The Breed

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TEXELS AT BENGALL

by Claire Powell

The breeding flock of Texel cross ewes, producing ¾ Texel lambs is the most profitable sheep enterprise on a Dumfriesshire farm, which in the autumn has over 2,000 sheep of all sorts, shapes, sizes, types and ages running on the 760 acres farmed by the Reid family.

Bengall is the home farm of three units near the town of Lockerbie, the other two are Bengalhill and Shillahill. These three farms are the domain of Jim and Irene Reid and their three sons – Robert, James and Lindsay.

The fertile Dumfriesshire land, dissected by the River Annan is well suited to a mixed farming operation. All crops are channelled into the various livestock enterprises. The 200 acres of cereals, (mainly barley), are for feed and bedding, a further 200 silage acres provide two cuts, while feeding lambs munch their way through 30 acres of turnips.

The Reids produce milk, beef, lamb, hogget and mutton from their pedigree “Bengall” dairy herd of 140 black and white milkers, 60 plus home-bred bull beef bulls, several hundred bought-in finishing steers and, depending on the time of year, over 2,000 breeding and feeding sheep.

In the autumn, the Reid’s sheep offer a multi breed display, with and without teeth!. Late autumn 2004, bought in feeding lambs comprised of 1,000 North Country Cheviots from Lairg and 280 Suffolk crosses. In addition there were 100 South Country Cheviots and 280 Scottish Blackface feeding ewes.

The in-lamb breeding ewes were 380 Texel cross Scottish Greyfaces (Border Leicester cross Scottish Blackface), tupped by Texel tups to breed ¾ lambs for finishing, plus 100 Scottish Greyfaces, again tupped by Texels, with the best Texel-sired females to be retained for breeding and the remainder finished.

Such a large number of livestock in a variety of enterprises inevitably means a hefty workload for family Reid and their two employees, but nobody at Bengall (unless it is a particularly bad day), moans about lambing, feeding, milking, slurry scraping and the multitude of other must do jobs created by milk, meat, muck and progeny producing bovines and ovines.

For on March 21st 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease, which had made its grisly way across the English Border into Dumfriesshire on March 1st, was confirmed at Bengall Farm.

Seven long months without livestock in their fields or buildings, as on many British farms during the despairing dark days of 2001, gave the Reids a new appreciation of livestock farming and a deep personal understanding that the production of quality sheep and cattle is more, much more, than merely making a living.

Part of Bengall Farm is bordered by the now infamous Birkshaw Forest, much of which was cleared for the creation of a mass grave for many thousands of sheep culled through the killing days of Foot and Mouth.

More than just sheep remains lie beneath the forest soil however – some Prime Ministerial stomach contents are also de-composing there.

The then National Farmers Union of Scotland President, Jim (the Talker) Walker, determined to minimise the impact of Foot and Mouth upon Scottish flocks and herds, insisted that Tony Blair should discover for himself the gruesome reality of what a livestock cull really meant. So when P.M. Blair did the politically correct thing of making a flying visit to Scotland to personally inspect the cull and back slap the chaps, NFUS President Walker, in a move un-sanctioned by the Scottish Tourist Board, gave Mr. Blair no choice – Birkshaw Forest and the grim contents of its burial pits was firmly placed on the Prime Minister’s itinerary.

It was not long before a yellow, oil skinned clad P.M. called loudly and forcibly for Hughie. We can only hope that Mr. Walker offered some sympathy!

When Foot and Mouth visits a livestock farm, it destroys hopes, dreams and lives, leaving death and despair in its wake. If anything positive at all can be gleaned from such a shattering experience, for the Reids it was the opportunity for Jim, Irene and their sons to assess how they had farmed before and consider improvements for the future, before the first re-stocking animals were warmly welcomed to Bengall in the late autumn of 2001.

The dairy and beef cattle enterprises were re-instated, but changes were made to the sheep.

“We had been thinking for some time of doing something different with the breeding flock - Scotch Halfbreds (Border Leicester cross North Country Cheviot), tupped by Suffolks”, explained Jim Reid.

“In the back of my mind I had a niggling feeling that the Scotch Halfbreds didn’t have enough milk and that we should replace them with a different breed of ewe. (The Reids now believe they were unjustly harsh on the Scotch Halfbreds, read on to discover why!).

“Also I felt that we could and should produce lambs with more muscle. But like many breeding set ups, by the time we had decided to make some changes, the ewes were back in lamb and we were on course for another lambing”.

Jim is an enthusiastic supporter of the livestock auction system, regularly selling stock through his local marts – Lockerbie, Dumfries and Longtown plus the occasional trip to St. Boswells.

One of the many benefits of livestock auctions is the opportunity for farmers to see a range of different types and breeds of animals and the response of buyers to the varied selection of stock on offer.

“It was obvious from the sheep rings at all the marts that Texel crosses sold easily and well”, said Jim. “And it didn’t take long to realise that the ¾ Texel lambs, with their extra meaty loins and gigots, drew a flurry of bids from the buyers.

“So as we considered the type of breeding ewes for re-stocking, I had already decided they were going to be Texel crosses to be mated with Texel tups, to produce three quarter Texel lambs”.

Texel cross what though?

Having (unjustly) written off the Scotch Halfbreds on the grounds of shortage of milk, alternatives were subjected to Bengall scrutiny. The result – the Scottish Greyface, a 50/50 blend of the hardy, good mothering Scottish Blackface ewe and the frame, flesh and prolificacy of the Border Leicester. Scottish Greyface literature claims a 200% lambing average.

Several hundred Texel cross Greyfaces arrived from south west Scotland in autumn 2001 and were promptly introduced to a tupping team of Texels, delivered by Jim Currie from his Lanarkshire-based “Carlinside” flock.

A further 160 Greyface ewe lambs were also purchased – for mating with Texels to produce home-bred replacements.

By the 2005 lambing, the Bengall team will have had four years experience of working with Texel cross ewes and finishing and selling their ¾ lambs.

“It’s been impossible not to compare the Texel cross ewes and their ¾ Texel lambs with our previous breeding flock of Scotch Halfbreds mated with Suffolks”, explained Jim.

“We’ve found the Texel cross ewes really good to keep and work with. They’re quiet and easy to handle at lambing and despite getting less feed, hold their body condition better.

“We’ve also found the Texel-sired lambs are hardier and more enthusiastic about living than the Suffolks. They also appear to have a high worm resistance, keeping them cleaner and obviously thriving better.

“We’ve decided that we were over-critical of the Half-bred’s milk supply and in fact we now believe that the Suffolk cross lambs heavy requirement for milk was why we assumed the Half-bred ewes didn’t have enough”.

Bengall lambing kicks off at the end of February, with the ewes running out by day and in by night. Scanning guides the pre-lambing feeding regime.

In 2004, aiming for a carcase weight of 22 to 23 kgs, the first draw of lambs was made in mid-June. They weighed 45kgs (lw) and sold for £60.20.

All the 2004 home-bred lambs were reared and finished on milk and grass, averaging 43 kgs (lw).

The auction system gives farmers an indication as to how their stock compare with others, with the simple rule of thumb – the higher the bid price, the better the stock.

“The same buyers regularly buy our lambs – a large number go to Woodheads of Yorkshire, some to ABP at Bathgate and the slightly heavier lambs are often bought by local Dumfriesshire butchers – R. Johnstone & Sons for their shop in Annan and Taylors in Lockerbie”, explained Jim.

“With previous buyers returning for more, it’s an indication we’re producing the type of lamb they want and are prepared to pay a bit extra for - our Texel cross lambs are making £2 to £3 per head more than we used to get for our Suffolk crosses and we regularly manage to be amongst the top five per cent prices on the day.

“It’s interesting that we’re obviously not the only ones who have changed to Texel tups in the last few years. Before Foot and Mouth the lambs in Lockerbie mart would have been 50/50 Texel, Suffolk. Now up to 80 per cent of the lambs are Texel sired”.

Satisfied with the ease of management and returns from their Texel cross Greyfaces, the Reids plan to close their breeding flock by buying additional Scotch Greyfaces from Castle Douglas to establish their own pure nucleus flock from which to bred Texel cross females for the main breeding flock.

“Many closed breeding enterprises use a Bluefaced Leicester to produce a Mule, then cross that Mule ewe with a terminal sire”, explained Jim. “By using a Texel to sire our breeding females, as well as the type of ewe lamb we want to breed from we’re also getting a quality, meaty wether lamb which makes good money in the market”.

The Reid’s first Texel tups came as a group in autumn 2001 from Jim Currie of Carlinside. “Those sheep have done us well and now we buy through Kelso Ram Sales from a number of flocks, including Annan, Scrogton and Corrie. In 2004 we bought a total of three Texel tups, to a top of £850 for a sheep from Jimmy Clark of Garngour, Lesmahagow in Lanarkshire.

“We would like to keep more breeding ewes, but in the spring the ewes and lambs have to compete with the dairy herd for the grazing and it’s vital that we make plenty of good silage, so until we’re able to increase our acreage, ewe numbers will have to stay as they are”.

By late summer there is scope, depending on the trade, to buy in feeding lambs and ewes, providing some sheep cash flow over the winter months.

For many years Jim Reid has been a regular buyer at Lairg lamb sales, Europe’s largest one-day sale of sheep, held each August in Sutherland’s only auction mart. The thousands of North Country Cheviot lambs sold at Lairg represent for many of the consignors, their annual harvest from the challenging land they farm in the north of Scotland.

“The North Country Cheviot is a traditional breed and many of the breeders are very traditional in their ways”, explained Jim. “But in the new era of CAP Reforms, the breeders and the folk like myself who buy the lambs to finish, now need to make as much as possible from each lamb.

“At the 2004 sale, there were a few Texel cross North Country Cheviots. They were of noticeably better conformation and made a premium price. There are great opportunities for Texels in this area and I truly wish more North Country Cheviot breeders would use some Texel tups – we would all benefit. A Texel cross North Country Cheviot lamb will be easier to finish and easier to sell than a pure, so finishers like me can pay more to the breeder. And as modulation eats away at the Single Farm Payment, the breeder will need all he can get – there are few farming options in Caithness and Sutherland.

“I believe the Texel cross North Country Cheviot females would also earn a breeding premium. We supplied a belting Texel cross North Country Cheviot ewe with ¾ Texel lambs at foot for 2004 Scotsheep and this outfit impressed a lot of the sheep farmers at the event.

“And with a better trade for Texel cross Cheviot lambs, the top North Country Cheviot breeders would also benefit as farmers in the area seek to improve the quality of the North Country Cheviot blood in their flocks.

“It would be a total win, win situation!”

An obviously enthusiastic and wholehearted convert to the Texel breed, will Jim Reid venture forth, cheque book in hand, to some of the pedigree female sales and establish his own pedigree flock?

No!

“I really enjoy being a “social” member of the Society – they’re a great bunch and Irene and I have had some terrific times on the overseas trips. These trips have given us the opportunity to view and experience at first hand the global production and marketing of livestock and crops. We’ve also had some tremendous laughs, but I daren’t put the details in print!”

As commercial customers of Texel tups the Reids represent the economic lifeblood of the Texel Sheep Society and Jim Reid has some well-intended words of warning for pedigree breeders –

“Beware of paying too much attention to breeding sheep with “braw heads”, while ignoring the thing we commercial producers sell and consumers eat – meat. Remember the commercial qualities upon which the breed is built. History shows in both sheep and cattle, many excellent breeds have lost their commercial customers as pedigree breeders tried to breed for other pedigree breeders and not the commercial market!”

And the commercial sheep market figures strongly in the Reid’s plans for the future. “We would like to get some more land, to enable all three sons to work full-time in the family farming business”, explained Jim.

“Currently Robert and James, who share the milking amongst other things, are at home while youngest son Lindsay lives at home, but does some part-time agricultural contracting.

“Farmers are being told to put the Single Farm Payment into a separate bank account, partly to help us identify which are the most profitable enterprises on the farm now that income comes solely from the market. We already know that when it comes to sheep the Texel crosses are the best paying enterprise.