Page 131 - Beltex Year Book 2024

129
number of these early lambs which might be sold deadweight
to specific customers who request them but for everything else
it is the auctions in Carlisle, Wigton and further afield in Kirkby
Stephen.
"The earliest lambs will finish at about 12 weeks and we will
have these regularly away at 37kg and up to 42kg. The bulk of
our lambs however are just finished off grass which has been
set aside for the sheep."
Cardew Hall Beltex-sired lambs are often over the £200 mark
and have been up to £220 or more in 2023 before the trade rose
to new heights. In 2022, Mr Musgrave took the championship
in Kirkby Stephen with 40kg lambs selling at 675p per kg to
gross £270 bringing that day's run to level at just under £200.
There are normally 16 to 20 rams on the farm and these are used
on consecutive small batches of the synchronised ewes to
maximise conception rates.
However, in order to evaluate all the rams, colour markings are
co-ordinated with the group of ewes they are used on and plain
coloured eartags might be used as identifiers on the lambs they
produce whether destined for prime or replacements.
Mr Musgrave says: "We need to know which tups are producing
the best lambs and trouble-free lambing, so the first time I use
a new tup he just gets consecutive groups of seven. If he
produces the goods then next season he can go with larger
batches and often alongside another tup which has been
similarly proven."
He also points out that by running tups with smaller batches,
and them having breaks in between to stagger lambing, he can
often get 80 or more in lamb to any one tup in a year, so
spreading its cost.
"I have always tried to buy replacement Beltex tups privately
from flocks such as James Little's Skiddaw View flock and Grant
Anderson's Topflite, to name two. I buy on what I see and feel in
front of me. I like power and a good front and back-end and they
must have hard muscle on the back-end.
“Length is also important but I don't mind a slightly shorter tup
provided it does have that hard muscle. It is just a matter of
matching them onto ewes with good length. And of course, I
don't want wool so the less they have the better and the same
goes for the ewes really.
"The other point about buying tups privately if I can, is that they
tend not to have been fed too hard as some inevitably are for
the breeding sales," he says.
General management of the flock involves regular footbathing
and dosing where necessary. Retained gimmer lambs are all on
the Heptavac system. Ewes are housed about two weeks before
lambing, having had an energy lick while at grass, but do not
get hard feed until after lambing. After turnout, they are fed a
mix of ewe nuts and home-grown barley. The early lambs which
have creep get starter pellets for four to six weeks and then
finisher pellets mixed with barley.
Mr Musgrave says: "For us it's a system that works and we see
no reason to change what we are doing or the breed we are
using."
Copy and photographs kindly supplied by Farmers Guardian
BELTEX RAMS ARE KEY TO PROFITABILITY