In an era of change, adapting for improved levels of efficiency are crucial to future proofing any farming enterprise which SRUC’s Barony campus based in Dumfries, has undertaken with the introduction of Dorset, Highlander and Primera sheep flocks.
Dorsets are prolific breeders being able to produce three crops of lambs in two years, whilst the Highlanders and Primera are known for their efficiency, being smaller sheep with less feed requirements, which in turn ensure improved fertility and a more sustainable future for the farm and the environment.
Farm manager, Hugh McClymont who has been with the SRUC for 42 years and full-time shepherd, Perry Parkinson have been working hand in hand to develop this new enterprise.
It is however, Perry who instigated the move, having travelled to New Zealand for experience, and worked on a beef and sheep farm for four years in Stranraer before finding his new role at the Barony earlier in the year.
“He has got many feathers so he may as well fly here! He is young, enthusiastic and most importantly eager for change,” said Hugh.
Perry added: “My main aim for the Barony is to make the farm more efficient and still maximise the year-end balance, however I want to give the students an experience I never had and that comes with variety.”
“SRUC is a place of education, and how do you teach farming when you stick with traditions. The various new flocks will give countless ways for students to learn from different breeds as well as indoor and outdoor lambing experiences."
Hugh added: “We want to turn the sheep flock around, raise the profile of SRUC and we have found someone who is keen to embrace change and do just that. It should be a win-win situation for us in that we should get more youngsters interested in sheep when we will be lambing five months of the year. Youngsters will gain more experience which should help an industry that is crying out for young people. There is no future without the next generation.”
Being a college farm, the fundamentals lie in education and keeping the students engaged in new systems, but the farm still has to be financially secure to succeed.
“We needed to do something different and be controversial,” agreed both Perry and Hugh.
SRUC at the Barony was originally running 500-550 Scotch Mules that were put to the Texel.
The team has now however embarked on a new journey which will be continuously changing to improve.
“We have got to make it work and give it our best shot along the way, but we are constantly learning and adapting. As long as we can balance our budget, and create a worthwhile student experience we will be happy.
“Our motto is because it has always been done like that, doesn’t make it right – as a lowland farm we have to look at stratified sheep farming. We can change the lowland sheep to be different,” said Hugh, who introduced the Dorset flock just last year with an initial purchase of 50 ewe lambs from Dorset.
An additional 60 hoggs and 45 breeding ewes travelled down to Dumfries this year, from SRUC Craibstone with the aim of having females producing three crops of lambs in two years.
“Although they might not produce lambs as heavy as your ‘traditional’ lamb, if we can get more on the ground, we will be winning our game.
“Polled Dorsets are prolific breeders and have the potential to produce finished lambs all year round off milk and grass only,” said Hugh, adding that the college's first lambing season under the new system, kicks off on September 21, and with the correct management should result in lamb crops every eight months.
“There is a lot of pressure on Perry, normally lambing is over in a few weeks but he will be lambing intermittently for five months of the year. There is a lot of thinking, planning and preparation involved in such a task,” added Hugh.
Excited about his new challenge, Perry commented: “It becomes more interesting and rewarding when things pay off, we just have to hope it brings the financial rewards and we have more to sell.
“Consumers want prime lamb all year round, and that doesn’t mean left over hoggs come winter. That is why we are aiming to shift our lambing period to hopefully having prime lambs all year round to sell. It is all about the supply chain, working to an end goal and adapting for change.
“We want a different outlet of sheep and we need to be willing to open our eyes to change rather than having tunnel vision on what has always been done. Utilising data is going to be the backbone behind this project,” said Perry, adding that without figures and data the industry is farming blind.
Some 200 Highlander ewes from a breeder down in Devon through Innovis, were also bought this year of which 100 will be kept pure for producing female replacements, with the remainder set to go to the Primera sire.
“The Highlander is a composite maternal breed developed by Focus Genetics to deliver improvements in production and performance. Our main reason for using the Highlander is for efficiency – they are smaller ewes with less feed requirements, having a body weight of around 61-65kg, so theoretically they should be easier to manage,” said Perry, pointing out that all will lamb outside.
Hugh added: “The ease of lambing and reduced management should improve the amount of kgs per lamb produced per acre without the extra risks of lambing inside, but we will need to rely on EBVS to manage the flock.”
These efficient females will then be crossed to the Primera – a composite meat sire developed to produce high performance finished lambs.
“Again, another hybrid, the Primera should make lambing outdoors easier for students and they have fast growth rates off grass alone which will contend with typical commercial ewe flock systems,” added Perry.
The 500 Mule flock is gradually being sold off Barony, with the poorest performers, based on data recording and electronic tagging, sold off first
“These ewes were losing money so why would we keep problems? It is easy enough to record data, but it is what you do with the data that is important!,” said Perry.
The perfect body score is 3-3.5, with lower body scorers being put to improved quality grass and higher body scorers will be fed less grass to increase conception rates and in result have a better scanning percentage for the flock.
“The end result for us is having more lambs on the ground with less input and management to make up for the lighter more efficient lambs,” explained Hugh. Only replacement female lambs are retained on farm with the remainder finished.
“By finishing everything off grass we are producing less methane which is better for the environment. Farm subsidies are diminishing, and legislation is coming into play to help reduce climate change and our carbon footprint, so now is the time to start. The dairy industry has led this, and it is something we are extremely keen on, it is only a matter of time before other industries will follow,” said Hugh.
One way of doing this is utilising grass management better thereby getting the most out of the land at the Barony.
“By using more manure from the dairy enterprise, we are able to keep our fertiliser and fuel costs down,” explained Perry who is introducing a rotational grazing system with electric fences for management paddocks.
Grass should be 8-10cm long when moving sheep into a paddock, with the team planning rotating the sheep every 21 days to manage the grass. Three days of grazing and three weeks rest depending on the weather and the time of year.
“If we measure it, we can manage it, it is also a good way of getting students to learn and challenge education. Grass utilisation is key to all sheep farming but it is fundamental to organising the cheapest feed you have at your feet,” added Hugh.
“But at the end of the day the questions is: Why do we breed sheep? And for us the answer is simple, the market. The British population needs fed and lamb is still very popular but is the market changing?” asked Hugh.
“More and more people are looking for this all dancing “green” product that is locally produced and shouldn’t we aim to give them that?
“Consumer patterns change, Brexit is still a huge uncertainty so why shouldn’t the primary producer adapt to change?,” concluded Hugh and Perry.
Farm Facts
Livestock: Sheep enterprise: 150 Dorsets; 200 Highlanders; 500 Mule flock
Acreage: 400 owned, 350 rented
Involvement: Hugh McClymont along with full-time shepherd, Perry Parkinson.
On The Spot
Answered by Perry.
Best investment: Highlander ewes along with electric fencing!
If you could change one thing, what would it be?: To switch from all grass leys and add herbal leys into my rotation in order to maximise kg lamb/acre output.
Best advice: Don’t be afraid to try new things, that not everyone may agree with!
Where do you see yourself in 2035? Running a well renowned system that’s known across the country for its efficiency and figures along with sheep farmer of the year hopefully!!
Biggest achievement? Probably my degree back in 2015!
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