11 minute read
Commercial trade dominates for Clun
Shearling trade drives Clun flock
Roger and Antony Williams - Craven Arms, Shropshire
Firmly focussed on producing top quality commercial rams for Welsh borders customers, Roger and Antony Williams’ Clun flock has to be hardy, with the home farm set 1300ft above sea level and extending to 350 acres of severely disadvantaged land, with a further 200 acres rented locally.
And it is this combination of factors which dictates much of the flock’s management policy, with lambing beginning in the second week of March, with ewes not cycling fully until October, making earlier lambing unachievable.
“It suits the ground as we don’t get much grass before early April, so lambing earlier would be a costly exercise, meaning ewes and lambs would have to be housed for an extended period of time. We’re not set up for that and much prefer ewes and lambs to be out at grass within 24-48 hours of birth,” explains Antony who farms with his father Roger and with help from his wife Claire.
“Ever since we started with Texels in 1988 our focus has always been on producing shearling rams, it suits our farm and it’s what most commercial customers want to buy. The great thing is that we can be assured if the rams have thrived here they’ll go on and do well pretty much anywhere,” he adds.
Initially looking for Texel rams to go across the family’s flock of Clun Forest ewes, the family found the type of ram they wanted to buy was at the dearer end of the spectrum. “As a result, dad bought a few Texel ewes with the intention of breeding rams for our own use. It has grown from there,” says Antony.
As Roger explains the farm used to sell 70-80 Clun rams a year along with 200 Clun ewes too. “Then as the Clun lost favour we started selling a few Texel rams. I thought if we could sell 30-40 Texel shearlings a year it would be good sideline, now we’re selling 150 shearlings every year, it has become a bit more than a sideline!”
Today the flock of 400 Texel ewes runs alongside 100 pedigree Clun Forest ewes, 200 Clun Mules and 200 Texel cross ewes, all of which are homebred and MV Accredited. “These ewes have been raised in a tough environment, meaning we know they’ll thrive in our system. You can’t put a value on that when labour is limited,” says Antony.
Roger (left) and Antony Williams focus firmly on the commercial market with their 400-ewe Clun flock.
“The same is true of the rams we produce. They have to survive and thrive in a harsh climate and are never housed, spending all winter grazing root crops in one large mob. If they can’t cope or have any issue they are sold as prime sheep through Ludlow Market.”
Looking back over the flock’s history Antony and Roger pick out their foundation females as having set them on the right road from early on. “We bought a ewe from Bob Lamb’s Wootton flock and then several females from Derek Goodwin at Corse and from William Redman’s Newark flock.
“Those provided a strong foundation for the flock and indeed a son of the Wootton ewe by Cambwell Supreme, Clun V.I.P, sold for 3500gns at the Main NSA Ram Sale 1992, a high price which stood for a number of years.
“Latterly the flock has been closed, with the only female addition of recent years being a ewe from the dispersal of David Orrell’s flock in 2015. All replacements for the pedigree and commercial flocks are homebred these days and it shows in their ability to cope in this environment.”
When it comes to lambing, ewes are only housed at night, running out by day to allow them exercise and access to grass. “It’s a system that works well for us and means we don’t need as much shed space as we would if they were housed all the time. Ewes are fed in the run up to lambing, with twins and
“Shearling ewes are tupped a couple of weeks later than the older ewes, with the aim being to lamb them as grass really starts to get going. This helps with their milk production and avoids putting too much pressure on their udders as young sheep.
“We don’t suffer excessively with mastitis, but we try and do everything we can to avoid any problems and have found lambing the shearlings that bit later really helps them maximise milk from grass and reduces the risk of things going wrong,” explains Anthony.
Creep feed is then introduced to twin lambs at about two to three weeks old and is offered until shearing in early June. “After that creep is removed and they won’t see feed again until the winter, with only the ewe lambs offered a little cake then as they run at grass all winter, unlike the ram lambs which are on roots. We tend to wean lambs in early August and split them by sex at that point.
“Anything which doesn’t make the grade at this point will be sold as prime lambs, with regular draws taken through the autumn months to cull out anything not suitable for breeding.”
Aiming to keep a young flock to maintain genetic progress, the family bring in about 130 shearling ewes a year, with no females offered for sale. “We have sold a few in-lamb shearlings in the past, sometimes up to 40, but we felt we were missing out on their genetics within our own flock. We’re particularly hard on culling, so wouldn’t want to sell anything we wouldn’t think was good enough to retain ourselves. That would mean selling females that we should be keeping and that reduces the pool we have to keep ourselves.”
When it comes to selling tups Antony says the market has shifted over the last 30 years, with more and more tups being sold from home and less at sales than ever before. “Our main outlet used to be the Main NSA Ram Sale at Builth. We’d take 60 tups every year, but these days we only sell about 60 rams at sales altogether, including pens of 20 at each of the Shropshire and Borders Club Sales at Shrewsbury and Welshpool.
“Increasingly customers want to come and buy off farm and that’s great although you do sometimes wonder if the tups would have made more if they’d been at a sale. We’re careful to pick out our pens for the Club sales early in the season and put them aside to ensure we have strong sheep for those sales.”
It’s a policy which pays off, with the Clun pen of 20 at Welshpool last October returning a healthy average of £1005 despite being the last pen of shearlings in the sale. “Overall, the 60 rams we sold at sales last year levelled at £920. This helps give us a good benchmark for pricing rams at home and customers have come to recognise that and appreciate that they’ll need to pay well for good sheep,” he adds.
“Several of these off-farm customers are repeat buyers who have been having our rams for the last 30 years many simply ask us to put rams aside for them and then only see them when they come to collect them. There can’t be any better endorsement of the flock than that,” believes Antony.
Craig Douglas Ya Belter was bought for £9000 and has bred rams to 4000gns with Clun Big Boy.
To ensure the flock continues to be able to earn these premium prices the family invest heavily in stock sires, paying up to £9000 in past years, with this paid for Craig Douglas Ya Belter in 2017, a ram which has gone on to sire sons to 4000gns for Clun Big Boy at the 2019 NSA Ram Sale, Builth Wells.
“One of the most influential sires of recent years has been Blore View Winger, a Brackenridge Strongbow son. We’d seen Strongbow when he was sold and wanted a son from him. Winger has done well, breeding power, character and conformation, with sons to 3900gns.
“Another ram which has done well is Glenside Uri, with his influence coming through in the female side of the flock and his daughters proving to be good, consistent breeders. Meanwhile, the 5000gns Tatham Hall Ur The One has bred progeny with tremendous carcass and fleshing,” he explains.
“We’re always looking for correct tups with level toplines, shape and good skins to produce the type of ram our customers expect from us. They have to be easy fleshing and have breed character too. Homebred sires play a part too, with these selected from proven ewes which are sound in mouth and udder after several crops of lambs.”
And to keep track of the performance of each ram’s progeny all lambs are ear notched at birth according to sire. “That enables us to quickly and easily spot if any particular sire is breeding well or, unfortunately, leaving problems in the flock. This is particularly useful when it comes to hereditary issues such as mastitis, mothering ability or lameness,” adds Antony.
“It is a simple system, but it works for us and means we can identify lambs by their sire easily and quickly at any point in the year.”
With loyal repeat customers both Antony and Roger feel the flock has a strong future, particularly off the back of the strong prime and cull sheep trade seen over the last 12 months. “Texels have been sought after in all sections of the trade and that bodes well for the future,” concludes Antony.
Texel Beanie Black or Grey £7.00 Polo Shirt Navy or black £15.00
Microfleece Navy or black £32.00
Jacket (made to order) Navy or black £45.00 Rugby Shirt Navy or black £25.00 Body Warmer Soft Shell Navy or black £40.00
Baseball Cap £6.00 Texel Mug/ Travel Mug £6.00 Navy Texel Tie £15.00
SHOP NOW
texel.uk/shop
Face Masks £3.50
Member Fees Go Online by using
This Notice supersedes all previous notices of costs and overrides ANY printed material which you may have in your possession.
All fees take effect from 1st April 2021.
and save costs on Society fees
Male and Female Birth Notifi cations
1st Jan – 31st May in Year of Birth 1st June - 31st Dec in Year of Birth 1st January following year of Birth Onwards
Method Online Paper Online Paper Paper
Standard BN fees
£2.10
(£2.52 Inc VAT)
£3.10
(£3.72 Inc VAT)
£10.75
(£12.90 Inc VAT)
£16.00
(£19.20 Inc VAT) £120.00
(£144.00 Inc VAT)
ET BN fees £8.00
(£9.60 Inc VAT)
£12.00
(£14.40 Inc VAT)
£16.00
(£19.20 Inc VAT)
£24.00
(£28.80 Inc VAT)
By 15th June in Year of Birth (YOB)
16th June YOB - 31st October in year following YOB
1st November year following YOB onwards
Method Online Paper Online Paper Online Paper
£6.50
(£7.80 Inc VAT)
£9.50
(£11.40 Inc VAT)
£7.50
(£9.00 Inc VAT)
£10.50
(£12.60 Inc VAT)
£10.00
(£12.00 Inc VAT)
£13.00
(£15.40 Inc VAT)
1st July - 31st Oct 1st Nov - 31st Jan 1st Feb – 30th June
Method
£32.00
(£38.40 Inc VAT) Paper
£48.00
(£57.60 Inc VAT) £100.00
(£120.00 Inc VAT)
Male registration will only be permitted once a DNA profi le has been issued by the laboratory and has been received by the Society offi ce. For purchased rams that require male registration, the Society requires “proof of purchase” in the form of a “ram docket” or a copy of the “invoice of sale”. Failure to provide a DNA sample for your ram may prevent your ram from being registered along with their resultant progeny.
Genetic Improvement Service Fees (Online only)
Flock Fee
Fees
£97.00 (£116.40 inc VAT) Additional £/ewe
First 50 ewes
51 -150 ewes £2.60 (£3.12 inc VAT) £2.10 (£2.52 inc VAT)
151 – 400 ewes
£1.00 (£1.20 inc VAT) > 401 ewes Speak to the society offi ce Flock size is based on the total number of ewes (including recipients) that have a lambing event recorded on the Society database that year. Import Registrations
Method Paper
Male £35.10
(£42.12 Inc VAT)
Female £13.60
(£16.32 Inc VAT)
Transfers (Females must be registered by the breeder before transfer. Males can be transferred prior to registration by the new owner.)
Paper
£11.75
(£14.10 Inc VAT)
Terms of Membership relating to fees
Please note ALL new members are required to set up a Direct Debit payment and use our online services. New members pay a joining fee and a subscription fee. Thereafter an annual subscription on the anniversary date each year.
Adult
Joining Fee - £75.00 inc VAT Annual subscription fee - £63.08 incl VAT
Junior (up to age 21)
Joining Fee - £37.50 inc VAT Annual subscription fee - £31.55 inc VAT
The VAT inclusive prices include VAT at 20%, and may be adjusted at any time.
Female and Male Registrations certifi cates will not be printed and posted to members. Members are able to print certifi cates from iTexel if they require them.
TEXEL
Proven premiums and performance
• Texel lambs regularly earn 45p/kg to 60p/kg premiums over live market averages* • Texelplus lambs are 4.5kg heavier at 20 weeks than in 2011 ** • Texelplus lambs have 0.25mm more loin muscle than in 2011 ** • 85% of Texel sired lambs are ‘in spec’ *** • Nine out of top 10 carcass merit EBV sires in RamCompare at Texels ****
