Hereford Times - 7th January 2016 - Page 52
Hereford Times - 7th January 2016 - Page 52
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| Date | 07/01/2016 |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Format | |
| Language | English |
| Area | Hereford Times |
| Collection Holder | |
| Date of Publication | 7th January 2016 |
| Transcription |
52 THE HEREFORD TIMES By Anita Howells A SAVVY Herefordshire farmer has plans to radi— cally tip the output per acre from his sheep crop. The solution comes in the form of the Abertield. It‘s a new breed from sheep breeding technology spe- cialists. Innovis. and com- bines the best genetics of the Blue Faced Leicester and the Texel. The efficient sheep will allow Frank Lloyd. who farms at Abbeydore. to in- crease his stocking density from four ewes per acre to up to five»and~a—half. The Aberfield is a low in- put. high output concept and for farmers who want to increase their profitabil- ity without cutting more costs it seems to be ideal. Attributes of ‘ the fast growing hybrid include a high growth rate purely from forage. a lambing per- centage of about 180 per cent, easy lambing. niilki~ ness and good feet. It's what Frank. who has become a breeding part- ner for Innovis, has been looking for. So last autumn 300 of his Suffolk ewes re- ceived pure bred Aberfield embryos. from an Aber- field ewe and ram. For Frank. who is not sub- sidy based and rents much of the 200 acres he farms, finding a way to increase his output without spend- ing more is vital and he is looking to the Aberfield as a replacement breed for his Suffolks. “Farmers need to get back to breeding for ge- netics. The Aberfields are low cost. They are not a big ewe but give a lambing percentage of around 180 per cent. Innovis is looking to sell them as a crossing breed rather than a meat breed." said Frank. who Thursday, January 7. 2016 FARMING MATTERS Frank Lloyd with some of ewes which were implanted with Aberfield embryos. likes the way Innovis has gone “back to the basics” with foraging ability a big consideration. The breed tested well in Mid Wales at altitudes of 1,000 feet above sea level. “When we are selecting breeding stock we need to be looking at breeding val- ues. Our cost of production at the moment, with our current system is £55 per lamb. With the Aberfield I’m expecting to get an other lamb per acre. At the moment I’m running four ewes to the acre but I‘m hoping to get five to five- his Suffolk “Designer sheep’ — an Aberfield ewe and lamb. and-a—half ewes per acre,” said Frank, who is looking at rotational grazing using electric fencing to manage feeding and maximise his flock’ s z:potential “There are a lot of things we can do. The Aberfield is not for everyone but it’s the concept. If you take noth- ing from Innovis at least they are selecting on traits rather than saying ‘she’s cheap’," he said. Frank is at the beginning of a new breeding pro‘ gramme with Innovis. At the end of October 600 six- day-old Aberfield embryos were implanted in 300 of his Suffolk ewes and the lambs are due at the end of February. “Innovis made the ram and ewe. My ewes had to be cycling at the same stage so we needed to do a lot of sponging. They are pure breds. The ewe lambs will be kept on my farm to create a nucleus flock and the tup lambs will go back to Innovis at weaning for sale. “After a couple of years there should be enough embryo born lambs for me to have a nucleus flock so herefordtimescom we can do natural service," explained Frank. Innovis founder and chief executive Dewi Jones, said work began on the new Ab- erfield breed in 2006 and is now a population within itself. He refers to it as a ‘prod- uct find' and there’s no breed society or flock book but a sophisticated genetic evaluation system and da- tabase. “It’ s a slightly different way of looking at sheep breeding. Its one of our product lines People will call it Aberfield and will refer to it as a breed. Every sheep in the population has individual breeding values. “Frank came into this originally because he was a customer using Aberfield crossbreeds. He was get— ting confident with the re- sults he was getting from a commercial point of view. “Frank has now come on' board as a breeding part- ner providing surrogate mothers He will keep the females and the rams will go back to Innovis. We re- peat that over three years so Frank has three age groups. After that he can self-replace but will still feed rams into Innovis.” l’ QUOTATIONS (“7 ERECTING THE BEST QUALITY FENCING AT COMPETATIVE PRICES ° 15 YEAR LIFE EXPECTANCY TREATED TIMBER INC PRESSURE CREOSOTE ° LOW GROUND PRESSURE TRACKED MACHINERY NATIONWIDE COVERAGE ’ POST & RAIL FENCING ‘ GATES, TIMBER OR GALVINISED ' FIELD SHELTERS / STABLES FREE» ngarth Bra dbury :2 Fencing Contractors Ltd O O 6 O O 01981 541385 | 07970 346460 WWW. GBFENCINGCONTRACTORS. COM garthbradburyfencing®hotrnail. com *Conditions apply, one coupon per iob,”can not; be used in! coniunctlon With any other offer .~,.... , CLOSED BOARD FENCING TREE GUARDS, TIMBER OR STEEL STEEL SECURITY FENCING ALL TYPES OF GARDEN FENCING FULLY INSURED NO JOB TOO SMALL ,".(~.\ '. |
| Newspaper name | Hereford Times |