Case study: The hill farmer from Cappele, Denbighshire

February 19, 2010

An Aberdale ram running with Talybont Welsh ewes in November.

FOR father and son Alwyn and Sion Williams, getting involved with Innovis was not a massive move from what they were already doing, but with the benefit of a guaranteed market.

Used to the Texel breed, they were happy to try an Aberdale ram and enjoy the fact all their ewe lambs are bought back by Innovis at a set price.

They also like the fact they lease rams from Innovis, rather than buy them, meaning they are automatically replaced if there are problems, be it lameness or death. The rams cost £250 for a yearling, with the price decreasing each year to encourage farmers to keep them for a good period of time.

“We’ve one Aberdale ram here that we’ve had from the beginning,” says Alwyn. “He’s just struggling now and will be replaced.

“We like that we know what we’re going to get for ewe lambs when we’re tupping the ewes. The male lambs do very well too - they’re fast growing. Last year we sold two lots at the end of June at 42kg and some more at the beginning of July at 44 to 45kg - that’s not bad for a hill ewe.”

Alwyn and Sion run 770 ewes over two farms, as well as 70 Stabiliser suckler cows.

They first used an Aberdale ram in 2005, subsequently switching to AI for the next three years because Innovis did not have enough rams to lease.

Having very compact lambing suited the farm, but rams will be used from now on because all the land has been entered into organic conversion, meaning sponges can no longer be used.

The batch of lambs due this March/April will be the first born on to fully certified organic land.

Most of Alwyn and Sion’s ewes are a Talybont-type Welsh, although they also run some Texel crosses, which throw very shapely lambs.

They were concerned those would be too shapely to go as breeding ewes on the Innovis scheme, but Mr Jones says they prefer the bigger hill ewes as their lowland farmers do not like anything ‘too Welshy’.

Criteria

Some hill farmers are not accepted into the scheme because their ewes are too hardy and woolly and will not have good growth in their lambs. Ewe lambs produced need to be 60-65kg further down the line, he says.

Alwyn and Sion have seen an increase in their lambing percentage using the Aberdale - about 161 per cent compared to 151 per cent previously. About 400 ewes go to the Aberdale, with 370 Welsh ewes kept pure to produce the 200 replacements needed each year.

Innovis recommend running Aberdale rams at 1:80, which Alwyn and Sion are happy to do. When they used rams, before they switched to AI, they used three rams on over 300 ewes with very few empties.

Ewes served by the Aberdale lamb indoors from mid-March, which is early for the area. Welsh ewes kept pure follow them from April 1. Mr Jones says three-quarters of his hill farmers leasing Aberdale rams are lambing outside, and the Williams’ may revert back to outdoor lambing now they are no longer using AI.