“The rams came out mid November, the last fat lambs went before Christmas, so time to sit down and update the last few months on the farm.
We have been one of the lucky ones with enough rain to give us ample grass. Probably one of the best years for the sheep that I can remember. I am acutely aware that for much of the country and indeed only 10 miles from here the story has been totally different. For many a financial disaster, with winter feeding hardly stopping all year for some, while much of Scotland and the NW were under a deluge of near constant rain. I fear we will have to get used to these extreme weather patterns. There is still no water in any of our dew ponds in end December. If at all possible I will again be trying to make surplus winter forage next summer (weather permitting!).

Shearling sales went very well through August and early September and then rather petered out as much of the Midlands ran out of grass. Still overall averages up well on last year, thanks to good fat and cull market. Throughout the summer and autumn the Fat lambs were finishing nearly a month ahead of last year. (All off grass – no concentrates). A good 70 – 75% have been R2/R3L at 20–21kgs dwt. Overall a good year, but still a lot of work to be done to further improve net margins per acre.

I bought 2 new stock rams this year, one from Edward Collins (flock 981), and the second from from Dr and Mrs D.W & C.F Morris (flock 873). We always semen test prior to putting the rams out to ensure no nasty surprises at scanning. 6 of our stock rams went into their ‘family’ groups (a total of 320 ewes) for 2 cycles on 22 October – 10 days later than last year to hopefully better grass at turn out. A 7th ram has had an experimental group of a further 30 ewe lambs in mid November for one cycle. We normally don’t put lambs to the tup. All replacements (shearlings or ewe lambs), are twins, from mothers with a record of throwing twins. Ewe lambs are top quartile (vs all our ewe lambs) growth rates at both 8 weeks and 21 weeks, good confirmation, and importantly whose feet are perfectly formed. Clearly this is not a black and white process, but I try and stick as close as possible to these rules. We go through a similar process with tup lambs, but in early July before anything goes to market. We currently have 17 for next September. Growth weights are monitored closely from 8 weeks to 48kgs, as are configurations etc. Its fascinating to watch them going through their different growth stages. I have my eye on one from an 8 lactation mother who has always thrown cracking twins – just the genes I want.
Although we have kept very detailed records over the years, we officially only joined Signet this autumn. Once the last 4 years of data, including weights etc are fully downloaded we will be able to fine tune our breeding plans for next year”.