades or better, which adds a significant premium, particularly as we sell all lambs deadweight through Randall Parker Foods,” adds Rhodri.

Farm Facts Texel cross lambs have responded well to the introduction of creep feeding, says Rhodri Owen.

Coleg Glynllifon, North Wales • 500 Lleyn ewes • 100 Lleyn ewe lambs • 50% of lambs U grade or better • 2021 creep costs £6/lamb • Top 10% Texel rams

“In 2021 our lambs would have eaten about £6/head of creep feed, but when we were able to sell lambs early in the season at £140-£150 the investment is more than recouped in the extra premium earned.”

This combination of good grass management, creep feeding and high performance genetics allows Rhodri to sell lambs early, which fits in with the other college farm enterprises, meaning grass can be shut up to produce silage for the dairy herd. “When it comes to grass management it is important to remember that you can’t grow a beard and shave.

Taking the pressure off our grass earlier in the season has benefits all round.”

Helping push this performance is the decision to leave all ram lambs entire, maximising growth further.

“In addition, we undertake regular blood testing and monitoring to ensure mineral and trace elements are at required levels.

Ewes are in the Heptavac P system and also vaccinated against toxoplasmosis to

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TEXEL

DRIVING CHANGE, DELIVERING CONSISTENCY 11 of the top 15 carcass merit EBV sires in RamCompare are Texels.*

85%

of Texel sired lambs are ‘in spec’ **

Texel lambs regularly earn up to 33% premiums over live market averages ***

33%

Texels add £23m/year to industry ****

Lambs by texelplus sires are more than 2kg heavier at 20 weeks than in 2011 giving faster finishing *****

Scan here to find Texel sales near you

#addtexeladdvalue

Sources: *AHDB RamCompare 2016-2020 ** Texel Sheep Society Taste vs Waste trial 2019 *** Thainstone, United Auctions, Carlisle and Caledonian Marts market reports March 2022 **** Abacus Bio 2015 ***** texelplus data 2021