Texel Society Primestock 2019

TEXEL

ISSUE 9 SPRING 2019

Primestock A Texel Sheep Society Publication

Texels add value for Welsh unit p14 Texels at heart of Scottish early lambing system p4

changing the face of performance recording p10

Efficiency key for streamlined Oxfordshire flock p8 Unit 74 - 4th Street, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2LG Tel: 02476 696 629 Email: office@texel.co.uk

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To support the launch of the Society’s service, we have teamed up with Ritchie to help make flock management and prime lamb selection easier.

Weighing lambs regularly is essential in helping prime lambs meet market specification and maximise prices.

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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.

Membership Subscriptions are available by contacting the Society Office

Never in living memory has the role of the sheep sector in the agricultural industry been more important.

Providing a viable means of converting poor quality forage in to high quality protein for human consumption while at the same time maintaining the UK’s wide range of landscapes and environments.

Supporting youth is central to much of what the Texel Sheep Society does and will remain so for many years to come as the industry seeks to attract the best and brightest minds to work with sheep in the plethora of roles that exist.

Registrations & sales cataloging registrations@texel.co.uk cataloguing@texel.co.uk

Key to the future of the sector will, undoubtedly be maximising returns from every input, as such Texels are well placed, with the breed’s ability to add value to their progeny no matter what the system being operated and no matter what part of the country you farm in.

Accounts accounts@texel.co.uk R&D projects edsmith@texel.co.uk

The adaptability of the breed, coupled with strong demand for Texel crosses as either prime, store or breeding lambs, means those farmers using Texels have a product with a wide number of outlets.

Society Governance Chief Executive John Yates

Few other breeds can match this and it is why the decision to use Texel is an important factor in many businesses. The flexibility of marketing the breed offers is a major strength in helping reduce risk in many sheep businesses, something which could prove essential in the years to come as both the political and climatic environments continue to evolve.

Chairman Steve Richardson Stonebridge flock Vice Chairman Roy Campbell Cowal flock

Additional benefits, the breed provides, also help to increase the financial viability of many businesses in regions where sheep farming remains marginal, but is proven over many decades to be invaluable in sustaining rural communities.

Treasurer Andrew Barr Parkhouse flock

Seeking out the right rams for your business will become increasingly important in future and with that in mind the Texel Sheep Society is adapting and improving the way performance recording information is made available to ram buyers.

Contributors Jonathan Long Lynsey Clark Rodney Magowan

Under the Society’s new texelplus recording system buyers will find a number of new performance traits relating to both growth and conformation.

Photography Jonathan Long MacGregor Photography Columba O’Hare British Texel Sheep Society, Unit 74 - 4th Street, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2LG

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Welcome to the 2019 edition of the Texel Sheep Society’s Primestock magazine, showcasing the breed’s role in the UK’s diverse sheep industry.

Added to that, the sector’s relatively low start-up costs compared with other more intensive sectors means it is still a viable entry route to the farming industry for young people with enthusiasm and ambition.

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Texels central to vitality of UK sheep sector

This is the first step in transforming performance recording within the Texel breed, with future years seeing the introduction of breeding values derived from the Society’s ground-breaking genomic research projects in both health and meat eating quality traits.

As custodians of the UK’s leading breed, Texel breeders continue to innovate to ensure they deliver for the needs of commercial producers both today and in the future. As such you can continue to buy Texels safe in the knowledge they’ll continue to add value to your business.

John John Yates Chief Executive

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Texels hit the target for early lambing Robert and Caroline Dalrymple - Ballantrae, Ayrshire

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arly lamb production can be expensive and time consuming in the Scottish climate, but at Kings Arms Farm, Ballantrae, South Ayrshire, Robert and Caroline Dalrymple have found it to be a method that suits their system and one that can also yield healthy returns when managed properly.

To achieve that success, they rely on their main flock of 1000 Texel cross ewes, of which, 600 are put to Suffolk tups for early finishing lambs, with the rest put to Texel, Beltex and cross tups, to produce grass finished lambs.

Mr Dalrymple explains: “Texel crosses are good mothers, with lots of milk, that produce plenty of lambs, which is why they have remained the main staple of our ewe flock for many years.

They are also still worth good money as cast ewes – although if they are still producing and nursing lambs, we will hang on to them. We have many five or six crop Texel cross ewes.”

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Kings Arms is a 350-acre unit, with 60 acres along the shore. The Dalrymples farm that alongside 350 acres of nearby hill ground at Crailoch and South Garphar, while they also rent 240 acres at neighbouring Sallochan.

Farm manager of 25 years, Andrew Maclean, is based at Kings Arms, which has been farmed by the Dalrymples since the end of World War II, and in 2017 it played host to the NSA Scotsheep event.

Robert says: “It was a great honour for Andrew and myself to be asked to host it and we got a very positive response from it. It was the first day out for many farmers after a horrendous winter and luckily we got a great day for it.”

Texel crosses are ideal ewes for the syste m at Kings Arms, say Andrew Maclean (1) and Robe rt Dalrymple

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Livestock on the farms includes a 200-strong, spring-calving suckler herd, mainly Limousin and Angus dairy crosses, which are all put to Charolais bulls. They also run 15 pure Charolais and breed some of their own bulls. Calves are sold as stores, at up to 10-months old, through United Auctions, Stirling.

The sheep system begins with 400 Mules ewes, which are bought in as gimmers and then crossed with Texel tups to produce the main flock of Texel cross ewes. Andrew says that changes in the Mule ewes have resulted in them having to buy a slightly different type of Texel tup.

“We’re having to buy shapier Texels now, to compensate for the fact that the Mules are getting bigger and plainer.

We buy tups at Kelso, normally from the same few breeders – if tups do well for us, then we’ll go back and buy from that breeder again.”

Tups are put out to ewes on 24th September and brought back in on 6th November. The ewes are then scanned around the third week in December, with the Texels and Mules normally scanning at 200% and at that point, they are brought inside.

Andrew explains: “Bringing the ewes in at that stage allows the fields to have a couple of months rest, which is really important for the grass management, ensuring there is plenty of grass for the ewes and lambs in the spring.

“We regularly re-seed and test the fields and maintain drainage systems. We keep the swards short by grazing sheep and cattle together and we’re very precise with fertiliser applications, with the first one being in February.”

The ewes are split into groups, depending on their scan results and foot-bathed once a month. They are also condition scored, so that each group can be fed accordingly, based on the number of lambs and their condition. They get a silage-based diet, plus concentrates from six weeks before lambing.

Robert adds: “As commercial buyers we are looking at the carcass alone. We tend to buy tups from farms that also produce prime lambs, as we find that they know the type of tups that commercial buyers are looking for. You’ve got to look after the bread and butter as well as the cream!”

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Lambing begins around 21st February and, with the large number of ewes being lambed inside, it is an intense and busy period, with day and night lambers employed for the first three weeks. Singles are penned next to triplets and Andrew says they try not to put any ewes out with just one lamb, although they will let them out with triplet lambs when they think the ewe can cope.

Ewes with ewe lambs are put straight to grass, while the Suffolk crosses are creep fed and sold from the middle of May, to Woodhead Bros, Turriff, through Farmstock Scotland.

By the end of June, they will have sold 1000 lambs and by the end of September 2000 will be away. That leaves about 300 later finishing lambs and 300 Texel cross ewe lambs, which are kept for breeding. Those lambs that are too big for spec, are sold to a local butcher.

Robert says: “It’s certainly more expensive to lamb in February/ March, all inside, and it involves extra labour, but it does suit our system and type of land. We are quite heavily stocked, so being

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able to get lambs away early and get ewes onto rougher ground is essential and helps gets the ewes dried off quickly too.

Andrew adds: “We’re aiming for the lambs to kill out at 20.5kg and obviously, the better grades we can get, the more money we bring in. The Texel ewes definitely help improve the shape of the lambs – most of our lambs are grading E or U.” To ensure that they hit the exact spec, lambs are brought in and handled every week, before selecting which are ready to go.

Andrew says: “Most years, there is a strong demand for early lambs, as it’s a niche market. We’re hoping that will continue!”

Robert adds: “The demand for cheap energy is putting a huge amount of pressure on livestock farms and none of us know what the political future will be. I think livestock farming will survive in the long-run, but there will be a lot of hurdles to overcome first.”

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Texels boosting grades and growth rates Rodney Chambers - Comber, Co Down

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o O grades have been seen on grading sheets for more than three years at Loughview Farm, Comber, the home of Rodney Chambers and family.

“This proof of why the Texel tup is the nation’s premier terminal sire is seen on our bottom line and in our weekly grading sheets from the meat plant. Consistently E, U and R grades.”

That’s the forth right view of Rodney, who runs Texel rams with his 260 strong flock. “Our commercial ewes are mainly Suffolk Cheviot crosses and Texel crosses plus some Zwartbles.

“As regards rams we have tried other breeds, but for consistently good grades Texel tups are tops. Growth rates are good and Texel crosses are well able to make up time after bad weather has slowed daily liveweight gain,” explains Rodney.

“85% of lambs are away by September having been born from mid-February onwards. When you look at, for example, the Tesco cost of production figures, lambing late is not attractive.Yes, costs are reduced early in the year, but even more feed is needed to get those lambs away the following winter.

“Above all I want the decks cleared as tupping time approaches with almost all lambs finished and cashed.”

Having been manager on a large beef unit near Portaferry, Rodney returned with a logical approach to the business of farming at home with his father David.

will be dropped off for transport to Linden Foods.

“Operating for the past 18 years the assembly point gives producers easy access to the meat plant and they know the price being paid per lamb up to 21kg. A total return over the year consistently ahead of that obtained elsewhere,” he says.

“Some farmers still think taking a heavier lamb to the mart pays better, but does it given the extra weeks and feed needed to get that lamb away plus extra time spend selling them? I doubt it.”

When it comes to buying in stock where possible Rodney goes for mature ewes rather than ewe lambs. The already lambed three or four year old ewe being, he asserts, ‘better value for money.’

“The same applies when I head to the Texel sale in Ballymena. I buy good shearling rams bred for use on commercial ewes. We buy good shearling rams bred to sire lambs that will improve the bottom line on our farm accounts.

“We find Texels produce the right lambing percentage for us.

What is the point in the 200% plus lambing percentages claimed by some breeds if one ends up with masses of surplus, pet lambs? Here the ewes scan at 185% and lamb at 175%, which is manageable and better business sense.”

We buy Texel rams to add to the bottom line, says Rodney Chambers

“That meant farming for a living rather than living to farm with an emphasis on achieving a reasonable return and an acceptable family lifestyle.

“Aside from sheep our other enterprises are contract rearing dairy heifers and contract fencing for other farmers.

“Previous generations here were used to sourcing stock for processors and this has been developed into an assembly point for our local lamb group. On an average week 400 to 500 lambs

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Performance recorded rams selected to suit flock needs Sam and Charlotte Clarke, Steeple Aston, Bicester

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fficiency is key to success for Steeple Aston, Bicester-based sheep farmers Sam and Charlotte Clarke, with performance recorded Texels central to their system.

The couple, who both have other roles off-farm, aim to make best use of all their resources and inputs, maximising production from grass and aiming for a high number of lambs sold/ewe to keep unit costs low.

A reliance on high quality forage extends to winter feeding, with in-lamb ewes grazed on winter cover and forage crops, including mustard and oats, stubble turnips and kale before being housed and fed high quality red clover haylage, explains Sam.

“We try to minimise concentrate feeding wherever we can, aiming to produce high quality forage all year round to maximise both ewe and lamb growth from forage.”

With the couple’s 675-ewe flock split in to three lambing groups, the peak workload is spread through spring, starting in midFebruary and running through to early to mid-April.

“The first group to lamb is the A flock of 275 North Country and Scotch Mules, with this group all tupped to Texels to produce both prime lambs and ewe lamb replacements for our second flock. This B flock is made up of 250 Texel x Mule ewes and is again all tupped to Texels.

“Our final group is a 150-ewe group of organic ewes run on one specific block of ground and these are Mules again put to Texel rams.”

Operating in what Sam describes as a relatively low livestock dense part of the country the couple have been able to build up a broad spectrum of grassland for their flock, with Sam’s role as arable manager on two local farms and also an agronomist helping them find grass to rent.

“There are some particularly successful, large arable estates in this part of the country with blocks of grassland that need managing, but with no desire to keep livestock themselves.

Some of this ground is in environmental schemes, which can limit its productivity, but managed appropriately it can be grazed efficiently,” he explains.

One such block of ground in higher level stewardship is grazed by a flock of 450 Scottish Blackface ewe lambs which the couple grow on to shearlings on an annual contract for a Scottish farmer.

“It works well for both parties, we get an income from managing the sheep and providing the grazing and the owner gets to grow their lambs on without tying up land at home.”

When it comes to managing their own sheep the couple are rigorous in health management, applying a strict health plan with the aim of minimising the need to treat disease issues.

“Every ewe is on Footvax and abortion vaccines, with lambs wormed according to faecal egg count results. We can’t afford to be handling sheep regularly to treat problems, so use vaccines to prevent them wherever practical.

With a Texel cross lamb we have a number of marketing options, says Sam Clarke

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“Any replacements we buy in undergo a strict quarantine policy and are kept separate from our own flock until we’re confident they’re not carrying any problems, such as contagious ovine digital dermatitis, and have received any vaccinations they require,” he says.

To ensure continued improvement in their system the couple pay close attention to tup selection, buying Texel rams from James Theyer’s Clanfield flock and selecting on both physical conformation and estimated breeding values (EBVs).

“We have found EBVs to be really useful in helping us select tups best suited to our system. We aim to sell or retain all the ewe lambs from the Mule flock, so use rams with higher maternal EBVs on them to maximise their maternal ability in future.

“Likewise, when it comes to tupping the Texel cross ewes we use rams with high growth and meat traits to ensure we produce the best carcass we can to earn the best prices.”

Tups are managed as one group when not tupping and receive a small amount of supplementary feed to maintain condition when required. “We have to appreciate how they’ve been reared and manage them accordingly. However, last autumn we did by some ram lambs to run through to shearlings ourselves on a lower input system. It will be interesting to see how they grow on.”

And while they aim to market as many lambs as prime lambs as possible the couple maintain a flexible marketing policy to suit forage availability and trade conditions. “For example, last summer we were desperately short of grass during the drought. We took the decision to sell a large group of lambs as store lambs rather than try and finish them ourselves.

“That freed up what grass we had for ewes to put on some condition ahead of tupping,” he explains.

All lambs are weaned at 12 weeks old to enable ewes to be stocked on poorer grass and lambs given preferential grazing.

“Lambs at this stage go on to clover leys, while ewes go on to poorer ground to dry off.”

Keeping a firm handle on costs the couple have refined their system to the point they are able to produce a lamb for £43,

inclusive of their own labour and all other costs. “We keep fixed costs low, only having a polytunnel to house lambing ewes in and variable costs are kept in trim by not relying on bagged feed for either ewes or lambs.”

Keeping with their efficient nature the couple use teasers on all ewes ahead to tupping to help tighten the lambing period, with ewes grazing mustard and oat cover crops from early September to help flush them and boost lamb numbers. “We aim to scan at about 195% across the board, but have suffered a bit this year due to the dry conditions last summer, with the later lambing Texel crosses scanning at 190% and the earlier lambing Mules doing 185%.”

From November through to a couple of weeks ahead of lambing ewes graze stubble turnips and kale, helping boost body condition and grow the lambs before housing for lambing. “Ewes are then fed at lambing according to scanning results and body condition score.”

Keeping the system simple is key for Sam and Charlotte and the flexibility of the Texel sired lamb is key to that, they believe. “With a Texel cross lamb we have a number of marketing options.

“We can sell the ewe lambs three different ways, either as prime lambs, breeding replacements or store lambs. And the wether lambs, likewise can either go as prime lambs or store lambs. That versatility adds a great dynamic to our business,” adds Sam.

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Changes to performance recording information

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am buyers sourcing Texel rams this autumn will notice a number of key changes in the performance recording information available.

In the new evaluation these traits are measured independently, so animals are rewarded for their muscle content relative to their weight.

Firstly, performance recording for the Texel breed is now being provided directly through the Texel Sheep Society as texelplus with all performance recorded literature and estimated breeding values (EBVs), displayed at sales this year carrying this branding.

This has led to there being more animals in the Texel breed with a negative fat depth. This is because at a fixed weight animals with superior muscling tend to be leaner. Therefore, some animals now appear negative within this trait.

Secondly, as part of the introduction of the National Terminal Sire (NTS) evaluation by AHDB-Signet for all terminal sire breeds, a new index has been introduced for pedigree Texels.

There is another significant change you will notice in animal’s indexes which may initially cause some confusion.

Within this new evaluation the EBVs for muscle and fat traits are now predicted at a fixed weight, rather than at a fixed age as has been the case in the past.

Along with the introduction of NTS, all indexes have been rebased to the average performance of an animal in 2010. This means animals have had their indexes reranked, and so will appear to be lower than in previous years. This is to make the traits and index more understandable and relevant to the current National flock. A lot of genetic progress has been made in 20 years.

This makes these traits more accurate and commercially focussed as prime lambs are more commonly drawn for slaughter at a specific weight and fat cover rather than a specific age.

Table One: Differences in Top 10% Index between NTS Evaluation and Old Texel Evaluation.

This new index is designed to make performance recording as up to date as it can be and more relevant to commercial producers.

From a buyer’s perspective these changes should mean finding rams best suited to your production system is even easier and those rams scoring highly for terminal traits should be more adept at producing high quality, added value prime lambs.

As a result, there has been some reranking in the meat traits, such as muscle depth and fat depth. This is because the previous evaluation method, measured scan weight and carcass traits together, so high growth rates encouraged high muscle depth because total muscle mass is greater in a bigger animal.

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Trait

Top 10%

Old Top 10%

Eight Week Weight (kg)

2.51

5.16

Litter Size

0.11

0.21

Maternal Ability (kg)

0.39

1.12

Scan Weight (kg)

6.39

11.37

Muscle Depth (mm)

0.76

2.88

Fat Depth (mm)

0.13

0.21

Gigot Muscularity

1.16

6.03

Terminal Sire Index

210

361

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There are also new CT derived traits introduced for the first time this year (see table two), with these also being based on a fixed weight than age.

At the sales this autumn the catalogues will look like:

Table Two: New CT traits have been introduced. These are on a fixed weight rather than age also: Trait

Explanation

Eye-Muscle Area (EMA)

The total area of eye muscle

Intra-muscular Fat (IMF)

Predicts the levels of intramuscular fat within the loin, which can influence Meat Eating Quality.

Spine Traits (Thoracic spine length, thoracic vertebra number, lumbar spine length, lumbar vertebra number, total spine length, total vertebra number)

Six new spine traits are being introduced.

These are to assist in selecting animals who have increased areas of saleable meat yield in high value areas.

Buying rams with performance figures allows producers to see what they are buying underneath the fleece. A high index ram can deliver potential gains of £4 a lamb for a commercial producer when selecting for traits of importance to their flock.

Eight Wk Wgt

How much heavier the lambs t are than breed average at eigh the ber num weeks. Higher the heavier they are.

Scan Weight

Identifies lambs heaver when they are ultrasoun d scanned for muscle an d fat depth recording at about 14 weeks old.

Maternal

The ewe’s ability to produce milk to help the lamb grow.

Higher figure the better the mothering ability.

Muscle Depth

The depth of muscle pre sent along the loin at a fixed weigh t. Higher the number the deeper the muscle.

h Fat Dept

cover nt of fat The amou loin at a e across th Negative ht. ig e w fixed er ean lean values m ls. anima

CT Gigot

Musc

A measu re o roundness f the gigot. The of the hig number th her the e rounde r the gigot.

Terminal Sire Index

The Texel Terminal Sire Index has been designed to increase lean meat yield across the whole carcass while controlling the level of optimal fatness. This is to ensure that Texels are still a popular choice for butchers and farmers alike. The higher the number the better.

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Delivering premium quality lambs for discerning deadweight market John and Ed Higgins - Longnor, Shropshire

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asily finished, premium price earning lambs mean Texels are the perfect fit for Longnor, Shropshire-based commercial sheep farmers John and Ed Higgins.

Quick growing, shapey Texel lambs are key, says Ed Higgins.

The Higgins family, who run 1100 Suffolk x Mule ewes on 212 acres (86ha), believe the Texel breed is the best fit for their system which sees ewes lambing inside in February and March and lambs sold on a deadweight basis through the May Hill Lamb Group.

Selling deadweight means the father and son team know exactly how their lambs perform at the abattoir and in 2018 the lamb crop from the carefully managed flock recorded more than 75% of lambs grading as E and U grades. “We take great pride in producing lambs which fit the needs of the market,” explains Ed Higgins.

“Texels are without doubt the optimum sire for our flock, leaving quick growing, easily fleshed lambs which grade well when sold. There isn’t another breed we’d consider using, with Texel cross lambs fitting the bill in every way for us,” he adds.

Management of the flock sees ewes away wintered on local dairy farms, giving their own grass a rest over winter before ewes return home for lambing.

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“Ewes are then housed ahead of lambing and fed concentrates and forage according to litter size, with the aim of ewes lambing down with good quality colostrum for their lambs and good milk yields to grow their lambs quickly,” says John Higgins.

“The flock generally scans at about 200%, so we need to ensure ewes are in good condition at lambing and lamb down with good milk yields. Most ewes are turned out to grass with two lambs at foot wherever possible.”

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To maximise ewe fertility the Higgins use teaser rams to ensure ewes are cycling when rams are introduced and ensure lambing is as compact as possible. “Lambing is a busy time for us, we’d rather be really busy for a few weeks than have lambing go on too long and wear ourselves out in the process.”

Once lambs get to a few weeks old creep feed is offered to ensure lambs get off to the best possible start and finish as early in the season as possible. “There’s no doubt we’re heavily stocked.

“Despite grazing ewes and lambs on a rotational basis on good quality, young grass leys, we continue to creep feed to ensure we have as many lambs away as quickly as possible. Creep feeding means we can carry more ewes and maximise income from the farm,” adds Ed Higgins.

The Higgins are in no doubt their move to rotational grazing has helped both ewe condition and lamb growth in recent years, but without creep feeding they wouldn’t be able to produce the number of high-quality lambs they do.

“We’re maximising output from grass with our leys containing top quality, high sugar grasses. However, our Texel cross lambs really take off when they get on to the creep and the grades we’re achieving are testament to that.

“Crucially we’re after good strong commercial shearling rams with the ability to serve good numbers of ewes for a number of years. We don’t mind paying well for the right rams, but we want them to last and earn their keep.”

The first lambs from the flock tend to be sold in mid to late May, with a large number then following through the early part of the summer when prices have traditionally remained high.

“We want to have as many lambs as possible away before the usual mid-summer price dip. While good grading lambs still earn a better price later in the year, the more we can get away early the better. In the last couple of years thanks to the strong lamb trade early in the season we’ve sold large numbers of lambs at £100 or more.

“That really helps push flock margins in the right direction and having quick growing, shapey Texel cross lambs is key to getting prices at that level consistently. Additionally, Texel lambs give us the option to sell at a variety of weights as they’re always carrying a suitable level of finish.

“This helps us hit the trade at the right time, as when the price is good we can sell lighter lambs to capitalise on the best of the trade and get lambs away more quickly,” explains John Higgins.

“Flock health is also paramount and we’re particular about foot health and ensuring ewes remain productive in the flock for as long as possible.”

Equally important to the family is their tup selection, with rams purchased both privately and from the local Shropshire and Borders Texel Club Sale at Shrewsbury.

“We’re looking for good shaped Texel rams with plenty of length and a good backend. They mustn’t be too strong in the head as we don’t want any unnecessary lambing problems,” says John Higgins.

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Adding value to upland lambs Dafydd Ifan, Llanrhaeadr, Denbigh

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staggered lambing pattern and careful use of genetics is helping one upland sheep unit make the most of its lambs and target the peak prices available earlier in the season.

Dafydd Ifan farms with his father Edmund Evans at Llanrhaeadr, Denbigh, running 1350 ewes and aiming to earn premium prices for most of them.

“For an upland farm such as ours maximising the value of every lamb is key. We’re focussed on breeding the best lambs we can and that means concentrating on the genetic base we’re working with, as well as ensuring we can finish lambs efficiently.”

The flock is split in to three main batches for lambing, with the first group of 200 lambing at the end of January. “This is a batch

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of older ewes which are synchronised to lamb in a batch. This group generally scans at about 200% and the aim is finish these lambs as quickly as possible and cull the ewes once the lambs have been sold.

“Another batch of 650 ewes then follows on in the last week of February and first week of March, with a further 250 shearlings lambing at the beginning of April and 150 ewe lambs lambing down at the same time. A further 100 ewe lambs are run empty.”

Lambs from both the January and February lambings are creep fed with the intention of finishing them at the earliest possible opportunity to maximise their price.

“We generally start to draw lambs from 12-15 weeks old and in 2017 sold 1100 lambs by the end of July to average £106/head. By the end of June last year we’d sold 700 to average £115.”

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To ensure grassland has a chance to recover over winter all ewes are sent to dairy farms on tack, returning home about three to four weeks ahead of lambing. “The aim is not to feed the ewes any concentrate before they come home, with every ewe receiving a fluke drench and clostridial vaccine as they return home and are housed.

“Once housed triplet bearing ewes receive about 0.7kg/head/ day, with twins being fed about 0.5kg/head a day and singles about 0.35kg/head/day. All ewes have access to silage too.”

And while some may prefer not to feed single bearing ewes ahead of lambing Dafydd says failing to do that means these ewes aren’t in a position to milk well enough to adopt on a spare lamb from a triplet.

Creep feeding adds cost to the system, but is rewarded by earlier selling, says Dafydd Ifan.

He says having the right genetics is as important as the right system to achieve these prices, with Texel cross ewes forming the backbone of the flock, with the remainder being made up of Welsh Mules and Bluefaced Leicester x Texel crosses.

“We aim for a high quality ewe with length and shape as well as good maternal qualities. Having ewes which milk well and care for their lambs is equally essential,” he adds.

The flock’s early lambing ewes are put to Texel sires to deliver near pure Texel lambs which he says are the only option to achieve the weight for age the family are looking for in these early lambs.

“The combination of growth and shape in these lambs is hard to beat,” explains Dafydd.

The larger, later lambing block of 650 ewes are put to a mix of tups, both Texels and crossbreds, with homebred ram lambs retained for use in the flock. “We don’t castrate any lambs in the January and February lambing flocks to aid growth, but also to allow us to keep some of the best ram lambs back for our own use and for sale to other local farms.

“The April lambing flock is made up of both Welsh Mules and Bluefaced crosses, with the Mules being tupped by Texel tups to breed replacements and the Bluefaced crosses being served by Beltex and Texel cross rams.”

Juggling the genetic influence in the flock is, he admits, central to its success, with the flock having previously got too much purity within it. “We have had to reintroduce some Mules to the flock to get the lambing percentage back up, but there is a trade off with both lamb quality and cull ewe price. Mule ewes have more lambs, but their cull value can be as much as £30/head less than a good Continental cross ewe.

“We’re finding the Bluefaced Leicester x Texel to be a good ewe, with both prolificacy and milk as well as shape.”

All finished lambs from the flock are sold liveweight through local markets, with lambs drawn at weights to suit the trade, generally at about 40kg. “Last year we did draw quite a few at lighter weights, some down to 33kg, but with the trade strong due to the cold spring we were getting as much as £120 for these light lambs, so it made sense to sell them,” he explains.

“It costs in the region of £8-12/head to finish these early lambs on creep, but it is worth it. We used to keep the lambs until later in the year and then feed them to finish them, but the feed conversion rate is much poorer then, so it makes more sense to feed them when they are younger.”

Lambs from the April lambing ewes are generally weaned in midJuly, with the first draw of these sold at the same time off grass, with the remaining lambs from this group finished off grass over the summer alongside the lambs from the ewe lambs which are tupped.

“We also buy in up to 600 store lambs each winter to finish, with these finished off grass on local farms. We generally buy in lighter lambs as these finish well off grass,” adds Dafydd.

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2019 National Show & Sale Dates Scottish National NI Export Eligible LANARK 21st & 22nd August

Welsh National WELSHPOOL 24th August

English National NI Export Eligible WORCESTER 26th & 27th August

Northern Irish National EU Export Eligible BALLYMENA 28th August

Society Club Sales & Ram Sales 2019 5 August BUILTH WELLS NSA Early Ram Sale Clee, Tompkinson & Francis Tel: 01874 622 488

11 August KENDAL NWA Jct 36 Tel: 01539 5662 00

13 - 14 August EXETER NSA SW Ram Sale Sue Martyn Tel: 01409 271 385

29 August GAERWEN Morgan & Evans Tel: 01248 421582

30 August STONELEIGH NSA Eastern Rugby Sale Tel: 01953 607 860

5 - 6 September CARLISLE Harrison & Hetherington Tel: 01228 406 230

6 September ASHFORD Hobbs Parker Tel: 01233 502222

7 September SHREWSBURY Shrewsbury Livestock Auctioneers Tel: 01743 462 620

7 September NEWARK Newark Livestock Market Tel: 01636 676741

8 September LLANDOVERY Clee, Tompkinson & Francis Tel: 01550 720440

8 - 9 September RUTHIN Ruthin Farmers Auction Tel: 01824 702 025

12 September WILTON Southern Counties Tel: 01722 321 215

13 September RUTHIN (DUTCH) Ruthin Farmers Auction Company Tel: 01824 702025

13 September KELSO For more details Tel: 01573 224 188

14 September WORCESTER McCartneys Tel: 01905 769 770

19 September LANARK Lawrie & Symington Tel: 01555 662 281

19 - 20 Sept SKIPTON Craven Cattle Mart Tel: 01756 792 375

22 -23 September BUILTH WELLS Main NSA Ram Sale Clee, Tompkinson & Francis Tel: 01874 622 488

24 September THAINSTONE Aberdeen & Northern Mart Tel: 01467 623 710

26 September WELSHPOOL Welshpool Livestock Sales Tel: 01938 553438

28 September CARLISLE Harrison & Hetherington Tel: 01228 406 230

3 October BRECON McCartneys Tel: 01874 622386

14 October WELSHPOOL Welshpool Livestock Sales Tel: 01938 553 438

25 November THAINSTONE Aberdeen & Northern Mart Tel: 01467 623 710

28 November BRECON McCartneys Tel: 01874 622386

7 December WORCESTER McCartneys Tel: 01905 769 770

13 December CARLISLE Harrison & Hetherington Tel: 01228 406 230

19 December WELSHPOOL Welshpool Livestock Sales Tel: 01938 553 438

20 December LLANDOVERY Clee, Tompkinson & Francis Tel: 01874 622 488

4 January 2020 BEESTON Wright Marshall Tel: 01829 262100

9 January 2020 SKIPTON Craven Cattle Mart Tel: 01756 792 375

11 January 2020 Leek Leek Auctions Ltd Tel: 01538 372 749

Northern Ireland Club Sales 26 August RATHFRILAND Rathfriland Farmers Co-Op Tel: 028 4063 8493

31 August RUAS BALMORAL Richard Beattie’s Livestock Sales Tel: 028 8164 7105

12 September ARMOY D McAllister Tel: 028 2177 1227

13 September ENNISKILLEN Ulster Farmers Mart Tel: 028 6632 2218

18 September SWATRAGH Sperrin & Bann Valley Mart Tel: 028 7940 1335

20 September HILLTOWN Hilltown Mart Tel: 028 4063 0287

20 September LISAHALLY Richard Beattie’s Livestock Sales Tel: 028 8164 7105

23 September BALLYMENA Co Antrim J A McClelland Tel: 028 2563 3470

25 September MARKETHILL Markethill Livestock Tel: 028 3755 1265

7 October BALLYMENA (Harvest Sale) J A McClelland Tel: 028 2563 3470

11 October GORTIN Richard Beattie’s Livestock Sales Tel: 028 8164 7105

02 December BALLYMENA In-Lamb J A McClelland Tel: 028 2563 3470

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