Producing award-winning, good-priced pedigree and commercial sheep on a regular basis is never easy, but such achievements appear second nature to Robert Bryce, Chalmerston – despite having a full time job elsewhere.
No stranger in the winning enclosure at local and national events, Robert and his wife, Lynne, and daughters, Rebecca and Amy, have twice scooped the reserve commercial sheep honours at the Royal Highland in just four years of exhibiting at Ingliston.
Furthermore, they regularly take the top spot in the Suffolk lines while also lifting a few inter-breed awards at local shows.
Just last weekend, a home-bred Suffolk ewe from their 50-strong Chalmerston flock landed the breed honours and the inter-breed sheep title at Dunblane, to follow on from winning the breed championship at Gargunnock.
The family regularly enjoys success at its five local shows – Gargunnock, Drymen, Stirling, Dunblane and Perth – with home-bred Suffolk females and commercial sheep.
Their male counterparts, Suffolk, Texel, Beltex and cross-bred tups more than pay their way, too, when sold as shearling rams at United Auctions’ multi-breed sales. Most years, a good 90-plus are sold to average in excess of £800 per head.
This notable success has been achieved despite the fact that Robert is the national field support manager for the breeding company, Genus, which means he has a busy day job travelling up and down the country assisting various members of staff.
Meanwhile, Lynne is a district nurse for Doune and Callander; Rebecca is a veterinary nurse at Broadleys Veterinary Hospital, in Stirling; and youngest daughter, Amy, works for Clyde Vets two days a week with the V-Tech team while also studying rural business management at SRUC.
The sheep, though, are very much a team effort, with Amy having her own pedigree flock of 10 Beltex, which take the Brycey prefix. All help out at busy times and often before and after their 'day' jobs.
Whilst sheep and cropping are the main enterprises, in years gone by Chalmerston's 440 lowland acres on the Carse of Stirling, was home to Beef Shorthorn and Aberdeen-Angus herds managed by Robert’s late father, Tommy, and his sister, Betty Bryce, who still helps out on the farm.
In those days, the family also bought in cattle and were just as well known for producing show winning commercial stock at Smithfield and the old Winter Fair.
However, with insufficient work on the farm for two, Robert took on a full-time role in 1992 as as AI technician for the Scottish Milk Marketing Board, which was taken over by Genus in 1997. He may have worked his way up the ladder with Genus, but his love of the sheep, never took him far away from the farm.
His first breeding female was a pet Suffolk lamb gifted to him by Robert Graham, Airthrey Kerse, which was followed by three ewes from the same good home.
“I was always more interested in sheep and in Suffolks because my first were gifted to me by Robert Graham when I was seven years old. He showed me how to bring them out and how to dress them,” said Robert.
“Sheep are so much easier managed and they can be run outside, so there have been no cattle here for 20 years, apart from the two show calves the girls bought for Young Farmers events this year.”
Instead, the cattle have been replaced by 220 ewes made up of 50 pedigree Suffolks, 30 pure-bred unregistered Texels; 30 pure Beltex with the remainder made up of Beltex cross Suffolk ewes and Beltex cross Texel females.
Ironically, the first Texel was also gifted to Robert and Lynne as a wedding present some 27 years ago, with the flock originating from that one female.
Their Beltex enterprise has been built up from a handful of females, including good breeding ewes from the Brickrow, Smart Ass and Muirton flocks bought at Carlisle, and another two from the Procters dispersal.
“Buying a good, correct breeding ewe from a well-known flock is always a good investment because the genetics from her should help provide a sound basis,” said Robert, who has never bought in any Texel females and only a handful of Suffolk ewes.
Suffolk rams run with the pure ewes from August 1 through until September 3, for lambing inside in January. With so many shearling rams running in close proximity for the sales in the back end, he has found that the ewes don’t need to be sponged and readily come to the tup.
Scanned in September, any ewes that fail to hold, are then either run with Beltex or Texel rams for lambing from April 1, onwards alongside the remainder of the ewes.
Suffolk ewes normally produce 170% lamb crops, with the Texels at 200% and the Beltex at 150-170%. The aims is for all to produce replacement stock and breeding tups and females to sell either through United Auctions, Stirling, or privately. Those that don’t make the grade are sold finished, again through the local market at UA.
However, while the flocks are run together as one, the family has found that all require various levels of management.
“Our Beltex cross Suffolks are the best breeding females because they are so easy to work with due to the hybrid vigour. They’re not any smaller than our pure Suffolks and they have plenty milk with lambs that are quick to get up and sook. They’re also the most consistent breeders and tend to last the longest,” said Robert.
He pointed out that his Suffolk ewes also last well, always have plenty of milk and never have any bother with mastitis. However, the tups require to be are fed more than the Beltex, Texel and cross-bred rams, all of which are sold as shearlings.
“We have tried selling tup lambs here but we find the ground is too heavy and they can be more naturally done if they’re sold as shearlings. Normally, we would winter our tups outside, but last year, due to the wet weather, we were offered a shed nearby for the winter and they appear to have done just as well.”
Summered at home on grass, concentrate feeding is introduced six to eight weeks before the sales at Stirling where the Chalmerston consignments always attract a great trade.
Last year, the family’s pedigree Suffolks sold to £1300; pure Texels reached £1700; with the Beltex also hitting a high of £1700. Notably, the cross-bred rams sold just as well with three-quarter Beltex to £1100; Beltex crosses to £1000 while the three-quarter Suffolk cross Beltex were topped at £1300. More importantly, they mostly sell to regular customers.
The family aim to breed correct commercial-type sheep and tups that are not too extreme. “We’d always look to buy easy fleshing tups that are good on their legs with a good broad shoulder and a good back.
"Getting a good shoulder is the most difficult thing in all breeds these days – even in a Beltex. We also want a stock tup to have plenty length, size, a good back end and silky hair, even if is slightly brown.”
It’s a policy which is paying dividends, too, with no Caesarean sections over the past four years and only a select few up until then.
Suffolks lamb inside in January with the lambs introduced to creep feed at the end of the month before they are speaned at the end of March and put out to grass. This enables the shed to be completely cleaned out before the next batch of 160-180 Texel, Beltex and cross-bred ewes come inside to lamb on April 1.
As soon as these sheep have lambed, they're put into individual pens until the lambs are up suckled and are shipped back out to grass depending on the weather.
No creep is provided as the Carse grows phenomenal amounts of the green stuff during the summer, which makes breeding commercial sheep so much easier. Add in the right type of sheep, and the job is much easier.
“When we’re all working, the sheep have to relatively easy managed and they are,” concluded Robert.
Producing award-winning, good priced pedigree and commercial sheep on a regular basis is never easy yet such achievements appear second nature to Robert Bryce, Chalmerston ¬– despite having a full time job elsewhere.
No stranger to the winning enclosure at local and national events, Robert and his wife Lynne and daughters Amy and Rebecca, have twice scooped the reserve commercial sheep honours at the Royal Highland in just four years exhibiting at Ingliston. Furthermore, they regularly take the top spot in the Suffolk lines while also lifting a few inter-breed awards at local shows.
Just last weekend, a home-bred Suffolk ewe from their 50-strong Chalmerston flock landed the breed honours and the inter-breed sheep title at Dunblane, to follow on from winning the reserve supreme sheep at Gargunnock.
The family has also enjoyed huge success at Perth, Drymen and Stirling Shows over the years, mostly with home-bred Suffolk females but also with commercial sheep.
Their male counterparts, Texel, Beltex and cross-bred tups also more than pay their way when sold as shearling rams at United Auctions’ multi-breed sales, with in excess of 90 sold every year to average almost £1000 per head.
Such notable success has been achieved despite the fact Robert is the national field support manager for the breeding company Genus, which means he has a busy day job travelling up and down the country assisting various members of staff.
Meanwhile, Lynne is a district nurse for Doune and Callander; Amy works for Clyde Vets with the technical team and Rebecca is a veterinary nurse for Broadleys Veterinary Hospital, Stirling.
The sheep are nevertheless very much a team effort, with Amy having her own pedigree flock of Beltex which come under the Brycey prefix and all helping out at busy times, and often before work.
While sheep and cropping are the main enterprises now, in years gone by, Chalmerston, which comprises 440 lowland acres on the Carse of Stirling, was home to a Beef Shorthorn and Aberdeen-Angus herd managed by Robert’s late father and mother, Tommy and Marjorie Bryce.
In those days the family would also buy in calves to rear through to breeding females with the resultant progeny sold as stores. There was insufficient work on the farm for two then, with the result being Robert took on a full-time role as AI technician in 1992 for the Scottish Milk Marketing Board, which was taken over by Genus in 1997. However, while he has worked his way up the ladder with Genus, his love of the sheep, never took him far away from the farm.
His first breeding female was a pet Suffolk lamb, gifted to him by Robert Graham, Boquhan which was followed by three ewes from the same good home.
“I was always more interested in sheep and in Suffolks because my first were gifted to me by Robert Graham when I was seven years old. He showed me how to bring them out and how to dress them,” said Robert.
“Sheep are so much easier managed and they can be run outside, so there have been no cattle here for 20 years, apart from the two show calves the girls bought for Young Farmers events this year.”
Instead, the cattle have been replaced with 220 ewes made up of 50 pedigree Suffolks, 30 pure-bred unregistered Texels; 30 pedigree Beltex with the remainder made up of Beltex cross Suffolk ewes and Beltex cross Texel females.
Ironically, the first Texel was also gifted to Robert and Lynne as a wedding present some 27 years ago, with the flock originating from that one female. The Beltex enterprise has been built up from only a handful of females to include good breeding ewes the Brickrow and Muirton flocks at Carlisle, and another from Procters dispersal.
“Buying a good correct breeding ewe from a well-known flock, is always a good investment because the genetics from her should help provide a sound basis,” said Robert who has not bought in any Suffolk or Texel females.
Suffolk rams run with the pure ewes from August 1 through until September 3, for lambing inside in January. With so many shearling rams running in other fields for the sales in the back end, he has found that the ewes don’t need to be sponged as they readily come to the tup.
Scanned in September, any ewes that fail to hold, are then either run with Beltex or Texel rams for lambing from April 1, onwards alongside the remainder of the ewes.
Suffolk ewes normally produce 170% lamb crops with the Texels at 200% and the Beltex at 150-170%, with all bred to produce replacement stock and breeding tups and females to sell either through United Auctions, Stirling, or privately. Those that don’t make the grade are sold finished, again through their local market at UA.
However, while the flocks are run together as one, the family has found that all require various levels of management.
“Our Beltex cross Suffolks are the best breeding females because they are so easy to work with due to the hybrid vigour. They’re not any smaller than our pure Suffolk ewes and they have plenty milk with lambs that are quick to get up and sook. They’re also the most consistent breeders and tend to last the longest,” said Robert.
He added that his Suffolk ewes also last well, always have plenty of milk and never have any bother with mastitis, however, as tups they are fed more than the Beltex, Texel and cross-bred rams all of which are sold as shearlings.
“We have tried selling tup lambs here but we find the ground is too heavy and they can be more naturally done if they’re sold as shearlings. Normally we would winter our tups outside, but last year we were offered a shed nearby for the winter and they appear to have done just as well.”
Summered at home on grass, concentrate feeding is introduced six to eight weeks before the sales at Stirling which always attract a great trade for all breeds and crosses.
Last year, the family’s pedigree Suffolks sold to £1300; pure Texels reached £1700 and their pedigree Beltex hit £1300. Notably, the cross-bred rams sold just as well with three-quarter Beltex to £1100; Beltex crosses to £1000 with the three-quarter Suffolk cross Beltex topped at £1300. More importantly, they mostly sell to regular customers.
The family do however look to breed easy fleshing, more commercial-type sheep and tups that are not too extreme.
“We’d always look to buy easy fleshing tups that are good on their legs with a good broad shoulder and a good back. Getting a good shoulder is the most difficult thing in all breeds these days – even in a Beltex. We also want a stock tup to have plenty length, size, a good back end and silky hair, even if is slightly brown.”
It’s a policy which is paying dividends too, with no caesarean sections over the past four years and only a select few up until then.
Suffolks lamb inside in January with the lambs introduced to creep feed at the end of the month before they are speaned at the end of March and put out to grass.
This enables the shed to be completely cleaned out before the next batch of 160-180 Texel, Beltex and cross-bred ewes come inside to lamb on April 1. As soon as these sheep have given birth they are put into individual pens until the lambs are up suckled and bonded and are shipped back out to grass depending on the weather.
No creep feeding is provided to the lambs when the Carse grows phenomenal amounts of the green stuff during the summer which makes breeding and selling commercial sheep so much easier.
You only have to take a look at the Chalmerston sheep at shows and sales ¬ - fit, naturally easy fleshed and full of character. What more could you ask for in any breed or type of sheep.
“When we’re all working, the sheep have to relatively easy managed and they are,” concluded Robert.
Farm Facts
Family farm: Robert and Lynne Bryce and daughters Rebecca and Amy who all help out with the sheep.
Farm enterprises: 220 breeding ewes made up of 50 pedigree Suffolks; 30 unregistered Texels; 30 Beltex with the remainder made up of cross-breds of all three breeds. Winter wheat, spring barley hay grown and sold as standing crops.
Livestock sales: 90 plus MV accredited shearling rams either through UA Stirling or privately and 30-40 gimmers.
Show success: Two times reserve commercial at the Royal Highland in four years exhibiting; regular Suffolk champion at local shows.
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