Levy Board News

EBLEX/Signet Texel Breeder Development Days

Texel breeders and commercial ram buyers were given two fantastic opportunities to see the best of what the Texel breed has to offer at two EBLEX/Signet Breeder Development Days held at the Beeford Flock owned by Stephen Curtis, ACMC near Driffield and the High Weald and Colwood flocks owned by Trinidad Investments at Warninglid in Sussex.

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Elite Ram Project

HCC Launch elite ram initiative aimed at encouraging wider use of Performance Recorded Rams in Wales. Assisting with 50% funding, up to a maximum of £400 on Ram purchases.

The "Elite Ram project" funded through the Rural Development Plan, aims to provide (online) training and advice to commercial sheep farmers in Wales on how to select rams on performance figures. Participants in the Elite Ram Project will be eligible for 50% funding up to £400 to purchase an eligible ram. To qualify rams will need to be in the top 25% of their breed in either Muscle Depth or Scan Weight or Maternal Ability. Interested breeders are encouraged to visit the new website www.eliteramproject.org.uk and down load the Q&A documents and enter the scheme by completing a quiz on performance recording.

Funding is available for three breeding seasons commencing July 2010. Rams can therefore be purchased through this project up to 20 October 2012, no financial claim will be accepted after 30 October 2012.

HCC hopes that more than 1,000 farmers will take advantage of the scheme this year, which is supported by a £450,000 grant under the Rural Development Plan for Wales.

Derbyshire sheep flock wins EBLEX BRP Progressive Flock Awards 2010

Matthew Prince who farms at Stonedge, near Chesterfield, has won the EBLEX Most Progressive Flock Award for the Texel breed, based on Signet records for the Hightecs Flock.

Organised through the Sheep Better Returns Programme, this award is presented to the performance recorded flock that has shown the most impressive improvement in genetic merit over a 12-month period, within the breed.

Matthew Prince with the progeny of one of his high index Texel ewes and a home-bred Texel ram

Matthew’s family moved to Highfield House Farm in 1986 and farm 38ha of part- owned, part-rented grassland - with some extending up to 365 metres.

There are three pedigree flocks – one Suffolk and one Beltex, as well as the award winning Texel flock which started in 1990 with six pedigree ewes. Since then numbers have built up to 70 from further purchases and by home-bred replacements.

The ewes are tupped, using AI to access high index genetics, and natural service in September, and housed just after Christmas. Lambs are offered creep feed from a week old, and run in and out of the shed with their mothers until mid March, depending on grass growth. All lambs are weighed and scanned and weaned at 16 weeks.

Ram lambs are sold mainly to commercial buyers through Chelford and Bakewell pedigree sales. All ewe lambs are kept on as shearlings. Any animal not suitable for breeding is slaughtered and sold through the Prince’s farm shop.

Many local producers who have bought Hightecs rams in the past also market their lamb through the shop, and 50% of the lamb retailed can be linked back to the pedigree flock.

Mr Prince was introduced to performance recording when building his Suffolk flock. In 2007 he bought four recorded in-lamb Texel ewes which were due to lamb in mid-March.

His main Texel flock lamb a month earlier, but the lambs from the new ewes easily caught up with lambs from the main flock.

“We soon noticed the difference in growth rates and overall quality when faced with recorded versus non-recorded lambs,” says Mr Prince.

The Hightecs flock is the only recorded Texel flock in Derbyshire. When selecting rams, Mr Prince is aiming to produce animals in the top 5-10% for important conformation traits such as eye muscle depth.

In 2008, semen from rams in the top 1% of the breed index was used to serve 15 of the highest index ewes. Mr Prince also bolstered his pedigree Texel numbers by purchasing a further nine high index ewes. These have had a very positive influence on flock performance, and may have contributed to winning the Progressive Flock Award.

In 2009, the new ewes were covered by a home-produced ram lamb that is in the top 5% for muscle.

“We are now selling more animals privately and achieving better financial returns because they have performance figures behind them,” admits Mr Prince. “The investment in recording is paying off. Last year we sold all the stock we had for sale by November.”

Commenting on winning the award, Mr Prince said he was surprised and very pleased, and that it had boosted his confidence knowing that he is making good breeding decisions for the Texel flock.

Mixed livestock farmer Steven Hinchley from Ashover has purchased rams from Mr.Prince for three years, and admires the way he uses the latest breeding techniques and genetics. Mr Hinchley lives near to Mr Prince and can have a sneak preview of the rams in the fields before buying direct off the farm.

“I am looking for quick turnaround with my lambs so that they can generate a decent profit,” Mr Hinchley explains. “By using recorded rams I can achieve fast growth rates and good eye muscle depth.

“I have had some cracking lambs from Matthew’s tups; they have grown quickly, been well muscled, and have provided the type of carcase the butcher is looking for.”

After successfully using performance recorded bulls on his suckler cows, another local producer, David Nightingale decided to buy a performance recorded ram from Mr Prince to use on his 50-head commercial ewe flock.

“As I was selling some of my lambs through the Prince’s farm shop they could see what type of carcase I was producing,” says Mr Nightingale. “They recommended a ram that would improve the end-product and I used him across all 50 ewes. The first set of lambs he sired were tremendous, and as long as he stays fit I will continue to use him. When I need a new one, I will go straight back to Matthew.”

“Producing rams with known, superior EBVs, allows commercial producers to improve weak areas and produce animals that their customers are looking for, and willing to pay more for, over a relatively short period of time,” says EBLEX sheep breeding specialist Samuel Boon.

“I congratulate Matthew for the valuable work he is doing with this breed. By focusing on, and recording production traits that really matter, he is not only improving his own flock, but also making it easier for other producers to find rams they know will have a positive impact on their enterprise.”