At Culland Hall Farm, we always start with the premise that we are looking to breed an animal that meets the requirements of the demanding commercial farmer. A productive, efficient sheep with a naturally low carbon footprint.
Our philosophy is grounded in the belief that utilising constantly improving genetics will enhance the profitability of livestock enterprises.
- Technology – We have been Performance Recording for over 20 years. Identifying the heritability of genetics and its role in enhancing profitability is a never ending but increasingly rewarding process.
- Technology – Research. Immunoglobulin A, its heritability, and relationships to intestinal worm resistance in sheep. Research has shown that certain identifiable Lleyn have c.45% heritability resistance to intestinal worms. Signet now has sufficient data to have specific Parasite Plus EBVs.
- Technology – Genomics. Costs are falling – opening a whole new universe.
- Regenerative farming – incorporating the above into all aspects of our farming business.
I often say to people that genetics guarantees nothing. However, it shortens the odds of getting it right. A successful business must constantly seek ways of shortening the odds.
We seek to breed animals that perform on a low maintenance regenerative grass system. The flock is Signet Recorded. We have been actively Performance Recording for over 20 years and Signet is an important part of the tool kit.
For over 10 years and as a founder member of the Performance Recorded Lleyn Group, we have been researching the heritability of worm resistance in sheep. Various dead ends along the way, have morphed into the analysis of Immunoglobulin A via blood serum analysis. There is now hard evidence that there is c.45% heritability to the Strongyle worm in certain individual sheep. This is clearly an important factor when considering ram purchase. Signet last year published Parasite Plus EBVs to guide farmers looking to purchase tups carrying these genes. This clearly has significant implications for the sheep industry. Furthermore, as part of additional research that we have done as part of Breed for Change there is also clear evidence that worm resistance and methane output are closely related.
In addition to screening for worm resistance, a combination of closely monitored performance recorded EBVs such Maternal, Scan weights, Muscle depth, Fat, Prolificacy are actively incorporated into the selection process. We use Border Software’s “Farm IT” which makes this job straight forward. The dairy and beef sectors would never buy bulls without this information. For sheep with many more data points, this makes even more sense. In NZ over 90% of all rams are Performance Recorded. In the UK only a small minority of rams are sold with EBVs. We are many years behind NZ.
Lambing is indoors, primarily for our convenience as everything is recorded and double tagged at birth. It also builds in a little flexibility if spring weather is particularly adverse, although when we have been caught out, it appears that it is the shepherd who is the most adversely impacted. The Lleyn lambs are tough and very resilient, being very quick to get to their feet and feed immediately after lambing. They have a reputation for being able to cope with outdoor lambing even in the most difficult weather.