Over in the Argyllshire hills overlooking the isles of Luing and Seil is maybe the last place you would expect to see the traditional silhouette of Perth-style Blackface sheep but at Clachan Farm in Kilninver, you won’t find anything else.
This is where you will find Colin MacFadyen, along with his veterinary assistant wife Jo, and their two children Abi who has just gone into primary 6, and Archie who’s just gone into primary 1.
Colin and his family moved to Clachan Farm eight years ago to start their own farming dream. Colin, who had grown up just over the hill at his father Angus’ farm at Bragleenmore, had been working as a digger contractor until 2010 when he got the chance to go to New Zealand. There, along with his wife Jo, Colin got the opportunity to work as an agri contractor whilst Jo worked on a Dairy farm.
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Regrettably, they returned to Scotland where Colin did digger work and fortunately, the contract for Clachan came up.
Originally owned by the Cadzow brothers of Luing fame, Clachan Farm is now estate owned and contracted by Rory Young who was looking for someone to manage the site as he was based on a different farm and couldn’t operate both.
Since then, Colin has managed the 433ha hill farm which is home to 530 stock ewes and 22 tups. With his father being a southie man it might seem unexpected for Colin to take on north-type Blackies so readily. But it was one of the clauses outlined in the contract to keep the bloodlines pure.
“The previous owner had a preference for big tups and the sheep here have bloodlines that trace back to Luing.”
Having to embrace the Perth-type has only highlighted how well the breed does on this type of terrain.
“This ground only really benefits blackies, the ewes are just designed for it.”
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With the business run on a commercial basis, all sheep are sold at Dalmally with ewes kept for a maximum of five years so they get the best prices for them when they go to market. Colin only breeds replacement females so any older ewes that aren’t in lamb are sold.
“To try and get the best price at market we sell aged ewes at five years old. This enables the farm to have a consistent turnover.”
The ewes at Clachan are exclusively grass-fed with Colin only feeding the tups pre-tupping and the tup lambs their first winter.
Having them outside increases the profit margins with the sheep naturally grazing the land given to them and Colin avoiding a lengthy feed bill.
“The good coat and carcase on the Perth-type certainly help when there is limited shelter, and in a commercial flock you need carcase.”
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He has a preference for a finer coat than the traditional thick wool one would usually associate with the northies.
“A lot of people don’t like those thick coats because of problems with fly strikes but now most of the Perth breeders have updated their sheep and it isn’t nearly as common as people think.”
Another controversial topic is the horns which Colin regards as being unnecessary.
“Sometimes they can be too close to the face and will need to be removed, I would rather have tups with natural horns facing out so I don’t have to do anything to them. Horns don’t make any difference to the end product.”
Colin has 22 tups with half being homebred and the rest bought in. “I try to buy two to three tups every year to keep the bloodlines fresh.”
His big investments include a £1000 shearling from Hillhead of Morinsh and a Calla tup lamb for the same price.
“I do really like what the Shearers are doing up at Hillhead, I’ve bought one from them almost every year.”
At tupping time ewes are broken into groups and the first get put with two tups and one lamb per 100 ewes and the second are put with two home-bred lambs and one tup to 100 ewes. All the older ewes in their last year are bred to Texel tups to increase their commercial value.
Colin has never used AI and all his ewes are naturally tupped. Ewes are speaned to higher, rougher hill ground and then brought onto the lower greener grass pre-tupping and they take to it much better.
This year his ewes scanned at 146% but it can be anything from 135 – 150% and they start lambing on April 1. As expected all lambing is done outside and with very little interference.
“At the start of lambing, I usually check them once in the morning and once at night to see if any of them are having difficulties.”
Anything with twins stays on the lower ground so the family can keep an eye on them. Naturally, with two kids in the house, the biggest joy comes from the pet lambs.
“Abi loves looking after all the pet lambs and giving them all good names, we’ve still kept the first one she looked after here so she must be doing something right.”
Naturally being on the West Coast Sea Eagles are a big problem.
"We are part of the Sea Eagle Management Scheme through Naturescot to try and reduce and remove the predation of stock through key times of year in spring and summer. We try and achieve this by improving ground conditions which ultimately helps improve stock health, along with scaring measures supplied through Naturescot. It helps keep the damage to a minimum but by no means is the complete solution because we still suffer losses"
Everything is wintered at home with only the cattle getting hay pre-calving which is bought in from December to April due to the ground not being suitable for silage. Colin has also invested in 800 tonnes of lime to improve the soil.
“We had soil samples done because we couldn’t understand why the sheep wouldn’t stay in certain fields. We now put lime on in four-year cycles to improve PH levels.”
Clachan farm is also home to pedigree Luings that trace back to the original Cadzow Luing herd. They are bred to replace and then ultimately sold at the market in Oban.
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“Under contract, if the cows aren’t in calf they will get sold, even a heifer we don’t operate with second chances.”
The cattle much like the sheep stay outside for most of their lives but do get fed hay and concentrate over the winter. Colin used to feed them draff but now the prices have gone up it is more economical to feed concentrates
Currently, Colin is trying to cut the bracken to get more use out of the rougher ground. Last year he had success spraying it but now that Scotland no longer approves the use of the herbicide Asulam he is unsure what his other options are.
“This isn’t a problem unique to us, this spraying ban is affecting everyone and useable ground is being lost because of it.”
Due to Clachan Farms estate wanting to be economical, 77ha of ground has already been removed from agricultural for woodland creation to the planting of trees with further permissions for the rest of the land to be covered in forest as a fallback if subsidies change and farming becomes unsustainable and unprofitable.
When asked about the future Colin has hopes of making a name for Clachan, especially amongst Perth-type breeders.
“I’d like to sell pedigree tup lambs at the Stirling sale hopefully in the future.”
Ultimately at Clachan, it is about letting the animals do what they would naturally do.
“The sheep look after themselves they are designed to be independent on these hills. I don’t do much to them just try and keep it as simple as possible.”
Farm Facts:
Farm size – 433ha and 0-300ft above sea level
Number of Stock – 530 Sheep and 35 Cattle
Scanning percentage – 146% but usually between 135 – 150%
Prices for sheep at Dalmally - Average breeding stock £72 this year. Store lambs £63
Prices for cattle at Oban - Average £700
Who is all involved – Colin, Jo, Abi and Archie, plus help from Angus (dad) and Allan (brother)
On the spot:
Biggest Investment -Lime and fencing
Biggest regret – Not travelling more together before settling down.
Best advice - Follow your gut instinct.
One thing you couldn’t live without - Dogs
Where do you see yourselves in 10 years - Still farming.
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