Texel Primestock Magazine 2018

TEXEL

ISSUE 8 SPRING 2018

Primestock A Texel Sheep Society Publication

Texels deliver for Welsh upland farm p16 High performance Texels deliver in Scottish borders p4

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Changing shape of UK sheepmeat trade p10 Texel cross ewes ease workload p18

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TEXEL Primestock Magazine

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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.

The sheep industry has enjoyed a positive 12 months, with prime lamb prices strong throughout the year and cull ewe prices high too, helping reduce flock depreciation.

Indeed, in many live markets across the UK Texel sired lambs regularly earn premiums of more than 25p/kg over market averages. Those selling deadweight are also being well rewarded for Texel crosses too, with larger proportions of Texel cross lambs meeting desired specification than many other breeds or crosses.

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The Texel Society is continuing to invest in research and development projects and collaborating with SRUC and ABP to aid breed development and ensure the breed remains the first choice for prime lamb producers across the country.

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The recent ‘Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit’ consultation paper from DEFRA highlights animal health and welfare as key criteria for potential support payments in future.

R&D projects edsmith@texel.co.uk Society Governance Chief Executive John Yates

Investment in genomic research and data collection over recent years by the Texel Society has been targeted at a number of key health traits with the long-term aim of helping farmers reduce the impact of key endemic diseases, such as footrot and mastitis in the sheep sector.

Chairman Steve Richardson Stonebridge flock

Allied with this the Society is also researching the genetics behind improved eating quality and carcass composition in the Texel breed, to help farmers maximise returns from prime lambs in an era without direct support payments.

Vice Chairman Roy Campbell Cowal flock

For lowland flocks the Texel breed offers significant opportunities to add value to their output, while upland flocks can benefit significantly from the breed’s versatility, hardiness and ability to increase meat yields when crossed with native upland breeds.

Treasurer Andrew Barr Parkhouse flock Contributors Jonathan Long, Rebecca Jordan, Lynsey Clark and Debbie James

And, while the Texel breed is developing and evolving, so is the UK sheepmeat market, with changing consumer trends and demographics resulting in a shifting demand pattern.

Photography Mooandbaa.com, MacGregor Photography, Rebecca Jordan and Debbie James

Reducing demand from traditional markets is being replaced by an increasing requirement from ethnic consumers.

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Welcome to the 2018 edition of Primestock, the Texel Society’s commercial magazine for everyone in the sheep industry.

Last autumn’s ram sales saw farmers willing to invest in quality sires to breed added value lambs, something the Texel breed continues to excel at.

Membership Subscriptions are available by contacting the Society Office

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Texel aims to deliver for post-Brexit sheep industry

Capitalising on the demand from this sector of the population, both at home and overseas will be key to the future of a sustainable UK sheep industry and delivering long-term profitability to all in the supply chain.

To help farmers better understand the changing face of the market and the pace of change in sheep genetics the Texel Society is organising the iTexel conference at Penrith in November. More information can be found at www.texel.uk/itexel. We look forward to seeing many of you there at this critical time for the sheep industry.

John John Yates Chief Executive

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Growth rates and carcass quality aided by high performance Texels Will Ewart - Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway

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raig Farm has been owned by the Ewart family for 36 years, but it’s just seven years since Will Ewart took over the running of the 1200-acre farm and began a restructure of the sheep side of the business – and recorded Texels have had a large part to play.

Having previously lived in America, breeding racehorses, Will has embraced his move to hills of Langholm in Dumfries and Galloway, and has been able to use his knowledge and passion for breeding racehorses to bring about some essential improvements within the sheep flock at Craig.

He says: “Farming here certainly has its difficulties – there’s been more than 100 inches of rain for five out of the past eight years – but it’s a great place to live and for us to bring up our family and I’m enjoying the challenge of developing the sheep flock.”

He adds: “AI also allows a tighter lambing period and means we can put them all through the shed, which is essential here with the wet weather.”

Will previously bought in Texel rams to use on the Mules, but he decided that breeding his own would allow him to produce ones with the particular traits he was looking for – mainly good growth rates and carcass quality. Five ewes were purchased at Arnold Park’s Drinkstone dispersal and Mr Park then allowed the use of Goldies Supreme on those ewes, which produced the foundation of the Craig Farm Texel flock.

Will says: “From that first lambing, we got the tup lamb, Craig Farm Wizard, which went on to sell for £5000 at Kelso in 2016 and is still going strong. He has one of the top indexes in the country, of 579.

The basis of the flock is now 600 Blackface ewes, with half of those bred pure and the rest tupped with Bluefaced Leicesters to produce Scotch Mule lambs. A flock of 300 Mule ewes is kept and they are in turn, put in lamb to Texels to produce prime lambs.

To help him improve the overall quality of the flock as quickly as possible, Will uses solely AI on all the ewes, which he says, has also enabled him to increase lambing percentages from 142% to 175%.

Using high index tups has shortened finishing times by 4-5 weeks, says Will Ewart.

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Growth rates of more than 0.6kg a day are being achieved in Texel cross lambs.

With the pedigree Texels, Will says his aim is to produce high index sheep, while maintaining the breed characteristics essential to the pedigree market.

“Breeding racehorses has taught me how to look at stock. It’s a similar process – you won’t always get everything you’re looking for in one animal, you have to buy them in bits and breed the bits that you want one step at a time.”

He has built up a strong customer base in just a few years of selling shearlings at Kelso, where he’s found that the market for high index sheep is increasing.

“Because of the foundation ewes that we bought, we’ve been able to quickly achieve really good figures throughout the whole flock.

Other AI tups we’ve used are Kimbolton Va Va Voom, Cambwell Trademark and Ettrick Aftershock, all high index rams.”

Since using home-bred, high index tups on the Mule flock, Will says the results have been phenomenal, with lambs finishing 4-5 weeks quicker than previously and singles are away at 10-11 weeks old. All the lambs are sold though Farm Stock.

He adds: “The growth difference and speed we can now get the lambs away is huge and the carcass quality of the lambs is far superior to what it was. We’re achieving growth rates of 0.666kg a day in both singles and twins, compared to between 0.3500.375kg when we were using unrecorded rams.

“The lamb price tends to dip from around mid-August, so it’s important to get them away as quickly as possible in order to achieve the best possible profit. Genetics have a huge amount to do with the finished product and maternal traits are as important as everything else.”

“People are definitely becoming more interested in the figures, but education to commercial producers is tantamount. Unless they see the results for themselves, they won’t believe it.”

Will has help from his father Neil, who is now semi-retired as a chartered surveyor, and is equally fascinated by the results achievable through recording of the Texels. They have recently started using electronic tag readers, which they’ve found helpful for monitoring the stock’s progress and keeping check on the performance of the ewes.

Will says: “We have far more information at our fingertips than ever before and we should be taking full advantage of this. It should make it easier to get rid of genetic issues within sheep flocks, such as prolapses, mastitis or foot problems, which would make a huge difference to the profitability of sheep farming.”

Will has been impressed with the vigour displayed in the Texel lambs from birth. “Having lambs that get up and suck themselves saves so much work. We lamb the Texels mid-March, followed by the Mules, then the Blackfaces and they are out within 24 hours of being born. They are unbelievably tough and are able to take all kinds of weather.

“We’re breeding a particular type of Texel to suit our farm – they have to be able to cope with the weather and have a long breeding life.”

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Texels bring multiple benefits Geoff And Joe Lang - Bishopsteignton, Devon

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eoff and Joe Lang are phasing out their Suffolk x Mule breeding ewes and replacing them with Texel x Mule ewes at Higher Humber Farm, Bishopsteignton, Devon.

Superior grades at heavier weights from the white-headed lambs have been the deciding factor. And quieter sheep have made the 500-head flock easier to manage and handle.

“It was immediately obvious more of the Texel cross lambs were grading as Es and Us than the Suffolk crosses,” explains Joe Lang.

“When you see the figures back from the abattoir it was very clear what needed to change.

“Before, when we were selling mainly Suffolk cross lambs, I would be excited to get a U grade back as they were mostly Rs. Now, with the Texel cross lambs, if I get an R grading I am pretty disappointed.”

Lambs are finished without creep straight off grass at 213m (700ft) above sea level on medium red sandstone about two miles in country above the Teign estuary on ground which tends to dry out during the summer months. First pick usually occurs 12 weeks from lambing with finished lambs throughout the season averaging 40-42kg liveweight and 19-21kg deadweight at ABP, Yetminster, Somerset.

There might not be a great difference in weight between the Suffolk cross lambs and the Texel crosses, but the latter’s superior gradings return 15p/kg more than the former. “As the Texel cross lamb does not have such heavy bone as the Suffolk they might take a couple weeks longer to finish, but the end result is always better both in terms of grading and the financial return.”

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Texels are providing both premium quality slaughter lambs and easily managed ewes, says Geoff Lang.

By Christmas just a handful of hoggets were left to sell through Exeter market. These returned in the early £80s/head. A further 50 stores were also sold prior to ewes being housed for lambing.

These were nearly finished weighing in at 36kg liveweight and averaged £80/head.

The flock is now based on North Country Mules put to a Texel.

Lambing starts on 25th January and finishes at the end of March when 70 full mouth ewes are lambed outdoors. Any ewe lambs from these ewes are kept as replacements. “We only breed our replacement ewe lambs from the older ewes,” says Geoff.

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godsend this lambing when the grass just hasn’t appeared. And, nutritionally, it is such a good feed,” explains Geoff.

Ewes are not scanned, but most had twins this year. They are all offered about 1kg each of a mix of home-grown rolled barley, whole oats and an 18% protein nut prior to lambing. Round bale haylage is also available ad lib. This ration is also fed in the lambing shed and at turn out post-lambing until there is sufficient fresh grazing.

No grass is cut until the end of June at the earliest as sheep graze what would be first cut. This ground receives a dressing of 20:10:10 at a rate of 2cwt/acre as well as 1.5cwt/acre of Nitrogen. Up to 12ha (30-acres) of haylage is made – alongside 700-800 small bales of hay every other year weather permitting. “They are so convenient in and around the sheds in the winter,” adds Geoff.

Shed space has been at a premium this year as the lambing shed has been converted into a popular wedding and hospitality venue.

“We’ve managed; the return from diversification is certainly more favourable than farming and hopefully we shall be able to build a new lambing shed before next year,” adds Joe. However, Joe is the fourth generation to farm at Higher Humber in a system which is little changed since Geoff’s grandparents took on the 162ha (400-acre) farm a hundred years ago. Sheep and arable still complement each other here. A further adjoining 36ha (90-acres) are rented from a neighbour.

Ewes and lambs are rotated around permanent pasture and five-year grass leys with 30% white clover content.

They are also folded over swedes and kale which are then ploughed up before either spring barley or a fresh grass ley is planted.

In total 61ha (150-acres) of winter wheat, oats and spring barley are harvested. A further 12ha (30-acres) of maize is grown for a neighbouring dairy farmer. About 4ha (10-acres) of stubble turnips follow the cereals and the same acreage of kale and swedes.

Fodder beet has been invaluable this year. “We grow 4-6ha (10-14acres) of fodder beet and the sheep love it. It has been a

Ewes are drenched with Cydectin as they leave the lambing shed and a broad spectrum wormer three to four weeks pre-tupping.

Lambs are wormed regularly with a variety of coloured wormers although they always receive one drench of Cydectin.

“I am also a great believer in offering minerals to sheep,” says Geoff. “They all have a regular cobalt and selenium drench and I then offer minerals ad lib. If they need it they take it.”

Buying in the right type of ram is essential to achieving optimum grades. “We look for rams with good conformation. They must have length and a good hindquarter,” explains Geoff, who is prepared to pay £500 for a ram. “It is really important we buy a ram in his working clothes.”

There has been a two-pronged benefit to the switch to Texel x Mule ewes. Not only are the lambs producing better grades and financial return off the same management system, but the flock is also easier to handle.

“The Texel cross ewes is so much easier to have around. She is less scatty than the Suffolk cross: We really notice the difference as we still have some Suffolk cross ewes; they can really upset the whole flock sometimes. The quieter sheep make life so much easier when it comes to routine tasks such as drenching and moving them around – not to mention at lambing time,” adds Joe.

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Texels at heart of future proofing Hugh and Ann Tudor, Llanilar, Aberystwyth

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he UK is facing the biggest shake up in farming since World War Two and this presents uncertainties for commercial lamb producers like Hugh and Ann Tudor.

But the couple, who run a flock of 1650 ewes on 600 acres at Llanilar, Aberystwyth, are facing the challenges of Brexit from a strong position with a robust system that has the Texel firmly at its heart.

Hugh and Ann grew up on nearby farms and in 1979 they bought Tynberllan where they brought up their three daughters, twins Sara and Lowri, and Gwenno; it was Gwenno’s ambition to one day farm, but she was tragically killed in a car accident when she was just 18 and a student at Llysfasi Agricultural College.

Her legacy lives on in the system she helped to develop at Tynberllan.

The sheep flock is made up of Mule, Texel-cross and Suffolk-cross ewes, with Texel rams sourced from the annual NSA sale in Builth Wells and some bought privately.

“In any one year we buy around eight or 10 rams, it depends on the age of our existing rams or if we have had any losses that year,’’ says Hugh.

He aims to pay up to 800gns for a good tup, which must meet a precise set of criteria.

“A tup has to have body and length, be tight skinned and have curves in the right places,’’ Hugh insists. “Good teeth are also important, if the teeth aren’t right I won’t buy it.’’

The entire flock is covered with a Texel; 1000 are tupped to lamb from February 8th, while yearlings and ewes not up to condition

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score 3-3.5 go to the ram later, to lamb in March.

Hugh and Ann Tudor say their system is best set for Brexit.

Teasers run with the ewes for 20 days before the rams are turned in. “That way they will go to the ram straight away,’’ says Hugh.

The scanning average is 190-195%, depending on the condition of ewes when they go to the tup.

The flock is scanned in December and at that point the twin and triple-bearing ewes are shorn and housed and introduced to a self-feed system.

Winter shearing is a policy that has been in place for 25 years.

“The sheep are far healthier indoors when they have been shorn, they puff and pant if they have their thick fleeces,’’ Hugh explains.

The sheep carrying single lambs are housed in the beginning of January.

Six weeks before lambing – or four weeks if the silage quality is good - an 18% protein meal is combined with silage in a diet mixer to feed to the ewes, topped up with concentrates according to litter size.

“The meal comes in powder form which means that the shyer ewes have as much chance of getting it as the greedy ones, which wouldn’t be the case if it was fed mixed with nuts,’’ says Ann.

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Lambing is a busy period at Tynberllan Farm – it is not unusual for 200 lambs to be born in a 24-hour period.

Livestock Marketing and others to Randall Parker, with all lambs sold by the end of December.

To help the process run smoothly, every detail relating to the birth and lamb, is recorded in a book. This system has worked well and there is no intention to move to electronic recording in the short term.

The aim is to achieve an R grade carcass or better, with most lambs falling into the E or U grades to capture the price premium.

“We have a night lamber who for obvious reasons is not available in the day to speak to about any issues that might have occurred in the night, but if everything is in the book the person taking over can see exactly what has been happening,’’ Ann explains.

“For instance we make sure every lamb has sucked and this is included in the book. That way we know it has been checked.’’

This system means that there are few losses during the lambing period, which comes to an end in the middle of April. “The Texels are sharp when they are born, they are hardy little animals. They want to live,’’ says Hugh.

“When we are lambing there is someone in the shed 24 hours a day and I don’t expect to be losing lambs if I am paying someone to be in there 24 hours a day. If a lamb has died I want to know why.’’

There is a high proportion of triplets, so a lamb is adopted onto most singles and no ewe is turned out with three lambs.

After birth, lambs are in a pen with their mother for 24 hours and in a mixed yard of about 16 ewes and lambs for another 24 hours. They are then turned out to pasture which has had an opportunity to rest because fields have been empty for two months or so.

The earlier-born lambs are creep fed to get them to a sale weight of 20kg deadweight in May and June while the later-born lambs graze improved hill ground 40 miles away to allow fields at Tynberllan to be shut off for silage.

The lambs return to the aftermaths and are finished just off grass and sold from August through to the end of the year.

About 400 ewe lambs out of Mule ewes are retained. “We tup 60 of the strong ones but, because they have a tendency to produce twins, we hold the rest back for a year to lamb as yearlings,’’ says Hugh.

With heavy clay soils and an annual rainfall average of 60 inches, the climate at Tynberllan is a challenging one for livestock farming, but the system the Tudors have adopted is a good match for those conditions.

They also run a herd of 100 British Blue-cross cows, with these put to Limousin and Charolais bulls. Most of the cattle are finished and some are sold as stores.

“We shut up silage ground on about 20th April. Because we have sheep grazing there earlier in the year we don’t make first cut silage until the second week in June and the second crop is cut at the end of July or the beginning of August,’’ says Hugh.

“We try to produce the best silage possible because it means we don’t then need as much supplementary feed. The first cut was good last year, but the second cut was poor because we had wet conditions at harvesting.’’

Hugh says the business aims to produce the best lambs and cattle that it can, but he does not rule out changing the system going forward if needed.

“In partnership with my brother we farm a hill farm 40 miles away where a shepherd is employed to look at 1500 Welsh ewes that lamb outdoors. With the right weather conditions, he manages lambing on his own whereas our system at home needs far more labour.’’

The family have welcomed the stronger lamb prices over the last 12 months, but the lack of clarity on trade post-Brexit is a concern.

“We want a ‘soft’ Brexit and hope that there is no tariff on these lambs,’’ adds Hugh.

Some of the lambs are supplied to Waitrose through Welsh

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Embracing changing dynamics of sheepmeat market Rizvan Khalid, Bishops Castle, Shropshire

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he UK sheepmeat market is evolving as the population and consumption habits change, says AHDB Beef and Lamb board member and Euro Quality Lambs director Rizvan

Khalid.

“Demand for sheepmeat from the Muslim population is growing as that sector of the UK population grows and becomes increasingly affluent and discerning,” he says.

“In the UK Muslims represent about 5% of the population, but they are estimated to consume in the region of 20% of all sheepmeat eaten in the UK. “According to the 2011 census this population is predominantly south Asian in heritage, with about 48% of them being under 25 and 88% being under 50. Much of the younger portion of the British Muslim population is now third generation and these consumers want greater product quality, increased product variety as well as convenience and assurance,” explains Mr Khalid.

“This generation has higher levels of disposable income than their parents and eat out significantly more often than their parents’ and grandparents’ generations ever did.

“The British Muslim protein plate is about 60% poultry and 35% sheepmeat, with little beef and no pork in the diet.

“As sheep farmers will be well aware, demand for Halal mutton fundamentally underpins the cull ewe trade in the UK and indeed much of the EU.” Further afield Mr Khalid says European Muslim populations are growing and represent a good export opportunity for UK producers. “The French Muslim population is in the region of 6m, representing about 10% of the entire French population, while a similar number of Muslims now live in Germany, with a Dutch Muslim population of about 1m and Spanish Muslims numbering nearly 2m with a further 2m visiting the country annually as tourists.

“With a large portion of UK sheepmeat production being exported this growing EU Muslim population clearly represents a significant export opportunity for UK producers,” he adds.

Not that the Halal market is without its challenges, there are a number of issues which have to be managed to ensure the opportunities can be capitalised on. “As with any specialist market it is vital to maximise trust for consumers, that means eliminating cross-contamination risks and guaranteeing that sheepmeat sold as Halal is slaughtered as Halal.

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“There is a widespread belief that Halal slaughter has to be done without pre-stunning. This is inaccurate. The central requirement of Halal slaughter is that the animal must be alive at the point of slaughter and the Tasmiyya ‘In the name of God, God is Great’ must be said before every animal is slaughtered. So long as that is done the animal is deemed as Halal.

“So, under Halal slaughter animals can be stunned pre-slaughter, but that stunning must not kill the animal or adversely affect the blood flow or cause more pain to the animal.

“As a result, only electric head-only stunning of lambs complies with Halal slaughter. About 80% of all UK Halal slaughter is prestunned, but the proportion killed without stunning is increasing due to a lack of confidence in Halal-stun assurance,” says Mr Khalid.

However, this contrasts with New Zealand where more than 95% of New Zealand lamb is pre-stunned Halal slaughtered.

“New Zealand abattoirs have been able to physically demonstrate to customers and Halal auditors the recoverability of lambs following electric head-only stunning. Allowing UK abattoirs to do the same would give greater confidence among the Muslim population and allow maximum market penetration for UK Halal sheepmeat,” he adds.

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When it comes to meeting market requirements Mr Khalid says the Halal market in the EU requires both lambs and older sheep, with this sector of the market particularly dominant when it comes to cull sheep.

“From an industry perspective there are two major peaks in demand associated with this festival. The first is an increased demand for normal Halal meat for the celebratory meal on Eidal-Adha (Qurbani day), with this meat bought before Eid-al-Adha.

“Ultimately, this sector of the sheepmeat market is much like any other, there is a wide spread of consumer tastes and preferences and it is important to have product available to suit them all.

“The second is the demand for Qurbani Assured animals and their resulting meat for individual consumers. These must only be slaughtered on Eid-al-Adha itself from sunset prayers onwards (and up to three days after), with enthusiastic customers waiting to collect their meat as soon as practically possible. Large numbers of animals are procured in advance for both these requirements.”

“The Muslim year is based on the lunar calendar and so is 10-11 days shorter than the solar calendar. There are two major festival periods in the Muslim year which see dramatically increased demand, with the first of these being Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting.

“In 2018 this is expected to be between 16 May and 14 June, with fasting Muslims refraining from food and drink between dawn and sunset. When the fast is opened at sunset, known as Iftar, there are lots of social gatherings where friends and families put on a grand meal for each other to open the fast. These are large social occasions, particularly at weekends.

“The end of Ramadan itself is marked by Eid-al-Fitr, a celebration to mark the end of the fasting month. Eid prayers are performed after sunrise and followed up by lots of socialising and feasting.”

He says this month of fasting changes buying habits, with most families stocking up heavily ahead of Ramadan and again mid-way through. “As the focus is on charity, reflection & worship, bulk stocking of food and easily prepared meals are key.

“Meat is bought for the large gatherings of family and friends, particularly at weekends and the end of Ramadan.

This changing demand dynamic has a significant impact on the sheepmeat market each year and having finished stock available to suit demand is important.”

The second major festival is Qurbani, a Muslim thanks giving day which this year is expected to take place on 21st August, 10 days earlier than in 2017. This festival takes place two lunar months and 10 days after the end of Ramadan and sees Muslims offer animals on a per person basis in thanks to God to commemorate the story of sacrifice by the biblical prophet Abraham.

Crucially, says Mr Khalid, Qurbani Assured animals must be at least six months old at the time of slaughter.

“Animals must also be fit and healthy at slaughter, with no visible lameness, defects or illness.

“This market is increasingly important, with a current demand estimate of between 50,000 and 100,000 lambs from the UK, France and Germany. But it has the potential to grow to 300,000 in future. With increased demand for normal Halal meat the overall market is many times this amount during this period.”

Mr Khalid says as the date of Qurbani moves 10-11 days earlier each year it will become more difficult to meet demand with new season lambs and breeding and management decisions may need to be tailored in some flocks to better meet the needs of Muslim consumers.

“In future I can see Qurbani Assurance schemes and declarations being critical for trade, with producers and auctioneers working together to market lambs as being eligible for this festival.

“Animals in auction markets should start being marketed as ‘Qurbani Assured’ 2-3 weeks prior to Qurbani date. In a similar way to Food Chain Information declarations farmers could declare their animals as Qurbani Assured to retain confidence of consumers and ensure the market continues to develop to its potential,” he adds.

Key Muslim festival dates 2018 Eid-al-Fitr

15th August 2018

Eid-al-Adha (Qurbani)

21st August 2018

*Note the Muslim calendar is lunar, so dates are subject to change

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Premium prices repay system change Phil and Helen Weaver, Newark, Nottinghamshire

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hree-quarter Texel lambs which command premium prices in live markets are the aim for Newark, Nottinghamshirebased Phil and Helen Weaver.

“It was working, but we were losing too many lambs at lambing through silly things. A bad spell of weather could really take its toll and with our land quite spread out it wasn’t ideal.”

Their flock, based on Lleyn genetics, but with a large proportion of halfbred Texel ewes, lambs in February, with most lambs creep fed and sold through the early part of the summer at Newark Market.

Having previously run North Country Mules the couple made the switch to Lleyns and a closed flock in 2010. “We just got to the stage where we wanted more control over the type of ewe

“We’ve been through various systems over the years, switching back to indoor lambing over the last couple of years due to higher than acceptable losses when lambing outside.

“This system gives us more control of the ewes at lambing and allows us to get lambs away earlier at better prices before the traditional trade dip in midsummer,” explains Phil.

The previous outdoor lambing system saw ewes lambing in late March, with lambs finished through the autumn and winter on root crops.

Moving from outdoor lambing to indoor lambing and creep feeding is reaping rewards for Phil and Helen Weaver.

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we were putting in to the flock. Mules are great ewes, but the chances of buying in problems were adding risk to the system.

“By breeding our own replacements we know they’re history and can ensure they’re in the same vaccination systems as the rest of the flock. Ewe depreciation is much lower too, Mules were never great to sell as cull ewes. Our Texel x Lleyn ewe lambs come in to the flock at £70 and can be sold as culls for £80-90,” he explains.

Lambing 1400 commercial ewes, the Weavers run about 180 Lleyns as purebreds, tupping a proportion of the rest to other maternal breeds and most to Texel sires to produce prime lambs.

The flock is, as a result predominantly Texel x Lleyn and pure Lleyn, with other maternal breeds used in the last two years to add hybrid vigour to retained ewe lambs.

Using homebred Texel tups also adds to the certainty of flock health and quality, with these selected from the 250-ewe Texel flock the couple also run.

The last couple of years have seen the system really refined, adds Helen. “We have learnt a lot about to get the best out of the Lleyn and Texel cross ewes, with scanning last year at 210% compared to about 180% when we were lambing later outside.

“That makes a huge difference to the flock profit, giving potentially another 400 or so lambs. As a result we have invested in an automatic milk feeder for the orphan lambs and are more refined in our management of them. We lift a triplet lamb as soon as it has had colostrum, whereas previously we would have left them on for a day or so. We sold 108 lambs which were reared in the machine at more than £80/head over the summer, more than justifying the investment.”

“One of the problems with later lambing was finding somewhere to put 2000 lambs when we weaned them. We were always trying to find grass for sheep between September and November and that had a knock-on effect to the next year’s lambing as ewes weren’t being done well enough pre-tupping.”

The couple say their flock now produces lambs which regularly command premium prices and have developed a following for both their Texel crosses and the pure Lleyns. “Without a doubt the three quarter Texels are some of the best lambs we can produce.

“The crossbred ewes milk well and with the creep they really fly.

We’d sold all the creep fed lambs by the end of July last year and with the trade the way it was, it was more than worth it,” he says.

Lambs are drawn at 40kg and above, although with a strong trade in 2017 the couple drew a number at just less than 40kg to take advantage of prices. “In the first couple of weeks of June we had 39kg lambs at 290p/kg and 40kg lambs at 279p/kg, giving gross prices of more than £110/head. That shows the value of using good quality Texel sires and having the right sort of ewe.”

While both Phil and Helen say they will still tweak their system, largely to improve ewe type, their commitment to producing top drawer Texel cross lambs won’t waver. “The system we have now works well and the lambs we are producing justify that. Outdoor lambing had lower costs, but it just wasn’t right for us and the way our farm is set up. The lower costs didn’t justify the lower output,” adds Phil.

Ewes are housed about three weeks ahead of lambing, depending on weather conditions and fed ad-lib haylage and concentrate twice a day while inside.

Once lambed ewes are out to grass within a couple of days and creep is introduced to most lambs a few weeks later, explains Phil. “We don’t creep feed any ewe lambs or lambs on first time lambers. But even so, by the end of October we only had about 800 lambs left to sell.

Texel cross ewes are tupped with Texel tups again to maximise lamb quality.

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13

Texel cross ewes out of Blackface dams make ideal ewes for in-bye ground for Seamus McGinn.

Diverse system maximises land potential Seamus McGinn, Newcastle, Co Down

N

ewcastle, Co Down-based sheep farmers the McGinn family have developed a diverse flock of sheep which allows them to maximise productivity from a wide ranging type of land.

Whether lambs from this in-bye flock are generally finished in the early autumn, although he says there are years when they are better sold at store lambs rather than trying to finish them at home.

The family’s ground runs up to 3000ft on the Mourne hills, with a large flock of Blackface ewes run on this hill ground. Lower down on the in-bye ground a flock of Texel x Blackface ewes is used to produce premium lambs from poor quality grass, while on the family’s lowland ground it is three quarter Texel and Rouge cross Texels which are the favoured breeds.

“We generally follow the trade fairly closely and don’t stick to a fixed regime. When lambs are better off sold as stores we’ll sell them. It’s often better that than finishing them ourselves.”

Seamus McGinn says the system has been developed over time to help achieve a balance of production and output, while at the same time helping spread the workload.

“Texels have been central to achieving this system, with about 100 Blackface ewes put to Texel tups every year to breed replacement ewe lambs for the in-bye flock. We were involved with AFBI when they started doing trials on Texel crosses on upland farms and have stayed with the breed since then, finding the Texel x Blackface ewes to be ideal for the in-bye ground.”

Mr McGinn says the quality of lamb these ewes produce when put back to a Texel ram is of a high standard and a number of the three quarter Texel ewe lambs are kept back for the lowland flock.

“We find the Texel cross ewes on the in-bye ground lamb down at about 150% fairly consistently which is high enough for the quality of the ground they’re on. On the lower ground they’ll perform better than this, but we don’t want so many lambs on the marginal ground they run on.

“Producing quality lambs from this harder land helps maximise the productivity of it compared to running other types of ewes on it,” he adds.

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Having looked at other breeds on the higher ground Mr McGinn says the versatility and vigour of Texel cross lambs means he is reluctant to switch away from the breed. “At birth Texel cross lambs are quick to their feet and are hardy and can thrive on any sort of ground. We find them highly adaptable and the demand for them as either store lambs, breeding lambs or finished lambs is second to none.

“We’re careful in the type of Texel we pick though, always looking for rams to suit our farm and our different flocks.”

He says for the in-bye flock it is essential rams have good skins and carriage, with a bit of character to breed good females too. “For the lowland flock and to go back on the Texel cross ewes we look for a bit more carcass, but always maintaining a good tight skin and sharpness in the tups.”

Lambing in the lowland flocks takes place from mid-March onwards, with the upland and hill ewes then starting from the end of the first week of April. “Lowland ewes are lambed inside, being housed from about the first of February onwards once we’ve finished all the purebred Blackface whether lambs.

“Hill and in-bye ewes are lambed outside, with all ewes outwintered too. The first lambs from the lowland flock start to be drawn from mid-July onwards, with the trade this year having been good throughout the summer.”

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Increasing output per hectare Jacob Anthony, Tondu, Bridgend

T

he Texel has been a fixture at Cwm Risca Farm for three generations, since Jacob Anthony’s grandfather first introduced the breed as a cross for his upland hill flock.

David Anthony still takes a keen interest in the flock he established all those years ago, but it is Jacob and his parents, Peter and Emma, who now drive the business forward.

What is unchanged is the underlying principle of lamb production - to produce the highest possible output of meat per hectare from grass.

These days Texel rams are used as a cross for 800 Lleyn ewes, a combination which Jacob says is a perfect match for the farm, which rises to 850 feet above Tondu, a village three miles north of Bridgend.

“The Lleyn is an excellent mother and produces plenty of milk and the Texel adds excellent shape to the lamb.”

The ability of the Texel x Lleyn lamb to convert grass into meat in a region where the annual rainfall average is 80 inches is highly valued.

“We are an upland hill farm, but consider ourselves to be a productive farm with plenty of grass in rotation and new leys we can use to finish lambs,’’ says Jacob, who came home to farm in 2013 after studying agriculture at Hartpury College.

“We have tried other terminal sire breeds, but they don’t cope with the rain as well as the Texel.”

The farm also carries 110 suckler cows and grows 100 acres of spring barley. Big bale haylage is produced for the equine market.

Cow numbers have been reduced in recent years while the sheep flock has been expanded.

Since he left college he has taken full responsibility for the sheep.

“I am lucky with my parents, they let me make my own decisions, sometimes by making mistakes!’’

He is very particular about the type of Texel rams he buys – they must have small heads.

“We go for the middle of the road ram. We are finishing lambs so we want Texels with commercial traits.’’

David, Jacob, Emma and Peter Jacob, say improving grass and using quality Texel tups is helping them maximise output/ha.

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The topography of the farm – fields extend to 30 or 40 acres to suit arable and haylage production – also means that rams have got to be fit and mobile.

The tup to ewe ratio is 1:50, because of the field sizes and the acreage they need to cover.

Tups are turned in with ewes on the last Monday in October, but teaser rams are introduced 14 days earlier.

“We like to get lambing over as quickly as possible because we have the sucklers to calve and the spring cereals work. Lambing 800 ewes in three weeks can be quite a challenge though,’’ Jacob admits.

The flock scanned at an average of 172% last season. “We don’t want to scan higher than 175%, it doesn’t suit this farm to have too many triplets. If I could have everything giving birth to twins I would be happy,’’ he says.

Lambing previously got underway between February 10th and 15th, but it now starts on March 26th, a change first introduced to fit in with Jacob’s college Easter holiday. It also meant that twins could be lambed outside.

The system has worked so well there are no plans to revert to earlier lambing.

Singles and triplets are lambed indoors. “If we have ever had issues at lambing it is with single lambs being too big so we like to keep an eye on them,’’ Jacob explains.

“We keep the triplets next to them so that we can easily do wet adoptions.’’

The 250 ewe lambs, which are crossed with a South Wales-type Welsh ram, lamb outdoors. “We found they were mis-mothering in the sheds whereas out in the field they go into a quiet corner to lamb and have the chance to bond before being disturbed,’’ Jacob explains.

“It was like feeding rocket fuel to the lambs,’’ says Jacob. “I was worried about bloat, but we gave them some run off.

“It makes excellent silage. We don’t feed concentrates, but one of the most expensive bought-in feeds is protein and red clover is a good protein source.’’

For the last three years, all lambs have been shorn in the first week of August as this encourages them to eat more and they are easier to manage.

“When we are combining in August it means we don’t have to keep such a close eye on maggot infestations,’’ says Jacob, who does the shearing and also some contract shearing.

“The lambs need to have three week’s worth of wool regrowth on them when we sell them or we don’t get paid for their skin.’’

Lambs are sold to Dunbia through the YFC scheme which not only subsidies haulage by 50p a head, but pays a premium of 10p/kg for lambs which meet specification or 5p/kg for those that fall outside. With most of Jacob’s lambs hitting Es and Us, he has been earning the highest premium.

He urges other young farmers to take advantage of the scheme.

“I don’t know why more are not using it, it is a fantastic scheme.

Lambs have been finishing earlier since 2013 when a decision was made to stop castrating.

“If we can get lambs away sooner we are better off keeping them entire because we have the space to do it. But we don’t want many hanging around after December because there is a lot of testosterone by then,’’ says Jacob.

There are plans to increase ewe numbers to 1000 within two years. “We don’t want to increase much beyond 1000 because of other aspects of the business,’’ adds Jacob.

Lambs are weaned at 14-16 weeks and all are finished off grass – the ram lambs on red clover leys.

Red clover was planted for the first time three years ago to comply with the three-crop rule and it proved a revelation.

Male lambs are left entire and finished off grass and red clover to maximise growt h rates.

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17

About 160 Texel cross ewe lambs are retained each year.

Texel cross ewes reduce workload Tom Sanderson, Biggar, Lanarkshire

T

om Sanderson first used Texels to cross with his Mule ewes, but he was so impressed with the resultant ewe lambs that, 20 years later, his ewe flock is now primarily made up of Texel cross females.

He says: “We tried different breeds, but we really liked the Texel lambs, they were far less work and had plenty of ‘get up and go’ about them, so we kept more and more of them.”

Now, alongside 80 suckler cows, the family – including Tom’s wife Anne, their son Euan and daughter Kirsty – run 920 ewes in total, 550 of which are Texel crosses and the rest Greyface Mules.

Replacements for the Mule flock are bought in as gimmers each year and the Mules all go to Texel rams, with the Sandersons keeping 160 of the home-bred Texel cross ewe lambs annually.

They also grow 100 acres of barley, oats and kale, for their own use, meaning only soya has to be bought in.

The Sandersons are based at Biggarshiels Mains, a 500-acre unit (a further 300 acres are rented nearby), which sits in the outskirts of Biggar, South Lanarkshire, and has been owned by the family for several generations, with Tom taking over the helm in 1993. At that time, the sheep flock was made up of mainly Blackface ewes, which were crossed with the Bluefaced Leicester to produce Mules.

Tom explains: “By putting Texels onto the Mules and keeping the ewe lambs, we gradually changed the breeding of the flock, making it more profitable and better suited to the farm. Texel cross ewes are perfectly matched for here and we’ve increased

18

Texel lambs are less work and get up and go, say Anne ,Tom, Kirsty and Euan Sanderson .

lambing percentages by 10% with them. They are hardy ewes and we find them far easier to keep than the Mules.”

Furthermore, when it comes to selling them as cast ewes, Tom says he can get an average £20 more for Texel crosses, while there is a large depreciation with the Mules, which cost £158 on average to buy in and are selling for half that price as cast ewes.

“The Texel ewes are so good at keeping their condition, that we now put them out to the hill at the end of August, to lose some of that condition before going to the tup, which we’ve found has made a big difference. We are quite strict with the management of them, in order to get the best out of them,” he adds.

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Once scanned in lamb, the Texel ewes stay out until the first week of March (four weeks before lambing) before they are brought in and fed if needed, whereas Tom says the Mules need feeding for 5-6 weeks before they are due to lamb.

“After scanning, we condition score the ewes and feed them depending on how much we feel they are needing, if any. As soon as the ewes are lambed inside, they are back out within 24 hours and the Texels never need much feeding once they are back out, they are great mothers.”

With encouragement from Euan, who works at home full time, and Kirsty, who works between Biggarshiels and milking at a nearby dairy farm, the Sandersons have recently started recording the flock by tagging the lambs at birth and using an electronic stock recorder. They hope that by following the progress of the lambs from birth and keeping record of which tups they are off, they should be able to improve the performance of the whole flock.

The Texel crosses are put to either Beltex or Beltex x Texel tups – Tom says he likes the hybrid vigour of the crosses and the fact they are a better size to tup the bigger ewes. All lambs are sold through the ring at Lanark Mart.

“The lambs have a good cover of flesh on them and can be ready to go from 36kg onwards – ideally, we prefer to sell them from 42kg, but we can take them to whatever weight we want – that’s what we like about the live ring, there are always various types of buyers and they’re looking for different weights.

“It gives us a lot more flexibility and we can sell to suit the trade.

The right types of lambs will generally make more through the live ring, in my experience,” says Tom, also pointing out that lambs out of the Texel cross ewes will always make £5-6 more than those out of the Greyface ewes at the same weight.

The Sandersons start selling lambs from the end of June, right through to January, with the early ones away off grass alone. Only triplet lambs are given extra feeding and those later to finish.

Having been so impressed with the Texel breeding over the years, the family now keep some pure Texels themselves – just for their own use at the moment, but with Euan and Kirsty both extremely keen on the farm, there is talk of upping sheep numbers in future.

That may make lambing time an even busier experience than it already is, as Tom explains: “All the ewes go to the tup at the same time, so lambing time can be hectic and with drilling and calving happening too, it’s all hands on deck at that time!”

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19

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English National WORCESTER 27 - 28 August McCartneys Tel: 01905 769 770

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