Hardiness and longevity coupled with shape, carcase and skin, ensures an ideal breeding ewe which can be bred pure or crossed with any breed – that is exactly what Michael and Lillias Elliot at Woodside Farm, in Kelso are producing from their Suffolks.

As part of the Roxburgh Estate, Woodside totals some 460 acres which is home to 60 pure Suffolks and 680 North Country Cheviot ewes which are bred pure, with a further 55 tupped by a Bluefaced Leicester to produce 120 Cheviot Mules and a 100 Cheviots crossed to the Suffolk.

Second generation breeder Michael Elliot and his family took over the management of Woodside in May, 1989 and have had a connection with the Suffolk breed since the introduction of the farm’s first two females, which were kindly gifted to Michael’s father by Robert Brunton, of Primside. Having slowly built up flock numbers over the years, the breed certainly seems to have found a home at Woodside.

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“We find the Suffolk is as easy cared for as any other breed, which is exactly why they work for us. They have fantastic mothering abilities, as well as being easy lambed and produce a vigorous lamb that will go on and grow without any TLC,” said Michael.

“Our aim is to breed sheep with good hair and skins, whilst retaining conformation and good mouths – it’s all about correctness at the end of the day ... especially if your producing breeding stock,” added Lillias, who also works as a sales rep for Carrs Billington.

Michael and Lillias look to buy stock rams at the local Kelso Ram Sales or privately straight off the farm, and they have high standards when selecting a new terminal sire to introduce to the flock.

“You really can’t beat the Kelso Sales when it comes to looking for quality stock. You’ll struggle to find a better trade for tups as the sale attracts buyers from up and down the country,” Lillias explained.

“When we are buying in new stock rams, our standards are much the same as to that of our own home-bred tups.

“We are looking for good mouths, hair and skin, however, when I’m buying a Cheviot I do want something that has some show potential for the likes of the Royal Highland,” added Michael.

With quality always at the forefront, the couple invested in a Crumhaughhill ram purchased for £900 at Kelso in 2018 which has left vigorous lambs with good carcases and skins. Other notable rams have been bought from Skelfhill, Cookstead, Oxmuir and Rosedon.

Suffolk tups are put out with the females on September 5, with lambing kicking off indoors in the first week of February. Any ewes which fail to come to the tup in the first three weeks are then left to run with Cheviot rams.

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The remainder of the flock is lambed outdoors from April 1, onwards.

All pregnant ewes are provided energy buckets and silage to tie them over the winter, when grass is limited.

Woodside ewes are prolific too, with last year’s scanning percentages for the Suffolk flock coming in at 150%, whilst Cheviots scored 160%.

The Suffolk ewes are brought indoors on January 1 and are fed 1lb per head per day of Carrs Billington 18% Ewelac rolls, alongside Scotmins megastart ewe and lamb – the perfect combination for sufficient milk production in ewes, Michael said.

All lambs are tagged at birth for management purpose and injected with 1ml of Betamox as a preventative for watery mouth.

Hygiene is extremely important at Woodside, with pens bedded using Stockmax pine wood shavings which have proved to be better than straw.

“The pine shavings are fantastic as they works as a natural disinfectant, eliminating harmful bacteria such as E. Coli and E. faecium that can cause the likes of scour and watery mouth outbreaks in the shed. It’s also more durable and cost effective in the long run compared to buying straw,” Michael stated.

Post lambing, concentrates are upped to two pounds per head per day which is gradually reduced when ewes are released outdoors in mid-March.

Lambs are also introduced to creep feeding before heading outdoors, which is continued for a month following their release.

Suffolk lambs are weaned in June with the remainder of the lambs weaned in August .

Anything that does not make the breeding grade is marked for the store or fat ring, at Harrison and Hetherington’s St Boswells centre.

Looking back at last winter’s prime lamb records, the couple’s Suffolks-sired lambs cashed in at at £100 per head, weighing 43kg for 150 sold. The couple also sold 300 store lambs last year privately through United Auctions to average £73 per head.

Ewe and tup lambs kept for breeding in the Cheviot and Suffolk flocks are split, with the couple retaining around 16 Suffolk ewe lambs per year which run with the retained Cheviot ewe lambs that are sent away for wintering.

On their return to Woodside all ewe lambs are put onto a diet of ad lib hay and Solway Super Blend concentrate mix.

Tup lambs are housed indoors from September until they’re required for tupping the farm’s Cheviot Mules and bottom end Cheviot ewes.

Once used, they are brought back indoors and sent away to grazing at the end of March and brought back home in July. Tups are then fed a diet of beet pulp and Carrs Billington Scottish tup and lamb mix right up until they are ready to be sold at the Kelso Ram Sales, as shearlings.

Most years, Michael and Lillias sell 20 Suffolk shearling rams per year through Kelso Ram Sales, with only a handful heading to United Auctions’ Oban market in October.

Last year, the 2021 crop of shearlings sold to a top of £1600 and levelled at £963 for 20 sold.

Looking at the Cheviot enterprise, the business, 10 rams are destined for Lockerbie, with six headed for Lairg and the rest split between Oban and Dingwall.

It was the day of dreams for the couple last year as their rams reached heights of £8000 at Lockerbie, last year, to average £3050 for 10 sold. At Lairg, Michael and Lillias sold their best for £1800, to cash in at £1000 for six sold.

Females sold from the farm also achieve some impressive results, with 160 Suffolk cross ewe lambs selling to average £100 per head at five-months-old, whilst some 50 Cheviot ewe lambs balanced out at £135 through Lockerbie, last year. A further 216 were also sold privately for £92 per head.

Michael and Lillias also have time to attend and compete at both local and national shows with the help of their two daughters, Rachel (12) and Jessica (10).

“We have enjoyed some success with the Cheviots taking the breed championships at Kelso and the Royal Highland in years gone by. Another highlight would be winning The Scottish Farmer’s Cheviot ‘Champion of the Decade’ with a home-bred gimmer from 2015,” said Lillias.

Commenting on the some of the issues hill farmers are facing, Michael concluded: “Trees are a real concern for hill farmers like ourselves. I am slightly worried that people are getting hoodwinked into thinking that trees do a lot of good for our environment, but that is debatable. Blanket planting is a real worry and I don’t know how we’re going to stop it as it’s snowballing rapidly.

“In regards to hill farmers, age and the cost of living are two major influences when it comes to entertaining the idea of selling up to forestry companies – especially when farmers are being offered up to £8000 per acre – which is a no brainer for some folk. It would be a shame to see good farms lost to forestry.”

“Cross ewe lambs are coming back into fashion and that is where Suffolk-sired lambs have a huge influence as an alternative to the Mule and Texel cross ewes that have been the go-to choice in recent years.

“There will always be a strong place in the market for the Suffolk and we hope to still be producing the best that we can in years to come.”

FARM facts

Farm – Woodside totals some 460 acres which is home to 60 pure Suffolks and 680 pure North Country Cheviot ewes. Michael and Lillias Elliot moved into the farm in May, 1989.

Sheep – Some 55 of the Cheviots are tupped by a Bluefaced Leicester to produce around 120 Cheviot Mules, with a further 100 crossed to the Suffolk to produce fat lambs. The Suffolks are ran pure and produce females as well as males for sale at tup sales, in the back end of the year.

Tups – Suffolk tups are sold through Kelso Ram Sales and privately, with the Cheviots sold at Lairg and Lockerbie ram sales.

ON THE spot

Best investment? – Probably the quad bike and snacker!

Biggest achievement? – It has to be the last year's Lockerbie Cheviot tup sale, it was the day of dreams for us.

Favourite show to attend? – Definitely the Royal Highland as you meet people from all walks of life that you’ll only see at the event...and it’s an opportunity to socialise with friends.

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