There can be few more productive breeding sheep than the Mule, which not only has the ability to produce weaned lambing percentages of 180+% but can also yield progeny that will finish from 11 weeks of age, solely off grass when crossed to a Suffolk.
While much of this high productivity can be linked to farm management, it is bolstered by the unique hybrid vigour from the Bluefaced Leicester in the Mule, which in trials has been shown to produce colostrum of 14% higher quality than any other breed or cross.
In doing so, this superior first milk transfers increased immunity to the new born lamb, thereby improving the growth rates, life-long disease resistance and longevity of the Mule and her progeny.
Add on a recorded Suffolk terminal sire, and performance rates of the resultant lambs bred from the Mule have been shown to be 20% higher than those from a pure-bred system, purely as a result of the unrivalled hybrid vigour from the Bluefaced Leicester ram over a Blackface or Swaledale ewe.
According to Donagh Berry, quantitative geneticist and senior principal research officer at Teagasc, Ireland’s Agriculture and Food Development Authority, there are huge advantages to using breeds that are furthest related in history.
“Hybrid vigour tends to be greater for traits associated with viability and functionality. The greater the genetic distance between parental breeds (as shown in the diagram on page 32), the greater the expected hybrid vigour. The benefit of hybrid vigour can be multiplicative if both the dam and the progeny are cross-bred.”
As a result, he pointed out that there is more hybrid vigour in a Mule compared to a Texel cross Mule purely because the genes have not been diluted as much.
Such hybrid vigour works a treat in the UK’s unique stratification system and is certainly paying dividends for Derek Hall, who runs Blackface ewes, Scotch Mules, Bluefaced Leicesters and a small flock of Suffolks at Upper Firth and Auchendinny Mains, Penicuik.
Furthermore, while the system is extremely efficient and produces some of the lowest methane lamb, it also keeps the countryside and rural communities alive by supporting large numbers of individual, local businesses.
It’s a topic Derek is passionate about, when his stratified sheep system not only makes money for him and his wife Diane and their two sons, Andrew and David, but also helps support another 30 local businesses.
“The higher the output, the greater the profitability and that’s what you get with UK’s stratification system. By putting a Bluefaced Leicester onto a pure hill breed of sheep, the resultant cross female (Mule) will produce the highest numbers of lambs and yields of meat when crossed to a native terminal sire. This cross is so important to upland sheep farmers who are vital in protecting our rural infrastructure which is currently at huge risk from blanket forestry that does nothing for wildlife or the countryside.
“We need to protect our native sheep breeds and the cross-bred females from the Bluefaced Leicester when the hybrid vigour from these sheep is cumulatively worth an additional 20% based on the increased milking ability, longevity, disease resistance and growth rates,” said Derek, adding that such improved levels of efficiency also reduce methane emissions.
He also hit out at Quality Meat Scotland which appears to be more interested in promoting the composite breeds that do not produce the same levels of productivity, compared to this valuable native sheep breeding process.
“We have always looked for maximum output from our hill sheep and you’ll not get higher than that produced from a Mule which on our system yields scanning percentages of around 200%, and Suffolk cross lambs that kill out at 20kg with R3L carcase grades solely off grass.
“We lamb our Mules from the end of March onwards, inside for ease of management, and all our lambs are away by the end of October without any concentrate feeding, thereby producing finished lambs with the lowest levels of emissions.”
He also highlighted the high health status of the Scotch Mule, which he said can come from maedi visnae monitored flocks by blood testing a proportion of a ewe flock, as well as from OPA-tested flocks.
“Our sheep are on the Heptavac P system, but they’re also vaccinated for enzootic abortion and Johnes and we MV monitor, so mortality here is down to 3.6% and less than 5% of the ewes take mastitis.”
With the business confined to 380acres split over two properties, Blackface ewe lambs are bought in privately from Ian Campbell, Glenrath, to breed Scotch Mules which are crossed mostly to home-bred Firth Bluefaced Leicester ram lambs to breed Scotch Mule ewe lambs for the main breeding sale at United Auctions, Stirling.
Up to 130 of these Scotch Mule ewe lambs are retained every year and tupped to either home-bred Suffolk ram lambs, or recorded tups, which up until recently had been bought from Sandyknowe, or John Elliot, Roxburgh Mains. Such rams are selected for their high growth rates and muscle to ensure early finished lamb sold deadweight.
The best of the Suffolk cross ewe lambs are sold privately for breeding to Dougie Runciman, Lauder.
Suffolk cross lambs are also proving popular in taste testings, which have highlighted the superior succulence, flavour, tenderness, aroma and appearance of the Suffolk compared to Charollais and Texel cross lambs.
Key findings revealed that Suffolk cross lamb was the preferred choice of 70% of the sample at these Ulster University testings, with the meat scoring the highest of all attributes. See graphs below.
These new, exciting results are the icing on the cake for the Suffolk sheep breed, which is already renowned for boasting the highest daily liveweight gains of all sheep breeds, and therefore have the potential to take it and its cross-bred progeny to the next level.
Barrie Turner, chief executive of the Suffolk Sheep Society said: “We are working through some logical steps that will be of great interest to the supply chain from the farmer to the consumer by taking that ‘Suffolk advantage’ to the market. This follows the proven trend in the beef, pork and chicken markets that bases consumption on a very consistent product in size, shape, taste and texture that promotes repeat purchase of lamb – exactly what the Suffolk has been shown to produce,” said Barrie.
Just goes to show you that there is so much potential in all of our native breeds from the top of the hill, right down to lower grassland fields, which combined with the improved genetic hybrid vigour of the Bluefaced Leicester in breeding cross-bred females, will improve levels of efficiency and reduce methane emissions, with little if any effort.
* The Royal Veterinary College of London has recently embarked on a study to evaluate the potential differences between Mules and lowground cross-breds. The work is very much at an early stage, but it has already thrown up some interesting points that tend to back up the benefits of the first cross, Mule ewe.
Farm Facts
Farm size: 154ha
Flock numbers: 80 Bluefaced Leicesters, 10 Suffolk ewes, 420 Blackfaces, 500 Mules, 300 hoggs.
Lambing: All inside early March onwards with Blues scanning at 190%; Mules at 200% and Blackfaces at 150%.
On The Spot
Best investment? Quad bike and snacker.
Best breeding Bluefaced Leicester tup used? Midlock Controversy – one of the most dominant sires of his time.
Biggest achievement? Becoming a full time farmer.
What did you learn most about being an area director for the Royal Bank of Scotland? Talk doesn’t pay the bills!
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