Adding value and productivity with Texels

Farming 1350 tenanted acres means husband and wife farming duo Will and Gillian Sedgley look to add value to their sheep flock wherever they can.

ith a flock which ranges from Swaledales through to Texel x Mules, the couple sell most of their prime lambs on a deadweight basis, operating on a ‘cost of production plus’ contract with Tesco.

“Deadweight sales don’t suit everyone and nor would the contract arrangement we have, but as a wholly tenanted farm knowing the price for our lambs in advance helps hugely with budgeting for the sheep flock.

“We can plan the year knowing what we’ll get paid and ensure we’re managing costs accordingly,” explains Barbon, Cumbriabased Will.

Aiming to sell 90% of the lambs from their 2500-ewe flock straight off grass, Will says Texels are fundamental to the farming

Wsystem. “We find Texels suit our system perfectly. We put 1200 Mule ewes to Texel rams, keeping back up to 300 Texel x Mule ewe lambs a year for our own replacements and selling the remaining wether and ewe lambs as prime lambs.

“However, we’re careful with our ewe lamb selection. We only keep twin born ewe lambs and draw off the top end ewe lambs when we’re picking prime lambs. The intention is to keep the growthiest twin-born lambs which in turn should make good, prolific ewes.”

But it’s not just the female replacements which are delivering for the couple, with 80% of the Texel cross prime lambs grading as U grades or better. “We don’t get many E grades from the Texel x Mule, but the high number of U grades earn a decent premium, with the aim being to supply carcasses in the 20-21kg bracket.

Farm Facts

Will and Gillian Sedgley, Barbon, Cumbria

• 2500 ewes

• 80% Texel cross lambs U grade or better

• Tesco ‘cost of production plus’ contract

• Texel cross replacements retained

Will and Gillian Sedgley retain their best Texel cross ewe lambs each year to add to their flock.

“We are only paid up to 21kg, so we don’t push for the top end of the weight spectrum. With Texel cross lambs having a good killing out percentage we can draw relatively light lambs.

“We’re quite heavily stocked and lambs aren’t creep fed at all, until we get to the back end of the year and numbers by then are quite low, so keeping a lamb an extra week on grass that could feed another lamb is a cost to the business,” he explains.

Kicking off lambing on 1st March, the Sedegleys usually take a first draw of lambs in early June, with lambs then sold every week. “That ability to have lambs away off grass in the space of three months is testament to the Texel tups we use. We tend to buy rams from pedigree sales at Skipton and Carlisle, looking for long, tight skinned tups with a neat head and plenty of shape. Size is important too and it is essential they have good mouths in order to keep ewe lambs back from them.

“We have never had a Maedi Visna issue, but buying from MV Accredited flocks is another reassurance and minimises the potential health problems associated with buying rams.”

Flock health is paramount for Will, with all ewes vaccinated for both enzootic and toxoplasmosis abortion as well as being on vaccination programmes for both clostridial diseases and footrot.

“All of that adds to costs, but it saves money and reduce losses in the long-run and, combined with a rigorous culling policy, means we’re not making problems for ourselves.

“This year we had a barren rate of 1.5% across the flock, that’s a key performance indicator for me. Both the Mules and Texel x Mules scan at similar percentages each year and while a high scanning percentage is great, keeping the number of empty ewes to a minimum is just as important for us.”