Texel spring bulletin 2018

TEXEL The bulletin for all

Breeders A Texel Society Publication

MARCH 2018

iTexel conference to give industry insight p10 Society launches Tell Texel membership survey p10

Repeat customers key for Brijon flock p38

Genetic improvement services and EBV Updates p26

In Touch with Texel #addtexeladdvalue

www.texel.co.uk

WIN AN EID READER

AND iLIVESTOCK SOFTWARE PACKAGE

ENTER OUR FREE COMPETITION

BY VISITING US AT

2018 NSA EVENTS* We have two Allflex RS420 stick readers and iLivestock software packages available Worth up to £800 each TAG IT, SCAN IT, MANAGE IT. Record keeping and flock management just got easier with the Texel Sheep Society and Allflex.

Use your data to maximise flock productivity and profitability.

#addtexeladdvalue * Events: NSA Scotsheep, NSA Sheep Event

2

Spring 2018

texel.uk

TEXEL W Breeders Bulletin

elcome to the spring edition of the Texel Bulletin, once again the autumn and winter seasons were busy for members and the Society office.

texel.uk

Texel Bulletin is published by the Texel Sheep Society Ltd twice a year in March and October.

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 Advertising office@texel.uk Registrations & sales cataloging registrations@texel.uk cataloguing@texel.uk Accounts accounts@texel.uk R&D projects edsmith@texel.uk Society Governance Chief Executive John Yates Chairman Steve Richardson Stonebridge flock Vice Chairman Roy Campbell Cowal flock Treasurer Andrew Barr Parkhouse flock Contributors Jonathan Long and Lynsey Clark Photography MacGregor Photography, Robert Smith, Alfie Shaw and Countrygirl Media

British Texel Sheep Society, Unit 74 - 4th Street, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2LG

Tel: 024 7669 6629 Email: office@texel.uk

During 2017 the Society membership grew to 2150, with members and friends from across the UK meeting up with the Northern regional Club to enjoy an excellent AGM and Social Weekend in Leeds, that included a packed itinerary and fun had by all who attended.

The 2018 AGM will take place at the North Lakes Hotel, Penrith, with a new format for the Society which will include an exciting initiative; the ‘iTexel Conference’, which will allow members and industry stakeholders to engage, be updated on and debate the exciting developments from the Society and hear how the breed impacts across the UK sheep meat supply chain.

Speakers from the genetics, research and development and processing sectors will address the key challenges and opportunities facing the industry. I urge you to attend and engage with the future of the industry.

The in-lamb sales were once again extremely well supported and both clearance rates and averages showed a healthy demand for quality genetics from both new and existing breeders.

Demand for the Texel breed has never been stronger and that is testament to the qualities the breed conveys to the commercial sector and the commitment from the Society’s membership.

As part of the Society’s continuing work as a key influencer within the sheep sector the Society continues to lobby senior decision makers at Government, AHDB and research organisations. The Society is also commissioning reports to support informed decision making by our board.

This spring will be the first year the Society has delivered performance recording services for members and plans are well in hand to ensure the transition runs smoothly.

Any members wishing to take advantage of the Society’s genetic improvement services and the opportunities it offers should, in the first instance, contact the Society office for more information.

Looking further ahead, the Society’s research and development projects continue to progress, with the first lambs being born at the commercial phenotyping farms as part of the development of our information nucleus, this spring for use in the carcass and health traits project in conjunction with SRUC and ABP. Additionally, the exceptional performance of Texel sires in the AHDB RamCompare project offers further endorsement of the commercial value that the Texel breed offers for modern commercial producers. With the three top sires being Texel for the new breeding value – overall carcass merit. In addition there were seven Texel sires in the top 10 for carcass conformation and eight out of the top ten for carcass fat class.

In time the data from all of these projects will further inform the Society’s genetic evaluations and enable the Society and Texel members to deliver even greater levels of information to commercial sheep producers to further enhance Texel performance within the industry.

In the meantime, all the Society staff wish you all a successful lambing and look forward to seeing you at both Society and industry events this summer, including the major shows, Society sales, NSA ScotSheep and the NSA Sheep Event.

John

John Yates, Chief Executive

In touch with Texel @BritishTexel #addtexeladdvalue

texel.uk

Spring 2018

3

February 2018 6

Gimmers boost charity coffers

20

New Zealand shows commercial focus

14

Young breeders join NSA Ambassador programme

24

NSA survey reveals ram buyers concerns

NEWS

YOUTH FOCUS

6. Gimmers boost charity coffers

18. New members for YDP committee

8-9. Registry and National Sales updates

19. Scale to fore in Canada

10. Society plans industry insight conference

20. New Zealand shows commercial focus

12. Texels top RamCompare rankings

22. Education awards recognise students’ efforts

14. Young breeders join NSA Ambassador programme

4

Spring 2018

texel.uk

32-37

31

22

In-lamb sales see strong spending

Tackle coccidiosis this spring

38

Education award winners

Repeat buyers pay the way at Brijon

TECHNICAL CORNER

SALES

LIFESTYLE

24. NSA survey reveals ram buyers concerns

32. Collective sales draw big bids

38. Repeat custom key for Brijon flock

26. Changes to performance recording take effect this spring

35. Club in-lamb sales see strong prices

42. Carcass focus in Northern Ireland

28. R & D projects focus on carcass quality 31. Managing the coccidiosis threat

texel.uk

Spring 2018

5

News Society Matters

Primestock round up Dutch Texel lambs took the top awards in both the live and carcass sections at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair, Builth Wells, in December.

Taking the live lamb championship were a pair of Dutch Texel cross ewe lambs from Hywel and Enfys Williams which tipped the scales at 97kg and later sold for £520 to Anglesey-based butcher Tom Hughes.

In the carcass classes it was Herefordshire-based exhibitor Robin Slade who took the pairs championship with his Dutch Texel sired lambs.

At the English Winter Fair, Stafford, John Hall and family picked up the reserve champion pedigree award with their pair of Dutch Texel lambs.

And Texel genetics were also to the fore at Agri-Expo, Carlisle, where the champion pair of lambs bred from a hill ewe were a pair of Texel cross Herdwick ewe lambs weighing 45kg and bred by Ian Grisedale, Milthorpe.

Society Matters

B

2018 Birth Notifications start with…

News

6

Spring 2018

Society Matters

Texel gimmers raise 12,200gns for charities Texel breeders showed their charitable side in 2017, with a brace of in-lamb gimmers sold in aid of charities.

Doddie W

At the Select Seven Sale, Lanark, the Gray family offered an inlamb gimmer in aid of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.

This foundation, initiated by former Scotland rugby international Doddie Weir following his diagnosis with motor neurone disease in July of last year, is aiming to raise funds for further research in to MND. Selling for 5000gns, the gimmer in question was GGH1606181, a Knock Papoose daughter out of GGH1404118, herself a Sportsmans Unimog daughter and Stirling Show champion in 2015 as a gimmer.

She was knocked down to Alan Campbell, Strawfrank, with underbidder Malcolm Couborough, Whelphill, also donating a further 5000gns to the fund.

Meanwhile, a gimmer from the Foxhill flock of Michael and Melanie Alford topped the charity auction of ‘Pink Sheep’ sold in aid of Cancer Research at Agrifest South West, Exeter, when it

Charity Texel Alford

sold for 2200gns to the Quick family’s Loosebeare flock.

The gimmer, AFO1600143, is sired

by Courthill Valentino and is a granddaughter of Ettrick GGH1101166, which stood first in a class of 53 ewe lambs at the Royal Highland Show and went on to be reserve female champion.

She was offered having been tupped by the £23,000 Midlock shearling purchased at Kelso last September.

Important Reminder

Important changes to Embryo Transfer (ET) Birth Notifications Reminder – Birth details for 2018 born ET lambs must now be provided on a per recipient basis. New paper forms are both available on the Society website.

Please note that old style paper forms will no longer be accepted.

texel.uk

Society Matters

JP Garnier leaves AHDB The Texel Society was sorry to see Jean-Pierre Garnier leave his role as AHDB’s head of livestock export trade development.

Mr Garnier, known to many throughout the industry as JP, left his role in January 2018 after 13 years at AHDB and having helped reopen export markets in a number of countries in the wake of the BSE crisis and Foot-and-Mouth outbreaks.

Texel Sheep Society chief executive John Yates said JP had incredible energy and optimism in helping promote British genetics and produce across the globe.

“JP’s drive to support the beef and lamb industry at the breeder, producer and processor level has been evident, with exports of Texel livestock and Texel sired genetics often at the forefront of the quality driven export market.

“His enthusiasm will be sorely missed in what is most definitely the most critical period in UK sheep industry, which relies so heavily on export markets, with more than 35% of all UK sheepmeat being exported.”

Mr Yates said it had been a pleasure to work with JP on a number of occasions in helping promote British Texels to both European and worldwide audiences. “In particular JP was heavily involved in supporting and arranging both inward and outward missions of livestock breeders to be developed which helped develop business relationships at the grass roots level.

“Managing the uncertainty that Brexit provides will require positive and progressive individuals, such as JP, to engage with global trading partners to sustain current markets and equally as importantly open new markets as we compete on a global stage.

“I and everyone involved in the Texel Sheep Society wishes JP all the very best in future and owe JP a huge debt of gratitude for all he has done for the UK industry in the past,” added Mr Yates.

Event Dates

2018

ROYAL SHOW DATES 16– 19 May - Royal Ulster Show Judge: Jennifer Aiken - Coniston 30 May – 2 June - Royal Bath & West Show - Judge: John North Loxley 21 – 24 June - Royal Highland Show - Judge: Steve Richardson Stonebridge 10 – 12 July - Great Yorkshire Show - Judge: Charlie Boden Sportsmans & Mellor Vale 23 – 26 July - Royal Welsh Show Judge: David Corfield - Fordwell

NATIONAL SHOWS & SALES 22 - 23 August - Scotland - Lanark Judge: Cyril Millar - Millar’s 25 August - Wales - Welshpool Judge: James McKerrow - Nochnary 27 - 28 August - England Worcester - Judge: Tomas Evans Welsh 29 August - Ballymena Judge: Russell Watkins - Millend

NSA EVENTS

Society Matters

Jimmy Warnock takes on RHASS chairmanship Long-time Texel breeder Jimmy Warnock of the Watchknowe flock, Lanarkshire, was recently elected chairman of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland.

30 May - NSA Scotsheep, Ballantrae, Ayrshire 18 July - NSA Sheep Event 2018 Three Counties Showground, Malvern 8 September - NSA South Sheep South of England Showground, Ardingly, West Sussex

Having been chairman designate since July last year, Jimmy replaced former chairman Keith Brooke who stepped down in August.

A well known face in Scottish agriculture and the Texel breed, Jimmy has been chairman of the RHASS PR and education committee as well as national chairman of the Royal Highland Educational Trust.

Awarded an MBE in 2015 for services to education and communication in agriculture Jimmy said he was hugely honoured to be elected chairman of RHASS. “Both RHASS and RHET plan an important role in improving the understanding of rural Scotland and I will employ my usual vigour and enthusiasm to continue this work,” he added.

News texel.uk

Spring 2018

7

Society Reminder

Ram Docket book – Have you got yours?

Vendors are reminded that ram dockets should accompany all birth notified males when sold. Email registrations@texel.co.uk to request a new docket book if required.

Society News

New - Birth Type now published for embryo transfer lambs 2018 born ET lambs will now have their birth type published. Look out for E1 or E2 on pedigree certificates, BASCO websearch and in Society catalogues, with E denoting the animal was born via embryo transfer alongside 1/2 to show if the lamb was born as a single or a twin.

Society Reminder Society lambing books are available on request - call 02476 696 629 and select option two to order yours.

Society Reminder

Members’ email addresses Reminder Please ensure your current email address is registered with the society. Email registrations@texel. co.uk to update your details.

Society Reminder

In-lamb sales entries Members running multiple flocks are reminded to use a separate entry form for each flock when entering sales.

Listing ewes from different flocks on the same form will be considered a request for transfer and standard fees will apply.

Obituary The Society was informed of the sad loss of David Lodge – Heyworth Lodge Texels. Our condolences go to the Lodge family.

Society Reminder

Check postage when returning DNA samples Under-stamped mail costs time and money. When returning DNA samples to the Society office please check postage is sufficient to cover the items being sent and to ensure samples are received by the Society deadline to avoid increased fees and delays to registrations.

Members are advised to return samples by recorded delivery, but as a bare minimum Royal Mail size restrictions dictate that a large letter stamp is required.

Society Reminder

Use these handy keyboard shortcuts to save time when entering data online…

• TAB - Moves focus to next data field • SHIFT + TAB - Moves focus to previous data field • Arrow keys - Toggle between radio buttons • SPACE BAR - Opens a drop down menu/selects a radio button

News

8

Spring 2018

texel.uk

Society Matters

Society News

National Show & Sales - guidance and information

Farewell to David Lowry

We hope you are all looking forward to the 2018 National Shows & Sales. To ensure they run smoothly remember the following...

Well known auctioneer David Lowry has hung up his gavel, having retired from his role at Lawrie and Symington in January.

The Wool Inspection teams will be in attendance at all four Shows & Sales, in addition this year they will also be present at the NSA Builth Wells Main Ram Show & Sale (16 - 17 September).

Entries which, in the Inspectors opinion, are found to have been dressed, trimmed or clipped will be rejected from the Show & Sale as per Bye Law 11.6. Additionally, sheep failing the wool inspection will not be permitted to be fully registered until 1st November in the following year, nor will any resulting progeny from them be permitted to be birth notified in the following year. All inspections at National Shows & Sales are carried out prior to penning. The inspection at Builth Wells NSA Show & Sale will be carried out in the pen prior to show/sale and up to the point of sale.

Bye Law 11.6 No dressing, trimming, clipping or excessive use of dips on the fleeces of sheep will be permitted. No artificial whitening on any part of the sheep is permitted. If an inspector is present at the sale they have the authority to disqualify any sheep, which in their opinion, are below a minimum standard with regard to breed type or are found to be contravening the Society Bye-laws, right up to the point of sale.The decision of the Inspectors shall be final and failure to accept the inspector’s decision will result in the entire consignment being rejected.

Additionally, sheep failing the wool inspection will not be permitted to be fully registered until 1st November in the following year, nor will any resulting progeny from them be permitted to be birth notified in the following year.

SUBSTITUTIONS For greater support for those members that wish to substitute entries into Nationals...

Free substitutions will once again be accepted up until 72 hours prior to the event (except for the Northern Ireland National Show & Sale as agreed with the NITBC, this is due to time restrictions to account for the new Show & Sale date) • Substitutes may be made in writing free of charge up until seven days prior to the Sale and Show start date and then late substitutes are allowed up until 72 hours prior to the Sale and Show start date for a fee of £12.00 (Including VAT). More details will be included in the pre-entry sales leaflet Scottish National Sale 22nd – 23rd August NI EXPORT ELIGIBLE

Detailed entry deadline 09.00am Tuesday 24th July Subs deadline Up to Wednesday 15th August free of charge and then up to 09.00am - Sunday 19th August at £12.00 (incl VAT)

Welsh National Sale 25th August

Detailed entry deadline 09.00am Wednesday 25th July Subs deadline Up to Sunday 19th August free of charge and then up to Midday - Wednesday 22nd August at £12.00 (inc VAT)

English National Sale 27th – 28th August NI EXPORT ELIGIBLE

Detailed entry deadline 09.00am Thursday 26th July Subs deadline Up to Tuesday 21st August free of charge and then up to Midday - Thursday 23rd August at £12.00 (inc VAT)

Northern Ireland National Sale 29th August GB EXPORT ELIGIBLE NEW ONE DAY EVENT

Detailed entry deadline 09.00am Friday 27th July Subs deadline 09.00 - Thursday 23rd August free of charge No substitutions permitted after this date.

Previously auctioneer at Saintfield, Northern Ireland, David had been at Lawrie and Symington for 17 years and has been responsible for selling a number of high priced Texels at the Scottish National Sale over the intervening years.

A breeder of pedigree Simmentals David will no doubt have plenty to keep him busy and all at the Texel Society wish him a long and happy retirement.

Society galleries To see photos from Society events, including the National Sales and the major shows as well as the social weekend check out the Society’s galleries on SmugMug, which can be accessed via the Society website.

Society joins Instagram In addition to the Society’s social media presence the Society has recently established an Instagram profile.

You can follow the Society and stay up to date with the latest Society images and news by searching for

britishtexel The Society can also be found on its already well established Facebook and Twitter profiles.

News texel.uk

Spring 2018

9

Society Matters

Society plans industry insight conference This autumn will see the Society stage a members and industry conference to increase awareness of the Society’s breed development and research and development work as well as provide insight in to the latest industry trends and shifts in consumer behaviour.

Titled the iTexel Conference and chaired

by Mark Young, head of innovation at the Centre of Innovation Exellence in Livestock, the event will see speakers address a number of key themes to help breeders and commercial producers better understand the changing nature of the UK sheep sector and the Texel breed’s role within it, explains Society chief executive John Yates.

“These are rapidly changing times for the UK and indeed the global sheep sector.

While the UK remains the largest sheep producer in the EU and the third largest sheepmeat exporter in the world the coming years will see the industry face huge challenges.

“Perhaps the most visible of these is Brexit and the negotiation of trade deals with both the remaining EU27 and the rest of the world.”

But, says Mr Yates, perhaps the biggest challenge is not Brexit, but the changing pattern of lamb consumption both within the UK and further afield. “Data from AHDB Beef and Lamb showed a 9.8% drop in lamb consumption within the UK in 2017, a dramatic continuation of an ongoing trend.

“The same shift is being seen in a number of key export markets, such as France and Spain too.”

Addressing the market challenges and opportunities facing the sector will be AHDB Beef and Lamb strategy board member Rizvan Khalid. Mr Khalid will highlight the changing shift in UK and EU lamb consumption.

He will also give an overview of the opportunities changing demographics within the EU, including an increasing muslim and ethnic population, offer the sheep sector and how the Texel breed can best capitalise on these opportunities, particularly in relation to the growing ethnic market.

Mr Yates says Jo Connington, Nicola Lambe and Neil Clelland of SRUC will give delegates an insight in to the Society’s genomic research and development projects and how the Society’s collaboration with SRUC and ABP is aiming to help breeders produce sheep best suited to the changing shape of the UK sheep industry.

“Working with both SRUC and ABP the Society is using genomics to identify sheep with optimal carcass traits, including those with desirable levels of intramuscular fat to deliver improved taste and consistent quality lamb to consumers.”

“Breed development has been at the heart of the Texel Sheep Society ever since the breed arrived in the UK, with breeders continually adapting to suit the needs of their customers.

“The advent of performance recording, CT scanning, AI and ET have all been embraced by Texel breeders and they have sought to deliver what the commercial buyer requires. Now with the genomic era upon us the Texel Sheep Society is at the forefront of genomic research within the sheep sector,” he explains.

In addition the conference will hear from vets on key animal health and welfare topics, while Mr Yates will give an overview of the Society’s vision for the breed and its place in the UK sheep sector in the post-Brexit era.

Taking place at the North Lakes Hotel, Penrith, Cumbria, on Saturday 17th November, the conference promises to be an engaging, informative day packed with key information for anyone involved in the UK sheep industry.

Places are available on a strictly first come, first served basis and can be reserved by completing the booking form on the Society’s website or by contacting the Society office by emailing office@texel. co.uk

Society Matters

Tell Texel This summer the Society will be undertaking a ‘Tell Texel’ membership survey to gain a greater insight in to the requirements of the membership going forward and understand how members are currently and intend to use Society services in future.

The survey which will be available at both NSA ScotSheep and the NSA Sheep Event as well as major shows and online, will ask members’ views on a range of Society activities and services, including the Youth Development Programme and Genetic Improvement Services.

Society chief executive John Yates said the survey was part of the Society’s ongoing market research to ensure it was developing services and activities to aid its broad spectrum of members. “There is much that the Society is already doing that we know the members place immense value on, but it is important to ensure the Society is evolving to suit members’ needs as the sheep industry goes through some challenging times.”

Those members completing the survey will be entered in to a prize draw to win 50 free birth notifications as well as Society merchandise.

News

10 Spring 2018

texel.uk

Society Matters

Society Matters

Changes to breed development committee

Vorn flock enjoys export success The Herefordshire-based Vorn flock of John Vaughan has enjoyed export success, with four ewe lambs recently exported to the breed’s homeland, The Netherlands.

These four lambs have gone to Dirk Kwantes’ Necker flock and were selected based on the Vorn flock’s high performance and carcass charactersitics combined with spine length and refinement of head and neck, explains Mr Vaughan.

Two of the lambs are sired by Vorn Yardstick, a sire from which semen was exported to New Zealand last year to Aaron McCall’s Dalzell flock and the Black family’s Blackdale stud.

“These first lambs in New Zealand have given Yardstick an NZ weaning weight breeding value of +9.31kg, compared to the top performance NZ sire used by Mr McCall which had a weaning weight breeding value of +7.34. A homebred sire Dalzell 16/95, the top growth sire of all breeds in NZ in 2016 has a weaning weight breeding value of +6.86,” added Mr Vaughan.

“While these are early days and the lambs have yet to be scanned and weighed for a second time it is encouraging to see UK genetics perform well in New Zealand. Indeed, so impressed have the Black family been by the performance of their lambs by Yardstick that they have purchased all 140 doses of semen currently available in New Zealand for their own use.”

In addition to this export success the Vorn flock has also recently secured a semen export deal with a Norwegian customer, further adding to the success of British Texels overseas.

Society Matters

Nuffield Scholar visit In December, Jamie Heinrich from Kangaroo Island, South Australia, visited the Society as part of his 2017 Nuffield Scholarship investigating key factors needed to attract and retain young people in the sheep industry. He met with John, Ed and Ailish to discuss some of the Society’s Youth Development Programme, and spoke about some of his experiences of visiting elsewhere in the UK, New Zealand, China, the United States, the European Union and South America. Overall he believes the industry has a bright future, but needs the right young people in the right places to prosper. http://nuffield.com.au/jamie-heinrich/

As part of the review to support Society genetic improvement services, a change to the committee structure for performance recording members will now allow for additional committee members as co-opted representatives on the breed development committee.

Any co-opted committee members will serve for a one year term before standing down unless co-opted for a further one year and a having a specific purpose to benefit the committee.

Those performance recording members currently on the breed development committee until November 2018 are James Theyer, Paul Philips, Aubrey Andrews and Alan Jackson.

Society Matters

Brazil and Mexico open for genetics A new health certificate for semen export to Brazil has recently been approved following discussions between EU and Brazilian authorities.

Henry Lewis of the British Livestock Genetics Consortium says the new certificate should be in place once a few formalities have been effected.

On top of this, a new set of health certificates have been agreed with Mexico, allowing both semen and embryo exports to the country to take place.

Texel Sheep Society chief executive John Yates added that Brazil had previously been a successful export destination for UK Texel genetics and he hoped to see further exports now the new health certificate was in place.

“Previous exports have proven that British Texels perform well in Brazil, so I’d hope to see opportunities emerge for breeders in the coming months.”

News texel.uk

Spring 2018

11

Texels top carcass trait EBVs in AHDB Beef & Lamb RamCompare trial

T

exel rams have topped the rankings in the preliminary results from AHDB Beef and Lamb’s RamCompare trial, following the first year of the trial which resulted in the development of three new estimated breeding values (EBVs).

The three new EBVs for carcass weight, conformation and fat class combine to give an overall carcass merit figure.

The results will be updated in May 2018 with a further 1500 carcase records for lambs born in late spring 2017.

AHDB stated that “Overall the trial found that carcass weights in Texel sired lambs were higher than might be expected given their live weight at scanning time and carcass conformation was consistently high.

“The combination of these two attributes lead to several rams achieving high overall indexes for carcass merit.

Texel-sired carcases were consistently leaner than those produced by other breeds.

“In the first round of results the top five rams for carcass conformation EBVs were all Texels as well as the leading ram for carcass weight also being a Texel.”

All Texel rams in the trial were selected

by AHDB, a significant point of difference to other breeds where breed societies were able to choose rams to be used.

Initial results from RamCompare which were announced at the Sheep Breeders Round Table, Nottingham, on 18th November, with the published report showing that Texel ram HME1501742 bred in Matt Hobbs’ Elkstone flock led the way on carcass conformation from more than 70 terminal sire rams from across five breeds in the trial.

Delivering a carcass conformation EBV of 147 with an accuracy of 93%, this ram lead the field ahead of another Texel, Roxborough Shot Gun Willie, bred by John Elliot and owned by the Prince family.

This ram had a carcass conformation EBV of 145, while in third with an EBV of 141 was Stonedge Wallykazam from the Prince family. These two rams have accuracy values of 96% and 97%, respectively.

Following them in fourth was a ram from Alwyn Phillips’ Penygelli flock, PAP1501802, with this sire having a carcass conformation EBV of 138 and an accuracy of 91%. Then in fifth place was a ram bred in the late Robert and Anne Payne’s Handbank flock, PRH1500573.

He came out of the trial with a carcass conformation EBV of 137 at an accuracy of 95%.

Tellingly, the sixth placed ram, a Charollais had a carcass conformation score of 127, significantly behind the five Texels.

Meanwhile, it was the Handbank sire which topped the rankings for carcass weight EBVs, with a score of 151 at an accuracy of 87%. The next best ranked ram for this EBV had a score of 132, again significantly behind the Texel.

In addition four Texels appeared at the top of the list for carcass leanness EBVs, with Stainton Vantage, bred by Peter Woof and owned by Claybury Texels in pole position, followed by Stonedge Wallykazam in second, with Roxburgh Shot Gun Willie in third and Alwyn Phillips’ Penygelli ram in fourth.

And, wrapping things up for the Texels was the Handbank ram which scored top of all rams in the trial for eight week weights, demonstrating early life growth which is essential for efficient commercial lamb production.

All of these new EBVs relate to a base value of 100 in 2017, placing the Texels highly among all breeds for these key commercial traits Texel Sheep Society breed development committee chairman Peter Mitchell said these preliminary results from RamCompare demonstrated the excellent all round commercial performance within the Texel breed and showed the commitment breeders had made to breed development and genetic improvement was being rewarded.

“These results very much confirm what everyone associated with the Texel breed has always believed and why it has become the first choice sire for many commercial producers.

News

12 Spring 2018

texel.uk

“The breed delivers what commercial producers, processors and retailers require. Fast growing lambs with exceptional carcass conformation, increased lean meat yield with minimal waste.”

However, while welcoming the results Mr Mitchell said it was important to remember the purpose of RamCompare was to aid long overdue improvements in performance recording in the UK and increase the linkage between animals to improve accuracy of estimated breeding values in all breeds.

“It is hoped this will increase confidence in performance recording for both breeders and commercial customers.

“There will need to be improved communication of these facts going

forward to ensure the results are not miscommunicated to commercial producers.”

He added that the Society’s own ongoing £3m investment in research and development, including genomic trials looking at a number of hard to measure carcass and health traits would bring added information with which breeders could make breeding decisions in future.

“The new EBVs developed so far are welcome as they focus on commercially relevant traits. However, these are largely focussed on how producers are paid for prime lambs at the moment and don’t include any vision of a changing marketplace which may reward producers differently in the years to come.

“While we welome the success of Texel rams in RamCompare and hope to have more influence on the sires selected to help improve Texel evaluations. it is important to recognise that current carcass grading and payment methods may change in the near future and this will need to be reflected in future performance recording and breed development programmes across the industry,” explained Mr Mitchell.

Table 1: Standardised breeding values for the ten leading Texel sires ranked by Carcass Merit Index For on-farm traits 100=2010 average within the Combined Breed Analysis and for the carcass traits 100=2017 average

Name

AI/ NS

Progeny /Farms

Carcass records so far

Eight Week Weight EBV

Scan Weight EBV

Muscle Depth EBV

Fat Depth EBV

Carcass Weight EBV

Carcass Conformation EBV

Carcass Fat Class EBV

Carcass Merit Index

PRH1500573

HANDBANK

NS

67 / 1

58

137

124

135

101

151

137

89

155

EJR1101108

ROXBURGH SHOT GUN WILLIE

AI

142 / 3

67

120

113

109

83

130

145

82

141

PAP1501802

PENYGELLI

NS

67 / 1

29

116

113

117

96

123

138

80

133

YDP1500991

STONEDGE WALLYKAZAM

NS

157 / 1

112

97

110

124

81

108

141

66

123

PAP1401307

PENYGELLI

NS

104 / 1

82

87

99

121

84

113

110

81

116

HME1501742

ELKSTONE

NS

57 / 1

41

112

109

114

103

99

147

104

113

WPS1400599

STAINTON VANTAGE II

AI

59 / 2

43

122

115

115

60

102

123

64

113

MDY1400927

TYNEWYDD

NS

149 / 1

112

121

118

110

105

105

113

87

110

CMG06129

GAYNES MAJOR

AI

181 / 3

132

118

111

116

104

103

113

79

109

JER1505263

RUGLEY

NS

100 / 1

65

126

120

113

100

106

102

81

107

Flockbook Number

* Higher values for fat traits mean fatter genetics, lower values mean leaner genetics. Please note HTW1501312 has not had any carcass records evaluated yet.

Society continues R & D investment Alongside the breed’s involvement in RamCompare, members will know the Society is also investing heavily itself in breed development and research and development, with projects looking at the genetics behind both key health traits and carcass traits, including sires capable of delivering lambs with exceptional conformation allied to high eating quality.

These additional Society led projects in conjunction with ABP Food Group and SRUC are using 35 performance recorded rams from 10 flocks to serve more than 1100 ewes in four flocks across the UK, with the aim of assessing the carcasses from more than 1800 prime lambs. This will support the creation of novel breeding values as part of the Society’s genomic programme. For more information see p28.

News texel.uk

Spring 2018

13

Society Matters

Young breeders selected for NSA roles Congratulations to Isle of Man-based Texel breeder Kirree Kermode of the Orrisdale flock and Northern Ireland-based David McMullan of the Kerrsbrook flock who have both been selected as NSA Next Generation Ambassadors for 2018.

Kirree, who farms at home with her parents and brothers, said she was delighted to be the first person selected from the Isle of Man for the NSA Next Generation initiative.

Meanwhile, David farms with his father, running 350 Mules and the 20-ewe Kerrsbrook flock.

David says he sees his new role as an NSA Ambassador as an opportunity to get involved in the wider sheep sector.

He says: “We are only the caretakers for this generation.

Society Matters

Pete Lee retires Pete Lee, the Society’s former accounts administrator has recently retired. Pete, who had been with the Society 14 years has since relocated to the north east of England.

The Society extends its thanks to Pete for his dedicated service throughout his time with the Society and welcomes Christine Hendry who has now taken on the role of managing the Society’s accounts department as well as helping ensure Society compliance with Companies House and Charity Commission regulations.

Society Matters

Religious demand likely to drive sheepmeat consumption Total EU sheepmeat consumption is expected to increase to 1.2m tons by 2030, with growing demand for religious reasons helping drive consumption, according to a recently released EU Agricultural Outlook report.

However, the report suggests EU prices might face a drop in the next few years due to world price developments. The Outlook report which predicts trends to 2030 says EU sheep and goat numbers are expected to increase in the coming years before declining in the second half of the period to settle at about 102m head.

It states that in the first half of 2017 sheep and goat meat production increased by 4.3%, with this partly due to UK slaughterings being carried forward. Meanwhile, in the first seven months of the same year EU sheep imports dropped by 18% year-on-year In the next 12 years the report suggests that due to growing opportunities in other markets, particularly Asia and the Middle East, the EU import quota allocated to New Zealand is not expected to be filled.

On the export front meat exports from the EU went mainly to Hong Kong, predominantly as frozen meat. But export competition from Australia and New Zealand, which account for 85% of international sheep meat trade limits export potential despite slightly increased world demand.

Taking this in to account, the EU Outlook report suggests EU exports are expected to fall slightly over the period covered to about 50,000t by 2030.

Society Matters

Kelso and Builth PRT shields awarded The winner of the shield for the highest average achieved with a pen of performance recorded shearling rams at the 2017 Kelso Ram Sales was the Clark family’s Garngour flock.

The family, Helen, along with sons Alan, Andrew and David achieved an average of £2010 for five shearlings sold, with a top call of £4500.

Meanwhile, the shield for the highest average achieved with a pen of performance record shearling rams at the Main NSA Sale, Builth Wells, was awarded to Michael and Ella James’ Duhonw flock.

Their pen of 18 rams averaged £2595.25, including a top price of 8600gns.

Alan Clark receives the 2017 Kelso Sale performance recorded flock shield from outgoing Society president David McKerrow

News

14 Spring 2018

texel.uk

Society Matters

Brian MacTaggart receives President’s Award The recipient of the 2017 President’s Award was Brian MacTaggart of the Douganhill flock.

Brian who has a long association with the Texel breed received the award from the retiring president David McKerrow at the AGM and social weekend held at Oulton Hall, Leeds.

Mr McKerrow said Mr MacTaggart had been a keen promoter of the breed for many years and a well respected breeder and judge across all four home nations.

“There are few in the breed who don’t know of Brian or the Douganhill flock and that is testament to the quality of

the sheep produced year in, year out by the flock and Brian’s enthusiasm for the breed at all levels.”

Arnold Park was thanked by outgoing president David McKerrow for his service to the Society’s breed development committee.

Gilbert Johnstone was thanked for his support of the Society’s social activities at major shows.

Iolo Prys Jones was presented with a momento for his time as a Society director by outgoing president David McKerrow

Richard and Margaret Lawrence celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at the Social weekend, receiving flowers to mark the occasion.

News texel.uk

Spring 2018

15

The 2017 Society Social Weekend at Oulton Hall, Leeds, was enjoyed by members from across the UK, with a range of activities ensuring enjoyment and fun for all who attended.

News

16 Spring 2018

texel.uk

News texel.uk

Spring 2018

17

YDP Committee Recent changes have seen a number of new members join the Society YDP committee, with Will Davis of the Usk Vale flock taking on the Welsh seat, David Chesnutt of the Bushmills flock joining to represent Northern Irish members and David McKerrow Jnr elected as the Scottish representative.

If you have any ideas to develop the YDP programme get in touch with your regional YDP Committee Member or email office@texel.co.uk

Duncan Mellin, Hull House, remains on the committee to represent northern England, with Jo Smith, Slapton, keeping her place representing southern England.

New committee member Will Davis says he hopes to help the committee expand the number and range of events organised for younger members and to help young breeders gain a more rounded understanding of the wider industry.

“Without the support, advice and encouragement of the Texel community, breeders past and present, young and old, I would not be where I am today. I would now like to be able to contribute to building a forward thinking Society, championing the community spirit that I have so valued to date and looking at new ways to help breeders young and old,” he added.

A

E B D C

Area A - David McKerrow Jnr Nochnary/Kettle 07843 288 067 Area B - Duncan Mellin Hull house 07540 053 431 Area C - Johanna Smith Slapton 07521 143 505 Area D - Will Davis Usk Vale 07779 603 143 Area E - David Chestnutt Bushmills 07843 152 743 Secretarial support and coordinator - Ailish Ross Society Office - ailish@texel.co.uk

Meanwhile, David Chestnutt said he hopes to enable the YDP to continue to build on the excellent work already being done and bring his experience of working with the Northern Irish Young Texel Breeders Club to the committee. “There are a lot of young people associated with the Texel breed in a wide variety of ways, it is important we involve them all in the Society’s activities to ensure a sustainable future for the breed and the Society,” explained David.

Existing committee member Duncan Mellin said he greatly values the friendships and experiences he has gained from his involvement with the Texel breed and is looking forward to continuing to help younger breeders gain invaluable knowledge and experience as well as support from fellow members.

Southern England committee member Jo Smith added that she hoped the YDP committee would be able to offer a broad range of activities for younger members and breeders in future.

North of the border, Fife-based David McKerrow Jnr of the Nochnary and Kettle flocks has been elected to the committee following the recent election.

David McKerrow Jnr

David Chestnutt

Will Davis

David said he was looking forward to working with the rest of the YDP committee to build on previous successes and develop the YDP for the benefit of all young people with an interest in the breed on both a pedigree and commercial front.

In addition to these changes to the YDP committee the Society’s technical support and administration assistant, Ailish Ross, will be acting as secretary to the committee to help draw together and develop initiatives for the benefit of younger members.

Save The Date 2018 YDP Event

Sunday 18 November 2018 Borderway Market, Carlisle.

Full details available at texel.uk/ydp in due course or by contacting the Society by email - office@texel.co.uk

Youth Focus

18 Spring 2018

texel.uk

Christina McCollam

Seeing the scale of Canadian farming first hand In late May 2017 Northern Irish young breeder Christina McCollam of the Carmavy flock spent three months in Canada as part of a Young Farmers exchange with support from the Texel Sheep Societys’ YDP programme.

Christina’s trip across the state of Ontario included staying with a different host family each week on a variety of farms, including dairy, beef, pig and sheep units, as well as milking goat farms and chicken farms.

restriction. Silage towers are popular across Canada, with silage blown in via an auger, with this resulting in less spoilage.”

On the sheep front Christina visited a Dutch sheep farm that lambs 600 ewes all year round. “The farmer here expected four years out of every ewe, with ram lambs sold at three months old to market, with females retained. Another farm had 300 ewes which were mostly Dorsets. They were beginning to cross these to increase prolificacy with a breed called Redo-cross.

“We saw a lot of dairy farms varying in size. In the first week of the exchange we toured the farm of a Scottish family who moved out in 1981 and built the farm in 1982. They run 390 cows milked through a 28 point rotary parlour with an automatic teat sprayer and 2000 beef cattle. They have two part time and 10 full time staff and aim to make at least three and sometime four cuts of silage a year.

“They are planning to expand this year so the farmer can be home full time. The sheep are fed a silage and corn diet which they find keeps the body condition up.

“They feed corn silage without stalks as a high energy feed and distilled grain at 21% protein,” explains Christina.

She also saw a large pig unit with 10,000 pigs spread across five barns, with automatic feeders operating twice a day and carcass weights of 95.5-115kg being achieved.

On another dairy farm she saw a herd of 50 Jerseys milked with a Lely robot which cost $400,000 CAD (£237,500) which included renovation costs of $220,000 (£130,600). “Milk price in Canada is between 75 and 82 cents/litre which is equal to 45-49p/litre.

“We saw a dairy farm which had diversified and was producing 160,000 litres a year, with 3300 litres of 3.8% butterfat milk used to produce 18 different flavours of ice cream and six flavours of fresh and frozen yogurt.

Beef farms and feed lots are popular in Canada, with one farm housing 3000 cattle, 2000 of which are in one shed split into pens of 85, although by law they are allowed up to 120, explains Christina. “They were 18-20 months old, weighing about 730kg and are finished on a slatted floor.

“Another beef herd had 1100 cattle and found the more beef animals you have, the less mess they make due to space

The lambing % here was 180% and they must test for maedi-visna three times and obtain two negative results; any positives are culled.”

“The goat farm we saw milked eight at a time and sold their milk at the farmers’ market as well as using some of it to produce cheese and soap.

“Meanwhile, the chicken enterprise we visited brought chicks into houses at 32°C to mimic the heat of the mother hen and then gradually reduce the temperature. They feed and look after them for five weeks before they are moved on, allowing them three weeks to clean out and disinfect the houses before the next load arrives.”

As well as farm tours Christina got to see the local area and tourist sites such as Point Pelee, Ottawa and Niagara Falls while sampling wineries, breweries, chocolate, cheese, meat and home grown asparagus which is used to make crisps.

“I would like to thank the Texel Sheep Society for their support and part sponsorship of this trip. It is an opportunity and experience that I very much value and will never forget.”

Youth Focus texel.uk

Spring 2018

19

Commercial traits the focus for NZ Texel breeders Summer of 2017 saw Charlotte and Megan Watkins of the Millend flock head to New Zealand to gain an understanding of sheep production in the southern hemisphere.

Their trip, part supported by the Texel Sheep Society’s Youth Development Programme, saw them spend five weeks travelling the length of New Zealand visiting both pedigree and commercial producers, as the girls outline below.

“As a world leader in sheep production and genetics we chose to visit New Zealand to gain an insight into Texel breeding, the sheep industry and the wider agricultural sector,” explains Charlotte.

“Experiencing farming on the other side of the world has always been a lifelong aspiration of ours, however, after the EU referendum in 2016 we felt it was even more relevant to see their industry with no subsidies.

“Multiple farms we visited sold huge volumes of tups from home often to repeat customers, with less emphasis on travelling to sales. NZ buyers want to see tups in their working clothes, knowing that they can trust the breeder they are buying from.

“The pure Texel breed appeared to be less dominant in New Zealand than it is in the UK. The sheep were different, with the flocks that we viewed, on the whole appearing to be longer, narrower headed and taller than the British Texel,” she adds.

Charlotte and Megan Watkins saw a keen commercial focus among New Zealand Texel breeders

“Due to New Zealand’s prominance in world livestock breeding and farming methods we were keen to see kiwi agriculture first hand. Our trip saw us rack up many miles, spanning most of both the North and South Islands.”

As Megan explains the pair found the scale of sheep farming in New Zealand amazing, with systems of huge sizes being run with a commercial mindset with great success. “We were struck by the NZ Texel Breeders’ attitudes, tending to concentrate on crucial commercial characteristics.

The understanding they had of their customers and communication with their buyers is something we definitely feel can be implemented in the UK.

Youth Focus

20 Spring 2018

texel.uk

Texels in New Zealand were thriving in harsh terrain and able to keep their condition with limited grazing. Composite breeds such as the Primera appeared to be increasingly popular however Romneys were seen to still be making up most commercial sheep, says Charlotte.

“One of our first visits was to Sheryl and Peter Tonkin, who farm about 300 acres in Matakoe, Northland. They have beef, sheep and rear dairy calves as well as running a Texel stud. It was here that we were first introduced to the commercial mindset used when running a Texel stud and the focus on the necessary qualities of the sheep to benefit their customer.

“At the bottom of the South Island in Waikawa, we visited Robbie Hughes’ flock of 900 Texel ewes which was hugely interesting. His aim was to breed easy care, efficient and low input Texels for commercial buyers which he has been developing over a number of years.

“He bases the breeding decisions of his flock around achieving the best ‘constitution’ possible. To this end he is looking for ewes to rear their lambs with as little inputs as possible. He does not use any anthelmintics or supplementary forage/feeding in order to produce sheep that have a high resistance to worms and can manage on low levels of nutrition.

“It was apparent to us that Robbie was highly motivated by the commercial traits needed by his clients,” adds Charlotte.

Throughout New Zealand it was clear this mindset was widespread with all aspects of the industry being focused on what they were aiming to ultimately produce, explains Megan.

“The entire NZ food chain was focused on what their customer required; with stud farms focused on producing a ram with attributes commercial farmers want, the commercial farmer in turn wanting to produce a lamb the packing plants want to buy and packing plants being focused on producing meat consumers can trust.

“This focus on the commercial traits is definitely something we can look to improve within our own British Texel industry.

“With competition from other breeds increasing yearly we need to focus on producing an animal our commercial farming clients want to buy and will add value to their businesses.

“While travelling to different farms we became aware of the ‘Central Progeny Test’ which is run throughout New Zealand and looks to compare tups of different breeds in order to identify high performing rams. The rams are used on farms and their progeny are scored at slaughter on various traits including growth, worm faecal egg count, eye muscle area and dag score.

This information is then compiled and all sires ranked in performance order as indexes and for individual traits.

“The Texel is dominant in the meat value index and features heavily in the growth index also, therefore, showing that despite not being as extreme as our British Texels, they still possess excellent carcass quality compared to other NZ breeds.”

During their time in New Zealand the Watkins girls also visited a large number of commercial farms including Sam and Hannah Morrah’s flock of 3000 Highlanders in Ohineumeri. “Sam, a previous winner of ‘M&S producer of the year’, gave us a tour of the farm which was incredibly interesting and clear that it was run excellently,” says Charlotte.

“As the flock was lambing during our visit we were able to see first hand the excellent maternal qualities the Highlanders possessed, lambing outside on steep, wet banks with ease. The ewes, which contain a mix of Finn, Romney and Texel bloodlines, were large and upstanding compared to the NZ Romney flocks we saw during our trip.

“The station used Primera terminal sires and was able to produce lambs that finished off grass. Sam and Hannah sold all of their lambs through Silver Fern, which is the leading processor and exporter of NZ meat products.”

Both Charlotte and Megan extend their thanks to the Texel Sheep Society for supporting their trip. “ “It was an experience of a lifetime for us both. The knowledge we have gained both of Texel breeding and the wider industry will benefit us both hugely as we move into our careers in the agricultural industry,” they add.

Youth Focus texel.uk

Spring 2018

21

Education Awards recognise students’ efforts Each year the Society makes Educational Awards to students attaining the highest mark on a sheep production related Honours Research Project.

The awards of £250 are offered to four Universities one in each home nation. In Northern Ireland the award is made at Greenmount, in Scotland it is made to an SRUC student, while in Wales it is awarded at Aberystwyth University and in England the award is made to a student at Harper Adams.

The Society’s chairman Steve Richardson says the future of the sheep industry depends on knowledgeable, educated and inspired young people and the Society’s sponsorship of these awards is aimed at rewarding excellent students with the ability and passion to drive the sheep industry forward.

“These awards recognise the hard work and dedication shown by students in researching key areas in the UK sheep industry and are a key part of the Society’s promotional work to engage with the next generation of sheep producers and decision makers in the sheep sector.”

significant when duplicating this data. The SMARTShot B12 group also had the lowest barren percentage with the control group having the highest. SMARTShot B12 performed the worst in the partial analysis due to the high cost of £4.75 a ewe.

Although the selenium and cobalt bolus group had the second highest scanning percentage, it also had the second highest number of barren ewes (after the control), suggesting a mixed performance from this treatment group. However, this bolus was the cheapest product at £0.58 per ewe, had the second highest scanning percentage at 130.67 percent, and so was the most cost-effective product used in this trial.

All treatments administered increased the ewe scanning percentages without any feeding or flushing of ewes while also caring for livestock welfare by preventing nutrient deficiencies.

Harper Adams winner received her prize from lecturer Liam Sinclair

David McKerrow congratulates SRUC winner Kirstyn Blackwood

SRUC winner Kirstyn Blackwood conducted a study to test the administration of trace elements selenium, cobalt, and vitamin B12 on pregnancy scanning percentages in hill Blackface ewes.

The pasture results and the scanning percentage results indicated ewes were deficient in cobalt. Ewes scanned at 136%, 130.67%, 129.33% and 117.33% for SMARTShot B12, selenium and cobalt bolus, cobalt only bolus, and control, respectively.

The 18.67% difference from SMARTShot to control was not statistically significant using 300 ewes, however, would make a noticeable difference to the farmer, and was statistically

Harper Adams winner Laura Tucker conducted a project looking at ‘The Effect of Sperm Concentration on the Viability, Acrosome Integrity and Penetrability of Highly-Diluted FrozenThawed Ram Spermatazoa’ Spermatazoa are exposed to great temperature changes during the process of cryopreservation which cause reduced sperm quality post-thaw. Studies have attempted to improve the cryopreservation protocol in order to improve fertility rates with frozen-thawed spermatozoa, allowing the technology to be viable for commercial use.

The results of this study suggest the motile capacity, viability and acrosome integrity would benefit from the cryopreservation of reduced semen concentrations that is currently used. Further research is required in order to compare these parameters with fertility rates in vivo due to the contradictory results of penetrability, which concluded that spermatozoa cryopreserved at high concentrations may travel further in cervical mucus.

Youth Focus

22 Spring 2018

texel.uk

Young breeders gain industry insight at SBRT The 2018 Sheep Breeders Round Table was once again held at Eastwood Hall in November, with the Texel Sheep Society and regional Clubs sponsoring young breeders to attend.

Here each of them gives their views on the conference and what they hope to gain from their attendance.

Rob Higgins, Bentleyford flock “The Sheep Breeders Round Table was a highly interesting weekend which provided a number of insights in to the sheep industry and the genetic advances in breeding which are now becoming more available to us as breeders.

Elliot Bell presenting Greenmount winner Kathryn Clinger with her prize

Greenmount College winner Kathryn Clingen’s winning project focussed on ‘Profitable sheep production in the UK, post Brexit’.

This report highlighted the threats to the UK sheep sector following Brexit, including a potential loss of export markers and the possible loss of support payments.

The need to explore new markers and improve communication in the supply chain was also a key consideration.

At Aberystwyth University the winner was MSc student Daniel Stout who’s study looked at carcass loin conformation and composition in purebred Texel lambs.

The use of carcass conformation in carcass classification and as a selection objective for breeding stock is sustained by the belief that carcasses of superior conformation will yield a greater proportion of lean with a higher proportion of total lean in the higher priced cuts.

This is despite studies having found a strong undesirable relationship to exist between carcass conformation and fatness and fat proportion, with limited or no association found with carcass lean proportion or lean distribution.

This study concluded that selection for superior carcass loin conformation in purebred Texel lambs of equal weight would not identify lambs with superior loin muscle dimensions, lean proportion or proportion of total lean in the higher priced cuts, but unlike in other breeds it would not select for fatter individuals.

“Of particular interest was insight in to the financial benefits to selecting for desirable EBVs and how they are evolving and rebasing to suit the changing needs of the sheep industry.

“However, for both myself and many others the most interesting speaker was Rizvan Khalid from Euro Quality Lamb on how the Muslim market is growing and evolving and how demand from this sector of the population will rapidly increase over the next few years.”

Rob says he believes the evolution of genomic testing in coordination with performance recording will revolutionise the sheep sector, having seen the effectiveness of genomic testing in the dairy sector.

Megan Watkins, Millend flock “I enjoyed a weekend full of information to the theme of “Thinking Positively”. One highly anticipated aspect of the weekend was the release of the RamCompare results. I was pleased to see that Texels stood their ground, comparing particularly well in the overall carcass merit.

“Genetics were the main focus of the weekend and it was extremely enlightening to see all of the work that is going on within the industry in order to move it forward. I would like to thank the Texel Sheep Society along with The South Wales Texel Club for enabling me to attend the weekend, I learnt so much, met numerous industry experts and thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Megan added that she was always looking to improve the Millend flock. “I am keen to tailor the flock to crucial commercial traits as well as maintaining Texel character. I plan to do this by buying rams with the qualities I want to emphasise in the flock and analysing the performance of the ewes, only keeping my proven and consistent family lines.

“Looking ahead I believe the use of genomics has tremendous capabilities and we should focus on putting this knowledge to use by making flock management decisions based on this once genomic tests become available.”

Daniel Stout

Youth Focus texel.uk

Spring 2018

23

Health a key concern for ram buyers

A

recent survey of commercial flock managers has found that rams would last longer if their care and management was improved.

Importantly, the survey found that health status was a highly ranked selection priority when buying rams. However, says the report’s joint author Kate Phillips, farmers knowledge of health and feeding before purchase was generally low.

“Additionally, routine vaccination of rams is also not widespread and respiratory diseases and poor body condition as a consequence of lameness, are high on the list of causes of ram deaths – both of which can be tackled with a sound health plan.

“In terms of feeding, rams are on average losing 9% of bodyweight while working – with the worst losses up to 20%.

“There is a clear need for more accurate guidance on ram feeding throughout the year.”

in their first year on farm until they acclimatised to their new environment, but that shearlings were a lower risk than ram lambs as they had, generally, not been pushed as hard. As a result shearling survival rate was higher than ram lambs on the farms surveyed.

Unfortunately, the survey also found that commercial ram buyers were often distrustful of pedigree breeders, believing some breeders were not in tune with commercial production of quality finished lambs.

“Generally, the focus groups spoken to as part of the survey felt that breeders should cull harder for lameness and that it was possible to falsify performance recording figures.”

Challenges to ram health on-farm included a reluctance to use clostridial vaccines or not including rams in flock vaccination programmes, adds joint report author Lesley Stubbings.

While ram breeders often take the greatest care to produce rams of high health status and in a fit working condition, this can easily be undone if it is not followed up with similar levels of care once they move to commercial farms.

“One reason given for this was that rams were often not on farm or in the right place when ewes or lambs were vaccinated or treated for other conditions. Additionally, only a small proportion of farmers consistently carry out ram MOTs,” she adds.

“Rams face considerable challenges, often moving from the relative luxury of a pedigree flock to the rigours of working life on their new farm, with little or no transitional period and patchy preventative health care,” said Ms Phillips.

When it came to feeding, the focus groups included in the survey suggested that breeders should not produce rams ‘dependent’ on concentrates. “Most farmers did not want to feed rams, but would do if they were in poor condition. However, few of those attending were aware of the energy and protein requirements of rams.”

“While the farmers surveyed online were generally satisfied with how long their rams are lasting, their expectations are not matched with reality.

“On average they wanted them to work for four to five years, but in practice they are lasting for 3.8 years. There is no doubt that if they can improve ram health and nutrition, they can improve the life of working rams and reduce their cost per lamb sold.”

The survey found that farmers felt shearling rams were a risk

Looking forward the report suggests vendors could develop a ‘Clean Bill of Health’ document which could accompany all rams when sold to detail the health treatments to date and which vaccination programmes they were currently in as well as recommended feeding regimes.

“Purchasers could then use this as a guide for future treatments and feeding regimes,” says Ms Stubbings.

Technical Corner

24 Spring 2018

texel.uk

Consider lambing ease and birthweight in breeding objectives

A

reliable correlation between birth weight and lambing ease means that controlling birth weight through genetic selection automatically helps manage lambing ease.

Data from Signet recorded flocks in 2016 shows a clear relationship between lambing ease and birth weight. The average birth weight of lambs with a Lambing Ease Score of 1 is 4.66kg, with assisted lambs having a birth weight 0.5kg heavier demonstrating the importance of controlling birth weight.

The lambing ease EBV for the breed was introduced in 2014 so that breeders can influence the ease with which a lamb is born through genetic selection. Breeders record lambing ease using a six point scale which is a quick and effective way of quantifying the trait.

Texel breeders are also encouraged to record birth weight.

The Birthweight EBV influences the size of the lamb, allowing breeders to control this trait and avoid extremes in lamb birthweight which may be detrimental to survival.

In 2016, 5125 more lambing ease scores were submitted compared to 2012, with more than 22,000 scores entered into the database.

More than half of the ewes with a lambing ease score required no assistance, which is a similar story to 2012.

The requirement for vet assistance with surgery required has also not changed from 2012 to 2016, with the same proportion of ewes assisted. This shows the positive progression Texel breeders are making regarding the importance of the breeding sheep for these easy lambing traits.

Commercial sheep farmers depend on lamb survival and the ability of lambs to be born easily in order to decrease stress within the ewe and save labour during lambing.

Looking forward, it will become increasingly important for the Texel breed to continue producing commercially productive sheep that are able to lamb easily, as well as having excellent carcase composition traits.

If you would like to be involved within this analysis remember to weigh your lambs at birth and give them a lambing ease score. Birth weights should be recorded within 48 hours of birth to the nearest 0.1kg.

The easiest method of weighing lambs is to place them in a bucket hung from a spring balance. The lambing ease score is detailed in the table below and is subjective by the breeder.

It should be remembered that scoring all lambing events as a 1 will not identify any genetic differences in ease of lambing and does not lead to accurate and positive ease of lambing EBVs going forward.

It is important that accurate data is inputted for these traits to ensure accuracy in the EBVs being produced and to ensure continued confidence in the breed from commercial buyers.

Both lambing ease and birth weight information can submitted alongside your birth notifications.

Both of these traits are of increasing importance in the sheep sector as increasing numbers of commercial sheep producers turn to Texel as their terminal sire breed of choice, while more and more are also looking to use Texel genetics in their maternal lines.

Lambing Ease Scores Submitted in 2016 for Texel Sheep Lambing Ease Score 1

Description No Assistance

Number of Lambs No of Lambs Percentage with Lambing that also had (%) Ease score birth weight

Average Birth Weight (kg)

11550

52.4

7707

4.66

2

Slight assistance by hand

7836

35.5

5005

5.13

3

Severe Assistance

1722

7.8

948

5.35

4

Non-Surgical Veterinary Assistance

372

1.7

193

5.28

5

Vet Assistance Surgery Required

241

1.1

128

5.71

6

Elective Caesarean

328

1.5

243

5.92

22049

Â

14224

4.91

Grand Total

Â

Table 1: Table displaying the lambing ease and birth weight data submitted for Texel sheep in 2016.

Technical Corner texel.uk

Spring 2018

25

Changes to performance recording take effect this spring

A

s performance recording members will be aware this year the Society has entered in to a single client contract with Signet Breeding Services meaning the Society will be responsible for data recording services.

This move has been made to enable the Society to better serve members and ensure the breed can continue its rate of genetic gain and continue delivering rams required by the commercial sector.

The switch will also support the development of further member and registration services and allow the Society to provide knowledge transfer to the wider industry, promoting use of the Texel breed.

In its first year this change will mean that little is different for recording members, with the process being similar to previous years. Data will be submitted at particular points throughout the year, including birth; eight weeks; and once lambs are about 35-40kg. These measurements are then included within the evaluations for the production of Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs).

Members wishing to performance record in 2018 who didn’t record in 2017 should contact the Society office in the first instance and speak to Ailish and Kat who will be able to talk you through the process of signing up.

Combined Breed Analysis Alongside the changes to management of the performance recording service this year will see a ‘soft’ introduction of Combined Breed Analysis to the Signet system, meaning all breeds will be analysed together and indices will be comparable between breeds where sufficient connectedness exists.

For 2018 recorded flocks will be able to see their Combined Breed Analysis data, with the intention to release this data to the wider industry in 2019.

In addition there will be a number of new estimated breeding values (EBVs) added to the information available on all animals, including new spinal length trait EBVs. These EBVs have been developed to aid the identification of animals with greater length in the valuable loin cuts.

There are, however, some differences to the service for you to note.

For performance recording members, what is new: • You are now invoiced by the Texel Sheep Society for the data recording service.

• The Texel Sheep Society discount £25 off the total flock fee.

• Your performance data can now only be submitted via the online BASCO system or supplied using Excel spreadsheet or csv file - from on farm software, in the exact format detailed by the Society.

• Your queries regarding data submission should be directed to the Texel Sheep Society.

For performance recording members, what stays the same: • Your performance reports will continue to be provided directly from Signet Breeding Services in 2018.

• Ensure measurements taken are as accurate as possible.

Please check your data once you have submitted it to ensure sexes are correct and management groups have been used as required.

• Please ensure you have submitted the most up to date measurements for your animals before the BLUP run dates to ensure the most accurate breeding values will be calculated. BLUP run dates for 2018 can be found on the Society website.

• The provision and charging arrangements for the supply of ultrasound scanning services remain unchanged, and continue to be charged to you by AHDB/Signet or your chosen scanning operative. Their details can be found on the information sheet or on the Society’s website.

• The fee structure for 2018 will stay the same as 2017 and this can be found on the Society website.

There will also be EBVs for CT Intramuscular Fat and CT eye muscle area, with the CT fat weight EBV having a heritability of 54%.

And in a significant switch to the evaluation process all carcass trait data will now be corrected for lamb weight rather than lamb age.

This change has been made to better identify animals with the best carcass traits at typical slaughter weights.

While this change is likely to result in some re-ranking of sires, it should enable breeders to better identify those animals with increased muscle at weights applicable in the commercial sheep industry and work with EBVs with slighter higher heritability levels.

EBVs for litter size and litter reared as well as lambing ease have also been updated, while EBVs for maternal ability, faecal egg count and mature size have been made more accurate.

CT Scanning Following consultation with members the venue for CT scanning in England in 2018 will remain as Stoneleigh. A number of options were considered, but those who responded largely agreed that Stoneleigh was the preferred location. SRUC are offering the potential for Exeter and Thainstone, as CT locations if you would be interested please contact Kirsty Mclean at SRUC directly.

Dates for 2018 CT scanning are now available on the Society website.

Technical Corner

26 Spring 2018

texel.uk

Complete this year’s membership survey and you could win:

50 Birth Notifications for your flock and new Texel Merchandise

r us & me sit s Vi ow um Sh is S at s th t en Ev

tell

Have your say…

Visit texel.uk/telltexel Terms and Conditions online

WIN 50 BNs and a £60 TSS Shop Voucher

Texel Sheep Society

Unit 74 4th Street, Stoneleigh Park, Kennilworth, CV8 2LG Tel: 0247 669 6629 Email: office@texel.co.uk Web: texel.uk texel.uk

#addtexeladdvalue Technical Corner Spring 2018

27

Society R & D projects aim to help address changing consumer habits

C

ontinuing investment in genomic research and development by the Texel Sheep Society is intended to help breeders deliver sheep to the commercial sector able to more readily meet processor specification.

Society R&D manager Ed Smith says with about 5.9m lambs in the UK still failing to fall in to the desired specification there is significant room for improvement.

“It is key to the industry’s future that a greater number of lambs meet specification. Failing to meet optimum specification means farmers aren’t paid the best price available and adds cost at a processing level through added trimming or cutting costs.”

Dr Smith says the Society’s R&D projects, particularly the VIA project and the Taste vs Waste project are targeting improved carcass quality and eating quality to deliver the consistency of product required by processors, retailers and most importantly consumers.

“There are two aspects to this work, the first is delivering carcasses with the optimum balance in the more valuable cuts.

As consumer eating habits change, so does the carcass balance required by processors. Modern consumers are moving away from large roasting joints towards more convenient cuts, such as leg steaks and chops.

In addition, to deliver consistently improved eating quality, carcasses need to have 3-5% of intramuscular fat without having excessive subcutaneous fat, he adds.

“This means ‘as an industry’ we need to produce prime lambs with increased meat through the loin, both as deeper, more rounded loins, but also as longer loins.”

The first batch of lambs in the VIA project will be born and finished this year. The breeding program has been completed with 280 ewes AI’d and just under 1000 served naturally across four farms in England and Scotland. Lambing is due to start in March, with the aim of producing about 1800 slaughter lambs this year.

Technical Corner

28 Spring 2018

texel.uk

All the lambs will be graded in the normal way, and scanned using video image analysis (VIA) scanners at the abattoir. The VIA scanner has been installed and is fully operable, with ongoing calibration of the data against CT scan results of carcasses; this will be used solely for the purposes of this R & D project in 2019 and 2020.

The Society’s network of phenotyping farms, both pedigree and commercial are intrinsic to this research work and in the first year of the meat quality research projects more than 75% of lambs supplied by the commercial farms met the processor’s desired specification.

The breeding program for this year’s lambs for the Taste vs Waste project has also been completed. In four Scottish flocks, 1250 Scotch Mule ewes have been mated to 44 performancerecorded Texel rams, using both AI and natural service. The aim is to produce at least 1800 slaughter lambs this year; with the first ewes due to start lambing in late-February.

Mastitis and footrot And, the Society’s ongoing genomic research in to mastitis and footrot within the breed using the network of pedigree phenotyping farms is also progressing well, said Dr Smith.

“This is a good start, with more than 75% of the lambs supplied by two farms grading as U and R grades at fat class 3L or 3H. Based on AHDB’s 2016 carcase classification summary, this is 17 % higher than the equivalent national figure (77.5 vs 60.5 %), with lambs produced in commercial conditions. But clearly we’d like to see a higher percentage of lambs meeting specification in the coming years,” said Dr Smith.

Table 2 - Proportions of Texel - cross lamb carcass grades achieved in the Taste vs Waste project to date %

1

2

3L

3H

4L

4H

5

E

0.0

0.1

0.4

0.2

0.0

0.0

0.0

U

0.0

1.9

14.8

5.0

0.4

0.0

0.0

R

0.4

13.4

48.0

9.7

0.4

0.0

0.0

O

0.5

2.0

2.4

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

P

0.0

0.1

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

Information on carcass quality as well as meat quality has been taken from these carcasses and is being fed back in to the genomic research projects, with another two years of lamb

texel.uk

data to come. In addition, a subset of last year’s loins have been reserved for additional taste and quality analyses, which will be completed over the next few months.

“With three years of data now collected there are some interesting results coming out and changes to the sampling routine have been made as a result.

“It was clear after the first two years of sampling that the results coming from the California Milk Test were highly correlated to somatic cell count data, meaning that milk sampling for somatic cell count could be ceased.

“In addition the pedigree phenotyping farms are now only being visited once about eight weeks in to lactation, with this significantly easing the workload on host farms and the sampling team,” added Dr Smith.

The next steps for this work include collecting this year’s hard-to-measure trait data and genetic samples from our nucleus of data collection farms. “By the end of 2019 the Society will have tested in the region of 1bn genomic markers,” he explained.

Spring 2018

29

Coccidiosis threat can be managed

W

ith most farms likely to experience some level of coccidia challenge in lambs, paying attention to ewe and lamb management from birth until lambs are passed the main infection window of 4-12 weeks old will pay dividends.

Independent sheep vet Fiona Lovatt of Flock Health Ltd says lambs are most at risk when exposed to coccidia oocysts in a sudden surge. “Lambs do develop good immunity to coccidia when exposed to Fiona Lovatt low levels in the first couple of weeks of life. They pick up coccidia oocysts shed by their dam or from pasture and immediately start to build immunity.

“However, when lambs aren’t exposed to coccidia from a young age and are suddenly exposed to large numbers of oocysts without having the chance to build up gradual immunity they can suffer potentially fatal infections.”

The first thing many producers will spot, and the main symptom, is lambs scouring, explains Dr Lovatt. “Lambs will often have a dark scour containing blood and/or mucus. Additionally, lambs may be straining to pass faeces with no result.

“Sub-clinical infections will result in poor weight gain and an initial weight loss, with all of these symptoms being caused

by the erosion of the villi in the gut preventing the absorption of nutrients from feed,” she explains.

Dr Lovatt says producers running outdoor lambing systems are less likely to see a coccidiosis problem as lambs will build up their immunity gradually from oocysts in the environment. “Lambs turned out from sheds soon after birth, and kept in similar age groups are also less likely to be affected as they also have the chance to build up immunity in parallel with the increasing challenge.

“However, in situations when due to poor weather some lambs were kept indoors, for long periods of time and are then turned out onto contaminated pasture at an age when they are highly susceptible to infection then coccidiosis can be a major issue.

“This is particularly exacerbated if the shed was kept well bedded and the ewes were on medicated buckets as this will have further limited that early exposure which is necessary for the lambs. I am certainly not advocating dirty sheds but I do believe that there are no good reasons for medicating ewes and plenty of bad.

Technical Corner

30 Spring 2018

texel.uk

With grazing lambs the greatest risk occurs when lambs are congregating around feed troughs and creep feeders and faecal contamination is thus increased accordingly, she says. “A lamb may eat one coccidia oocyst, but multiplication in the gut means that lamb will shed millions”

“Where coccidiosis does occur outside it mustn’t be confused with nematodirus and it is essential to get your vet involved in doing post mortems and sending faecal samples to the lab.”

In order to avoid a heavy faecal build up, creep feeders and troughs should be moved on a regular basis. “Stress factors such as adverse weather can also be key in stimulating outbreaks of coccidiosis,” she adds.

“It is particularly important not to put younger lambs into fields where older lambs have been as the large number of oocysts shed by the older lambs will present a huge challenge to the younger, naive lambs.”

When lambs are believed to be infected with coccidiosis Dr Lovatt says a quick diagnosis followed by appropriate treatment is key to minimising losses. “Coccidiosis can cause high lamb losses, but even a less severe outbreak, if left untreated, will result in lambs which take significantly longer to finish,” she explains. “Farmers need to be aware of the risk and treat lambs accordingly.”

But while a simple faecal egg count will spot coccidia oocysts in

dung it is vital to check that the oocysts are from the coccidia species which cause disease in lambs. “There are 15 different species of the protozoan Eimeria found in sheep faeces, but only two of these 15, E. crandallis and E. ovinoidalis are pathogenic and cause clinical coccidiosis in lambs. Samples pooled from a dozen 4-12 week old lambs are ideal and it is important to ask for coccidia speciation.”

Once coccidiosis has been accurately diagnosed on the farm then treatment should begin immediately in that group and strategic treatment considered for other groups at risk, says Dr Lovatt.

“Either diclazuril or toltrazuril are effective treatments though diclazuril has no residual action so it is crucial to get the timing of treatment exactly right. Often farmers think it failed to work though in fact the treatment was given too early or too late.

The precise timing of treatment is still important though less critical with a toltrazuril product, as it has some residual effect.”

It is important not to delay treatment and treatment should be given to all lambs within that particular group as soon as the diagnosis is confirmed, she adds “Failing to treat at the right time will mean the damage done to the intestine will have long term effects on growth and lamb development.

“Farmers with flocks which experience coccidiosis should speak to their vet about a prevention and management strategy for the disease to reduce the impact it has on their flock.”

Technical Corner texel.uk

Spring 2018

31

A 17,000gns call led the Select Seven Sale with this gimmer from the Auldhouseburn flock making the money.

Sales

Collective female sales round up

T

he autumn and winter of 2017 saw another fantastic demand for in-lamb Texel females at the invitational sales and Club sales alike.

Northern Stars Leading the prices was a new Northern Irish record female price of 19,000gns paid at the Northern Stars sale for a gimmer from Richard Henderson’s Ballynahone flock.

Sale leader, HBR1600762, is an ET bred Duncryne Uber Cool daughter out of a dam by Braehead Touch of Class and going back to the noted Douganhill McFly. She sold carrying twins to Halbeath Woody and was knocked down to Jim Innes for the Strathbogie flock after a spirited bidding battle.

Second best at 5000gns was the next in the ring from the same home, HBR1600780. This one is by Uber Cool and out of a Springhill Silverstone-sired dam. She was again in-lamb to Halbeath Woody and sold scanned for twins to Procters Farm, Lancashire.

Then making 3400gns was one from Paul and Baillie O’Connor, OCL1600567, an ET bed Usk Vale War-Lord daughter out of a dam by Garngour Upperclass and in-lamb to Milnbank American Sniper. This one was bought by R Hghes, Penmynydd.

At the same money was the best of the sale from Forkins entry of Alistair Gault, with this being a gimmer bred in the Cherryvale flock of Alastair’s children Beth and Jack. This was GCN1601761, another by Usk Vale War-Lord and out of a dam by Baltier Thunderbird. She sold in-lamb to Scotsman Ace and was bought

by H J Wilson, Raphoe, Co Donegal.

Select Seven Second best of the season was a 17,000gns high achieved at the Select Seven Sale, Lanark.

Leading the sale was a gimmer from the Auldhouseburn consignment of Hugh and Alan Blackwood, BYZ1615541. This Glenside Willie Winkie daughter is out of a Knap Vicious Sid daughter and goes back to Kelso Pavarotti. She sold carrying

to the 130,000gns Lanark topper Sportsmans A Star and was knocked down to the Bennett family, Welshpool, for the Plasucha flock.

The Blackwood family then reinvested some of the earnings when paying the day’s second top of 10,000gns for a gimmer from Gordon and David Gray’s Ettrick pen. This was GGH1606122, a Shannagh Won-I Won daughter out of a dam by the noted Ettirck Rainbow Warrior and going back to Castlecairn Kung Foo Fighter. She sold empty for winter flushing and with an index of 333.

Close behind at 9000gns was Albert and George Howie’s best of the sale, HAK1601063, from the Knock flock.

This one is by Ettrick U Cracker and out of a dam by Cambwell Rob Roy. Selling in lamb to Allanfauld Am The Man, she goes back to the dam of the 20,000gns Knock Travis and was bought by Robert Cockburn for the Knap flock.

An 8500gns call for another of the Auldhouseburn pen followed that,

Sales

32 Spring 2018

texel.uk

Selling at 16,000gns at the Christmas Stars sale was this Strathbogie gimmer.

with this paid for the Glenside Willie Winkie daughter BYZ1615502, an ET bred daughter of a ewe by Kelso Pavarottie. She goes back to Muriesk Northern Dancer and was sold in-lamb to Sportsmans A Star. Buying her was Robert Evans for the Hope Valley flock, Shropshire.

Selling at 10,000gns at the Select Seven was GGH 1606122 from the Gray family.

Christmas Stars A brace of gimmers from the Strathbogie flock of Jim Innes were the shining lights at the Christmas Stars sale of in-lamb Texel gimmers.

Topping the trade at 16,000gns was a gimmer by Glenside Wild Boy and out of a dam by Scholars Twenty Twelve. This one, IJS1600671, is ET bred and is out of a maternal sister to Strathbogie Smokey Blue. She sold in-lamb to the 42,000gns Mullan Armani and sold to Charlie Boden for the Sportsmans flock, Stockport.

Mr Boden then paid 12,000gns for the day’s second top priced lot, again from the Strathbogie pen. This was IJS1600706. An ET bred daughter of Millars Windbrook she is out of a dam by Clinterty Par One and again sold having been served by Mullan Armani. Her dam is also dam to a 22,000gns gimmer sold previously to Edward Pugh.

selling two at 8000gns. The first was BGS1602172, a Mellor Vale Wildcat daughter out of a Tullylagan Tonka daughter and going back to Baltier Panther. She sold having been served by the 70,000gns Teiglum Young Gun and joined Robert Evans’ Hope Valley flock, Shrewsbury.

The next two top prices saw Mr Boden recoup some of his earlier investment,

Also at 8000gns and heading back to Shrewsbury with Mr Evans was

BGS1602163 an ET bred Strathbogie Whiplash daughter out of a dam by Cairnam Talisman. Going back to Muiresk Northern Dancer she was offered inlamb to Deveronvale Aerostar.

Twilight Texels The Wilkinson family’s Arkle flock provided the day’s top price at the Twilight Texel sale when selling a gimmer at 10,000gns.

Sales texel.uk

Spring 2018

33

Their sale topper WGA1603049, a Milnbank Vantastic daughter out of a Brackenridge Underdog dam and going back to Haddo Kingpin. She sold having been served by Aldan Adonis and with a recipient carrying a single embryo by Cornmore Ace. This one was knocked down to C Bellis, Brynford, Hollywell.

Another from Strathbogie made 12,000gns at the Christmas Stars Sale.

Second best at 3500gns was a gimmer from the Osborne family’s Durisdeer flock, ORD1605579, a twin-born gimmer

by Procters U S President and out of a dam by Loosebeare Super Scot. She was sold in-lamb to Bradleys Agent Steel and was the pick of Robin and Caroline Orr, for the Halbeath flock, Fife.

Then making 2800gns was the best of the sale from the Loosebeare flock of the Quick family, QEL1606634. Sired by Strawfrank Wild Thing she is out of a Hull House Special Brew daughter and sold carrying to Brijon Youre The Boy. This one sold to Esmor Evans, Mold, Clwyd.

Northern Lights JIM Wilson’s Blackstown flock topped the Northern Lights sale of in-lamb Texels at Hilltown, when his gimmer sold for 2500gns.

This Arkle gimmer topped the Twilight Sale at 10,000gns.

Sale leader was a Teiglum Target daughter, out of a ewe by Blackstown Rambo which goes back to the noted Clynnog Joe Tex. She sold to Ronan Gallagher, Co Sligo, carrying to Springhill V Tech.

Henry Gamble’s Springwell flock produced the second lead price of 2100gns with a Cambwell Terminator daughter. Out of a dam by Derryvore Ranger and in-lamb to Eglur Viscount, she was knocked down to Andrew Fyffe for his Fairywater flock.

Just behind at 1900gns was the Currie family’s best, an ET-bred Glenside Topgun daughter from the Tullagh flock. Bred out of a Gruig Outlaw dam and in-lamb to the 2013 Lanark champion,Tophill Union Jack, she went home with Adrian Liggett of the Corbo flock, Omagh.

Her full ET sister then made 1700gns when sold in-lamb to Tullylagan Tonka to Mr Williamson, Omagh.

January Gems The first pedigree Texel sale of 2018 in Northern Ireland, the January Gems Sale, saw John Trimble’s Curley flock take the day’s top price of 2400gns.

The Curley sale leader, TYC1600635, is an ET bred daughter of Orrisdale Viking out of a Hillhead Trademark dam and sold

having been served by Cowal Viceroy.

She sold to Alistair Breen, Tempo, Co Fermanagh.

Next best at 2000gns was one from James Wilkinson’s Ballygroogan consignment, WVB1600256. Again ET bred she is by Strathbogie Wanted and out of a Humeston Starback dam and was offered in-lamb with twins to Deveronvale Alonso. She was the pick

of Michael Cunningham, Bryansford, Newcastle.

Then at 1800gns was the best of the day from the Farmhill pen of Brian Williamson. This was a Springwell Viera daughter, WBO1600135. She is out of a Waen Maradonna daughter and was sold in-lamb to Tullyard Achilles. Buying this one was Malachy Byrne, Ballynagowan, Donegal.

Sales

34 Spring 2018

texel.uk

Judging underway at the Northern Area Sale, Skipton Selling for 3800gns at the Shrophshire and Borders Cliub Sale was PRE 1600699 from Robert Pierce’s Oldford flock.

Sales

Club in-lamb sale round up

C

lub in-lamb sales once again proved popular among both buyers and sellers, with four figure prices recorded at many venues and clearance rates high at all sales.

Shropshire and Borders Club Sale Robert Bennett’s Plasucha flock led the trade at the Shropshire and Borders Texel Club sale of in-lamb females with a 4500gns bid.

Taking the sale’s best call was a daughter of the homebred Plasucha Wiz Kid, BFE1606022. This ET bred gimmer is out of a Garngour Upperclass daughter and goes back to a Teiglum ewe by Tamnamoney Lynbrook.

She sold in-lamb to Brackenridge Young Gun and with an index of 291, being bought by Michael Mennie, Forglen, Turriff.

Next best at 3800gns was one from Robert Pierce’s Oldford flock, PRE1600699. This Hexel Widlcard daughter is ET bred out of a Sportsmans Tremendous II daughter and goes back to Garngour Maestro. In-lamb to Gyhros Andy she sold to Charlie Boden, Stockport, Cheshire.

And at 2500gns was another from the same home, PRE1600704. This one is similarly bred, being by Wildcard and out

of another Tremendous II dam, this time going back to Tophill Joe. She sold having been served by Eden Valley A1 and was taken by Robert Evans, Minsterley, for the Hope Valley flock.

North West Texel Breeders Club Sale The North West Texel Breeders Club Sale at Beeston saw a rampant demand for both in-lamb females and empty ewe lambs from a packed ringside.

Sales texel.uk

Spring 2018

35

Taking the day’s top price of 4100gns was the pre-sale champion, a gimmer from Spiros Spyrou’s Gib Farm flock.

This Hexel Wildcard daughter is out of a dam

by Deveronvale Superb and sold carrying twins to Eden Valley Al. She sold to Graham Morrison for the Deveronvale flock.

Second best at 3400gns was a gimmer from Gordon Gray’s Ettrick pen, an Ellen Valley Warlord daughter out of a dam by Sportsmans Unimog and in-lamb to the 17,000gns Usk Vale Albatross. She sold in a two-way split to Steven and Janet Symes, Anglezarke, and Steve Richardson, Stonebridge.

Then at 2000gns was another from Spiros Spyrou, another by Wildcard and this time carrying twins to Anglezarke Uno. She found a new home with A E Jones, Llangadog, Carmarthen.

Northern Irish Texel Breeders Club Sale Paul and Baillie O’Connor’s Drumgooland flock led the trade at the Northern Irish Texel Club’s in-lamb sale, Ballymena, when their recipient carrying an embryo sold at 1600gns.

Champion at the NITBC Sale, Ballymena, was Beth and Jack Gault’s Cherryvale gimmer which sold for 1050gns.

This embryo pregnancy from a Glenside Topgun daughter out of a Tullagh Legend dam is the only embryo to be sold from 10K service sire Milnbank American Sniper and crossed the sea to John Howard, North Yorkshire.

Next best at 1050gns was the pre-sale champion, a gimmer from Beth and Jack Gault’s Cherryvale flock. This one is a Duncryne Uber Cool daughter out of a dam by Ballynahone Oscar and was sold carrying twins to Millar’s Windbrook. She was the pick of John Parke Raphoe, Co Donegal.

Solway and Tyne Club Sale A gimmer from the Hilltop flock of Kenny Pratt took the joint top price in the Solway and Tyne Texel Breeders Club sale at Carlisle, when selling for 1300gns.

This was PKH1601422, an Auldhouseburn Wacko Jacko daughter out of a dam by Knock Prefix and inlamb to Arkle YingYang. She sold with an in index of 342 and was the choice of John Foster for the Springhill flock, Co Tyrone.

Then at the same money was Cameron

Top seller at the Solway and Tyne, PKH1601422 at 1300gns.

Sales

36 Spring 2018

texel.uk

A second at 1300gns at the Solway and Tyne came from Cameron Gauld.

Yogi Bear. This one was taken by Ulmas Farm, Washingley, Peterborough.

Scottish Club Sale A ewe hogg from Andrew Goldie’s Newbie Mains flock lead the prices at the Scottish Texel Club’s sale when she made 1100gns.

This ET-bred hogg is a Knock Will-I-Am daughter out of a dam by Sportsmans Unimog and sold to Allen Cullens for the Craighead flock.

Gauld’s best of the sale from the Cairnam flock, GCF1602274, an ET bred daughter of Tullagh Whiskey out of a dam

by Baltier Rascal and in-lamb to Procters Yankee. Buying this one were A R Lawson and Son, Hallington, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Dyfed Club Sale It was the champion which headed up the prices at the Dyfed Texel Breeders Club in-lamb sale, Fairffach.

This Deveronvale Viscount daughter from the Davies family’s Teilo flock is out of a homebred Knock Upshot ewe was sold carrying twins to Milnbank Wisconsin. This gimmer sold at 1300gns to Rhodri Lloyd who is establishing the Llangynin flock at St Clears.

Champion and top price at the Dyfed Club Sale was this Teilo gimmer from the Davies family, selling at 1300gns.

Gloucester and Border Counties Club Sale Topping the Gloucester and Border Counties Texel Breeders Club sale at Worcester was a gimmer from the Chave family’s Peacehay flock, Somerset.

This gimmer, CFP1601496, a daughter of Clarks Wizard is out of a dam by Cennen Magnum and sold in lamb to Lyonshall King of Clubs. Buying her at 1420gns was W L Braund, Whitstone, Holsworthy.

Following her at 1220gns was another from the same home, CFP1601454, another by Clarks Wizard and this time out of a Scolton Panther daughter. Again in-lamb to Lyonshall King of Clubs she was knocked down to D and H Smith, Tockington, Bristol.

Then at 1200gns was a third from the Peacehay flock, CFP1601389. Sired by Castlecairn SAS Commando, she is out of a dam by Lyonshall King of Clubs and was offered having been served by Clarks Wizard. She was taken by D G and E A Thomas, Whitland, Carmarthenshire.

Derbyshire Diamonds Sale

The inaugural Derbyshire Diamonds sale of in-lamb Texels and dry ewe lambs saw a near 100% clearance, with 63 of the 64 lots forward finding new homes.

Leading the trade on a day of exceptional demand was a ewe lamb from Ben Vernon’s Charben flock when selling for 3000gns.

This was VBC1702565, an ET bred lamb by Sportsmans Wild Thing and out of a Stainton Vigliante dam. She sold to Eamonn Vaughan, Partridge Nest Farm, having been champion in the pre-sale show.

Second best at 1280gns was a gimmer from the Boden family’s Sportsmans pen, BGS1602252. This Mellor Vale Wildcat daughter is out of a Tullylagan Tonka daughter and sold in-lamb to Clinterty

Selling at 1050gns were a brace of gimmers from Kenny Pratt’s Hilltop flock.

The first was an Auldhouseburn Wacko Jacko daughter which sold to Sandy Pirie, Campbeltown, while the second was another by Wacko Jacko which also sold to Mr Pirie. Both were in-lamb to Arkle YingYang.

Northern Area Sale The first prize in-lamb aged ewe from Mark and Val Collins, who run the Logram pedigree flock at Low Ground Fold, Howsham,York, was the top price 700gns performer at Skipton Auction Mart’s 25th annual winter Texel females show and sale, staged on behalf of Northern Area Texel Sheepbreeders.

Recipient of the NATSB Trophy, the February 2015, daughter of Strathbogie Untouchable was out of a ewe by Glenside Razzle Dazzle – the dam was bought at the Insch dispersal sale in 2014 and is a maternal sister to the highly regarded Millar’s Windbrook.

The Skipton top price, which had earlier stood first in class as a lamb at Ryedale Show in 2015, was sold carrying twins to Millar’s A One, whose own sire, Cowal Yorkshire Lad, was male champion at last year’s Great Yorkshire Show.

The Collins family, who have been breeding pedigree Texels for the past four years, saw their charge find a new home in North Yorkshire with R N Kirby and Son, Northallerton.

Calderdale’s Spyros Spyrou, of Gib Farm, Hebden Bridge, took second top call of 650gns with a February 2016, shearling ewe daughter of Hexel Wildcard, out of the Peter Woof-bred Stainton Vandal, whose own dam, by Deveronvale Superb, was supreme champion at the September breed highlight at Skipton four years earlier.

Sales texel.uk

Spring 2018

37

Maternal traits key for shearling production Jonathan Watson - Brijon Texels

J

onathan Watson caught the pedigree breeding bug aged just eight years old and that passion has remained with him over the years, with five different breeds now making up the sheep and cattle numbers at Bowsden Moor, Berwick-UponTweed.

With 150 ewes, the Texel flock is the largest of the three sheep breeds (he also runs 120 Suffolk ewes and 30 Beltex), while the 200cow pedigree herd is made up of Charolais and Limousins. Having previously been in partnership with his uncle, Brian Redhead, who retired 18-months-ago, Jonathan now runs the 600-acre farm together with his wife Jayne and their sons James, 13, and Thomas, 11.

Some 200 acres of cereals are grown, with the remaining acreage left as grass for the pedigree livestock. Jonathan believes this system allows him to generate the best possible profit from the size of farm that he has.

He says: “It’s a lot of work having the various pedigree breeds and it means

we’re kept busy all year, with the different lambing and calving times and then the various sales. However, I’ve always had a very big interest in pedigrees and that’s what I enjoy doing – you don’t grudge putting in extra work if it means you get results at the other end.”

The Brijon Texel flock was established 20 years ago, with the purchase of 12 in-lamb ewes from Mary Dunlop’s Corstane flock. Jonathan says that from the start, he was looking for a particular type, with plenty of size and length, to breed rams for the commercial market. He found that in the Corstane ewes and consequently, all the Texels in the flock today originate back to them.

Lifestyle

38 Spring 2018

texel.uk

He then made a shrewd choice for his first stock ram, buying Goldies Godfather at Kelso in 2000 for just £350.

“He didn’t cost much, but he was just what we were looking for to put on the Corstane ewes, with a tremendous skin, shoulder and loin,” says Jonathan.

His instinct proved correct, with Godfather’s first crop of sons achieving the breed’s second top price of £2000 and an average of just over £800 at Kelso Ram Sales in 2002, on what was the Brijon’s flock’s debut at the sale. The following year, his offspring went one better, topping the Texel trade at £7000, with the pen of 12 averaging £1470 – the highest Texel average at the sale that year.

Jonathan adds: “Godfather’s first 35 sons averaged £1050 for us.

For a tup that had cost us £350 we did very well out of him and it was a great start for us as sellers at Kelso.”

Another stock ram that certainly paid his way was College Oz, bought for £1000 at Kelso – his first 10 sons averaged £1800 and sold up to £7800. More recently, Brackenridge Strongbow, bought jointly for £14,000 at Kelso, left a positive stamp on the flock and bred sons to £7000.

The flock’s best price to-date, however, has been £9000 at Kelso in 2014, for a son of Beeford Pimpernel. Jonathan actually

bought that ram unseen, having been highly impressed by a pen of his shearling sons at Builth.

“When buying a stock tup, I’m basically looking for what a commercial man wants in a fat lamb. The shoulder is the first thing that I handle in a Texel, and they need to have plenty of length and a good back-end – the last piece I look at is the head,” he explains.

“At Kelso, one of the main traits that gets the regular buyers coming back is that our Texels are easy lambing. I can honestly say that we have never had to have a cesarean on a Texel. We can have our sheep in good fettle too and they still lamb easily – it’s the type of sheep they are. Our main aim is to breed the best commercial tups that we possibly can,” he adds.

Jonathan also focuses on the mothering abilities of his ewes – the lambs are born in March and are weaned onto silage aftermaths in July, not receiving any concentrates until December, so their mothers need to be milky. All the ewes and tup hoggs are housed from mid December, to allow for grass growth, enabling the ewes and newborn lambs to be turned out in early March.

Normally, Jonathan prefers the ewes to be tupped naturally, with the tups put out around 6th October, but last year AI was a must, after buying shares in a £23,000 Midlock shearling at Kelso and the 15,000gns Milnbank Alfonso at Lanark.

Lifestyle texel.uk

Spring 2018

39

“We had to AI this time, because the tups were shared, but they were both ones we really liked and I’m excited to see the lambs off them. I thought the Midlock tup was the best sheep at Kelso and the Milnbank one is actually the first lamb that I’ve bought at the main Lanark sale – he was an impressive lamb, so we’ll see how it goes!”

The Watsons run some Lleyn ewes to use as ET recipients and they carry out ET work on five or six of the best ewes each year. This year, they have 90 embryo lambs due, so combined with the other breeds, lambing time is particularly busy at Bowsden Moor, when all of the family get stuck in to lend a hand. They also have help from a young lad who has started through an apprenticeship scheme.

Within the sheep sale season, Kelso is the main event, with the Watsons taking 100 Texel and Suffolk shearlings there each year.

Last year, they also ventured to Builth Wells for the first time, which they hope to continue annually.

“When we first started in Texels in the late 1990s, Suffolks were the main terminal sire, but there’s been a big swing towards Texels since then and I don’t see that changing. The Texels at Kelso are getting better and better and commercial men are willing to spend more on good tups, particularly with many of them now keeping pure ewes to breed tups for their own use.

“Texels are getting far bigger than they used to be, with more length, so they can compete with other breeds such as the

Suffolk and lambs can be finished every bit as early. They can get to 20kg a lot quicker than they used to.”

However, Jonathan notes that it can be difficult to continue breeding a certain type of sheep. “Once you’ve got the type of sheep that you want in your flock, it is hard trying to keep them like that – it just takes one wrong choice of stock ram to put you a step backwards.

“Finding the right tup is always a challenge. I’m very particular about the shoulder being correct and that is quite a big fault within the breed.”

In recent years, the Watsons have ventured into selling breeding females, getting off to a flying start four years ago when they sold 60 in-lamb gimmers at Carlisle to average £1400, with a top price of 5800gns.

They have continued selling females privately, but this year they plan to start regularly selling 20 gimmers a year. This will be as part of a new female sale at Carlisle in December.

Jonathan adds: “There seems to be a growing demand for Texel females and I can understand why. It is a breed that ticks a lot of boxes and there are so many advantages to them, as long as we continue to concentrate on the commercial attributes that made them popular in the first place.”

Lifestyle

40 Spring 2018

texel.uk

fication Integration

Intelligence

Improvement

Informative

Innovative

Inspiring

BOOK YOUR PLACE TODAY Intelligence Improvement Informative Innovative Inspirin

ntification Integration

Intelligence

Improvement

Informative

Innovative

Inspiring

entification Integration

Identification Integration

Intelligence

Identification Integration

nt

Intelligence

Identification Integration

ment

vement

Identification Integration

olvement

Identification Integration

nvolvement

Identification Integration

Involvement

ual

Identification Integration

Involvement

lectual

Identification Integration

Involvement

ellectual

Identification Integration

ntellectual

Informativ

Improvement

Informat

... nspiring vision for our future

Involvement

Identification Integration

Involvement

Intelligence

Identification Integration

Improvement

Intelligence

I

Informative

Improvement

Intelligence

Inn

Informative

Improvement

Intelligence

Inno

Informative

Improvement

Intelligence

Innova

Informative

Improvement

Intelligence

Innovati

Informative

Improvement

Intelligence

Identification Integration

Involvement

ctual

Intelligence

Innovative

Informative

Improvement

In

Innovative

Informative

Improvement

Intelligence

Identification Integration

Involvement

l

Intelligence

Insp

Innovative

Informative

Improvement

Inspir

Innovative

Informative

Improvement

Intelligence

Innovative

Informative

Improvement

Intelligence

Identification Integration

Informative

Improvement

Intelligence

Identification Integration

ement

Improvement

Inform

Improvement

Infor

Identification Integration Intelligence Improvement Inf An innovative conference to e Intellectual Involvement Identification Integration Intelligence Improvement I support progressive sheep Intelligence breeders ive Intellectual Involvement Identification Integration Improvement Intellectual

ative

Intellectual

itiative

Identification Integration

Intelligence

Improvemen

North Lakes Hotel Involvement Identification Integration Intelligence Improvem Intellectual Involvement Identification Integration Intelligence Improv & Spa, Penrith Involvement

Identification Integration

Intelligence

Improveme

Intellectual

Initiative Initiative

able

Involvement

Intellectual

Initiative

le

Involvement

Intellectual

Initiative

Involvement

Intellectual

Identification Integration

Involvement

Intelligence

Identification Integration

Impr

Intelligence

Im

10:30am Identification Integration Intelligence I aluable Initiative Intellectual Involvement Identification Integration Intelligence th November 17 2018 Invaluable Initiative Intellectual Involvement Identification Integration Intelligenc

uable

Initiative

Invaluable

ng

ring

Intellectual

Visit: texel.uk/itexel

Initiative

Invaluable Invaluable

Involvement

Intellectual

Initiative

Initiative

Involvement

Intellectual

Intellectual

Identification Integration

Involvement

Involvement

Intellige

Identification Integration Identification Integration

Intelli

Inte

Carcass focus key to success Naomi Ardis - Millburn Texels

F

or Northern Irish young breeder Naomi Ardis the Texel bug is one she was infected with early in life helping her father with the family’s flock.

Commercial buyers are looking for more carcass in their tups, says Naomi Ardis.

Then when she was 18 she bought a number of ewes from Henry Gamble’s Springwell flock as the foundation for her own Millburn flock.

“At the time I was focussed on breeding commercial rams to sell from home and at Club sales. I was also busy studying, so didn’t put have as much time as I would have liked to focus on the flock.

“It also took a few years to identify which were the best breeding ewes in the flock and put an emphasis on those lines.”

By taking time to build the female bloodlines within the flock Naomi says she now has the confidence to develop it further and breed sheep suited to National Sales, notably the Northern Irish National Sale at Ballymena where in 2017 Naomi topped the sale at 4000gns when Millburn All Star sold to the Ballyhavistock flock of Messrs Simpson and Calvin.

“The last two years have really been the turning point as I’ve concentrated more on breeding a higher end type of sheep. Admittedly that success has come alongside judicious use of embryo transfer to further develop key bloodlines in the flock.

“I’d not been keen to use ET before as I feel it can easily be overused and abused, but with careful use and judgement it can be a useful tool to maximise the influence of the best lines.”

For her part Naomi decided to flush a ewe from a family which had historically bred a lot of good quality males. “When we finally got a ewe lamb from that line I felt it was important to maximise the genetic potential.

“As a result I flushed that ewe to Knap Vicious Sid after having lambed her to Springwell Ulsterboy in her first year.That first flush resulted in eight live lambs, with three ewe lambs coming in to the flock now as gimmers and a number of tup lambs sold, including one at 1100gns.

“One of the ewe lambs has been shown as a gimmer and stood second at a number of shows, with the class winners often being the breed champion on the day.”

Lifestyle

42 Spring 2018

texel.uk

Confident that the ewe was breeding as well as expected she was flushed again for the 2017 lambing, resulting in the 4000gns All Star. A further three brothers to All Star were also sold privately from home to pedigree breeders too, she explains.

“I’m now building a large portion of the flock around this bloodline as clearly she is an outstanding breeding prospect and one I’d like to make the most of. Both she and a daughter have been flushed this year.”

But while Naomi appreciates the growing esteem her flock is held in she also has the humility to recognise she’s maybe not as far forward as she wants to be.

“Like many breeders I have a dream to breed sale toppers, indeed producing a sheep to lead a sale at Lanark would be the ultimate dream, but I’m not even sure we’ve got sheep good enough to go to Lanark yet and won’t take anything there until I’m sure we do,” explains Naomi who farms with her fiancé Ryan O’Hare in the shadow of the Mourne Mountains.

In aiming to get sheep of a quality she thinks warrant the trip to the mainland Naomi buys semen from either first or second

season sires to AI a selection of ewes with. “We always go to Lanark to see which lambs we think would suit our ewes and then try and buy semen from them if possible in that first year.

“It’s not easy to buy the best rams, but I’ve been lucky to be able to get semen from a number of good rams which have clicked with the ewes they’ve gone to.”

Running at 50 ewes, for the 2018 lambing 15 ewes were AI’d, with the remainder served naturally by a brace of tups, the first a proven homebred son of the 40,000gns Tullylagan Tonka and out of a Forkins ewe.This is Millburn Yankee, while the second service sire is Tophill United, a Milnbank Times Square son.

“Both of these have done a good job before and I wanted to give Yankee a chance at more ewes as several breeders have been impressed by his first lambs this year.

“I’ve also been lucky to get some semen from the 10,000gns Midcomb Axel which was bought by the Braehead, Mullan and Cornerstone flocks at Carlisle in September.”

Lifestyle texel.uk

Spring 2018

43

And while recognition at home has been forthcoming, with the flock taking second place in ewe lamb class in the medium flock section of the NITBC flock competition, so has awareness further afield, resulting in the sale of three shearling tups to a Swiss breeder in 2016.

“They’ve worked well and the buyer has been really pleased with the lambs they’ve sired.Whether we’ll get any more sales like that is yet to be seen, but it was a great boost to sell rams overseas and receive such positive feedback,” says Naomi.

However, despite moving forward and continuing to aim for the top of the breed, commercial buyers are still at the forefront of the flock’s customer base, with a large proportion of buyers returning each year to source new rams.

“There has definitely been an increasing focus on carcass characteristics among our customers over the last few years and that is a good thing for the breed.

They want tops and backends, with tups of a moderate size.”

She says for a while customers were looking for taller tups, but have moved back to thicker set, better carcass tups recently. “At the end of the day daylight doesn’t weigh, so more moderate sized tups with good growth rates are the best option for commercial buyers.”

Lifestyle

44 Spring 2018

texel.uk

Better Breeding For two decades, our animal DNA tests have enhanced selection, breeding and marketing decisions. Today, Neogen’s GeneSeek® is a world leader in genomic solutions and services.

Our customers can choose solutions from our extensive testing portfolio to make profitable choices about their future flocks. Our many services include: • DNA screening for parentage • Commercial traits, genetic recessives and causative mutations • Genotyping to determine genetic merit & genomic breeding values Genomic solutions are available for cattle, swine, poultry, equine, domestic pets, plants, veterinary diagnostics and R&D

Tel: + 44 (0) 1292 526 094 • Fax: + 44 (0) 1292 525 601 Lifestyle Email: geneseek@neogeneurope.com • Web: genomics.neogen.com/uk texel.uk

Spring 2018

45

Premier Sheep and Premier Lamb Drench

Organically chelated trace element vitamin supplements Not all mineral drenches are the same For more information contact Jonathan Guy T 01886 880482 M 07866 607466 E jganimalhealth@aol.com

RIPON T: (01765) 692255 DARRINGTON T: 01977 795241

KEIGHLEY T: (01535) 632661 STOCKTON ON TEES T: (01740) 630254

TADCASTER T: (01937) 835454 OTTRINGHAM T: (01964) 622351

W www.jganimalhealth.com

THE TEXEL SHEEP SOCIETY WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL SPONSORS OF THE 2017 AGM AND SOCIAL WEEKEND FOR THEIR GENEROSITY AND SUPPORT

46 Spring 2018

texel.uk

Member Fees This Notice supersedes all previous notices of costs and overrides any

Go Online

and Save Costs on Society Fees

printed material which you may have in your possession.

All fees take effect from January 1st 2018

2018 Male and Female Birth Notifications 1st Jan - 15th April in Year of Birth

16th April - 31st May in Year of Birth

1st June - 31st Dec in Year of Birth

1st January following year of Birth Onwards

Method

Online Online

Tel/Paper

Online Online

Tel/Paper

Online Online

Tel/Paper

Tel/Paper

Standard BN fees

£1.84 £1.84

£2.13

£2.04 £2.04

£2.36

£10.20 £10.20

£11.81

£118.39

ET BN fees

(£2.21 (£2.21 Inc IncVAT) VAT)

(£2.56 Inc VAT)

(£2.45 (£2.45 Inc IncVAT) VAT)

(£2.83 Inc VAT)

(£12.24 (£12.24 Inc IncVAT) VAT)

(£14.17 Inc VAT)

£6.94 £6.94

£7.38

£7.14 £7.14

£7.61

£15.30 £15.30

£17.06

(£8.33 (£8.33 Inc VAT) Inc VAT)

(£8.86 Inc VAT)

(£8.57 (£8.57 Inc VAT) Inc VAT)

(£9.13 Inc VAT)

(£18.36 (£18.36 Inc VAT) Inc VAT)

(£20.47 Inc VAT)

Female Registrations and Import Registrations (having previously been birth notified) By 15th June in Year of Birth (YOB)

Method

16th June YOB - 31st October in year following YOB

Online Online

Tel/Paper

Online Online

Tel/Paper

£5.35 £5.35

£6.21

£5.81 £5.81

£6.73

(£6.42 (£6.42 Inc IncVAT) VAT)

(£7.45 Inc VAT)

(£6.97 (£6.97 Inc IncVAT) VAT)

(£8.08 Inc VAT)

Male Registrations and Import Registrations (having previously been birth notified) 1st July - 31st Oct

1st Nov - 31st Dec

Method £29.60

£44.40

(£53.28 Inc VAT)

Online Online

Tel/Paper

£8.67 £8.67

£10.04

Transfers (only fully registered sheep can be transferred)

Method

(£12.05 Inc VAT)

Paper £11.28

(£13.54 Inc VAT)

Terms of Membership relating to fees

1st Jan - 30th June

Tel/Paper (£35.52 Inc VAT)

1st November year following YOB onwards

(£10.40 (£10.40 Inc IncVAT) VAT)

(£142.07 Inc VAT)

£59.20

(£71.04 Inc VAT)

Issue of male registration certificates will only be permitted once a DNA profile has been issued by the laboratory and has been received by the Society office. 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”.

(Please note new members Adult fees will now only be accepted by Direct Debit payment) Adult Joining Fee - £60.00 Inc VAT Annual Subscription fee - £54.21 Inc VAT Junior (up to age 21) Joining Fee - Free Annual Subscription fee - £27.11 inc VAT The VAT Inclusive prices include VAT at 20% and may be adjusted at any time.

Genetic Improvement Service Flock Fee

Fees £70.00 (with TSS Discount) Additional £/ewe

First 50 ewes

£2.50

51 -150 ewes

£2.00

151 – 400 ewes

£1.00

> 400 ewes

Speak to the society office

A surcharge of £95 per flock will apply to members who record in Northern Ireland.This is in line with Signet Breeding Services fee policy.

Flock size is based on the total number of ewes (including recipients) that have a lambing event recorded on the BASCO database that year.

#addtexeladdvalue National Sales Scottish National LANARK 22 - 23 August Lawrie & Symington Tel: 01555 662 281

Welsh National WELSHPOOL 25 August Welshpool Livestock Sales Tel: 01938 553 438

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

Northern Irish National 29 August ONE DAY EVENT J A McClelland Tel: 028 2563 3470

Regional Sales 6 August BUILTH WELLS NSA Early Ram Sale Clee, Tompkinson & Francis Tel: 01874 622 488 12 August KENDAL NWA Jct 36 Tel: 01539 5662 00 15 August EXETER NSA SW Ram Sale Sue Martin Tel: 01409 271 385 24 August STONELEIGH NSA Eastern Rugby Sale Tel: 01953 607 860

8 September SHREWSBURY Shrewsbury Livestock Auctioneers Tel: 01743 462 620

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

24 November NEWARK Society Sale Newark Livestock Market Tel: 01636 676741

8 September NEWARK Society Sale Newark Livestock Market Tel: 01636 676741

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

29 November FFAIRFACH Ffairfach Livestock Mart Tel: 01267 236 268

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

20 September LANARK Lawrie & Symington Tel: 01555 662 281

1 December WORCESTER McCartneys Tel: 01905 769 770

9 - 10 September RUTHIN Ruthin Farmers Auction Tel: 01824 702 025

20 - 21 Sept SKIPTON Craven Cattle Mart Tel: 01756 792 375

20 December WELSHPOOL Welshpool Livestock Sales Tel: 01938 553 438

13 September WILTON Southern Counties Tel: 01722 321215

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

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

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

27 September WELSHPOOL Welshpool Livestock Sales Tel: 01938 553438

5 January 2019 BEESTON Wright Marshall Tel: 01829 262100

15 September WORCESTER McCartneys Tel: 01905 769 770

29 September CARLISLE Harrison & Hetherington Tel: 01228 406 230

10 January 2019 SKIPTON Craven Cattle Mart Tel: 01756 792 375

15 September KELSO For more details Tel: 01573 224 188

15 October WELSHPOOL Welshpool Livestock Sales Tel: 01938 553 438

Dates correct as of 02/02/18

29 August GAERWEN Morgan & Evans Tel: 01248 421582 1 September FFAIRFACH Ffairfach Livestock Mart Tel: 01267 236 268 6 - 7 September CARLISLE Harrison & Hetherington Tel: 01228 406 230 7 September ASHFORD Hobbs Parker Tel: 01233 502222

Northern Ireland Sales 27 August RATHFRILAND Rathfriland Farmers Co-Op Tel: 028 4063 8493 1 September RUAS BALMORAL Richard Beattie’s Livestock Sales Tel: 028 8164 7105

13 September ARMOY D McAllister Tel: 028 2177 1227 14 September ENNISKILLEN Ulster Farmers Mart Tel: 028 6632 2218

17 September BALLYMENA Co Antrim J A McClelland Tel: 028 2563 3470 19 September SWATRAGH Sperrin & Bann Valley Mart Tel: 029 7940 1335

20 September CLOGHER Clogher Mart Tel: 028 8164 7105

21 September HILLTOWN Hilltown Mart Tel: 028 4063 0287

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

26 September MARKETHILL Markethill Livestock Tel: 028 3755 1265

texel.uk/sales for the latest sale information

8 October BALLYMENA (Harvest Sale) J A McClelland Tel: 028 2563 3470 12 October GORTIN Richard Beattie’s Livestock Sales Tel: 028 8164 7105