Welcome to Beili Ficer croeso i Beili Ficer Farm Tour 2013 TaiTh FFerm

Welcome to Beili Ficer
croeso i Beili Ficer
Farm Tour 2013 TaiTh FFerm
10am—4pm
10yb—4yp
Come and see For yourselF...
dewCh i weld eiCh hunan...

Hello, Welcome to our Farm
Helo, a cHroeso i ein fferm
during the tour you’ll have the opportunity to see
the sheep enterprise we’re establishing. you’ll
also see some of the drilling and reseeding work
we’re undertaking with grass and forage, to get
the most from the genetics we’re using.
we’re passionate about sheep, which is why
we’re working with innovis and the latest proven
technology to help achieve our goals. we want
to farm in the black, maintain a high health
flock, and develop a profitable farming business
should our three-year old son, harri choose to
farm in the future.
we hope what you see will be of interest, but
most importantly we hope you enjoy your time
with us here today
Fact File
255 lFa acres on a 10yr tenancy since 2010
150 lFa acres additional rented acquired in 2012
20 acres owner occupied in Tir Gofal
current enterprise
1,100 ewes inc
• 450 aberdale crossbreds
• 650 mules, Texel cross mules
500 ewes implanted with embryos to develop
an aberfield nucleus flock
Yn ystod y daith byddwch yn cael y cyfle i weld
y fenter ddefaid rydym yn sefydlu. Byddwch
hefyd yn gweld rhywfaint o waith drilio ac
ail-hadu yr ydym yn ei wneud ar laswellt a
phorthiant, er mwyn cael y gorau o’r defaid
rydym yn ei ddefnyddio.
Rydym yn frwdfrydig am ddefaid, a dyna pam
yr ydym yn gweithio gyda Innovis a’r dechnoleg
brofedig ddiweddaraf i helpu cyflawni ein
nodau. Rydym am ffermio yn llwyddiannus gan
gynnal diadell o safon iechyd uchel. Hoffwn
ddatblygu’r busnes ffermio i fod yn broffidiol, a
fydd yn elwa ein mab Harri sydd yn dair blwydd
oed, os mi fydd yn dewis ffermio yn y dyfodol.
Rydym yn gobeithio y bydd yr hyn yr ydych yn ei
weld o ddiddordeb .
Mwynhewch eich amser gyda ni yma heddiw.
Sion a Claire
2016 targeted enterprise
1,500 ewes inc
• 800 aberfield
• 700 aberdale crossbreds
our sHeeP eNterPrise
when we took on the farm we stocked it with mules and Texel X mules which have
done us proud to date. however for some time we have researched the performance
of aberdale crossbred ewes for their natural ability to produce more from less, so in
2010 we bought in 45 aberdale crossbreds to see how they would work here. in 2011
they scanned at 200% having been held on our poorest ground rather than flushing,
enabling us to free up the reseeds for lamb finishing and producing a better quality
finished lamb.
with the opportunity to rent more land we expanded the aberdale flock as we like the
fact we can maintain a high output of finished lamb from a relatively small ewe which
will be cheaper to keep. last year many yearling aberdale crossbreds that weighed
between 60kg and 65kg weaned around 80kg of lamb which demonstrates the
potential efficiency of an aberdale flock.
we now have 450 aberdale crossbreds currently rearing 194% lambs and a further
100 surplus pet lambs have been sold on for a decent price so our lamb losses from
scanning to date are only 5%, so high prolificacy doesn’t necessarily mean high losses.
we’ve found they will tup on poor ground, maintain their body condition throughout
winter, and they are excellent mothers and nearly all go out with two lambs. lambing
has been without issues and lambs lively and up and sucking. what’s more the ewes
and lambs have proved to be good forage converters.
Through innovis the replacement ewe lambs are sourced from a producer flock of
improved welsh mountain ewes the other side of llangadog and we value the fact we
can maintain a consistent supply of ewe lambs from a known high health status flock
buying direct off farm from a trusted source.
Above: Aberdale ewes with Charollais sired lambs

tHe Farm tour
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Direct Drilling Demo
ABERDALE Welsh ewes with twin
CHARROLAIS lambs
MULE recipient ewes with single
ABERFIELD Lambs
INFO STOP: Sheep Enterprise
MULE recipient ewes with twin
ABERFIELD Lambs
Reseeded Autumn 2011
5 Yr Ley: Ultra-Lamb
MULE X TEXEL ewes with ABERMAX
Lambs and MULES with TEXEL lambs
(April born as repeats to ET)
Reseeded Autumn 2011
3 yr Ley: Hybrid 3X3 Pro-Nitro
INFO STOP: Grassland Improvement
Reseeded Autumn 2011
Long Term Ley: Preference LT+ Puna
Welsh Sheep Dog Demo
Key
Demonstrations
Information
Sheep
Grasslands
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8
7
4
3
5
9
6
8
2
10
2
10
START
10
11
1
PEdESTRIAN
AccESS
BEIlI FIcER

our termiNal sires
we are firm believers in performance recorded
stock and therefore the rams we have used
over the aberdale ewes this year are high index
Charollais rams. rams selected with good head
cover have combined well with the ewes to
produce lambs with good length and muscling.
last year we tried some innovis abermax
rams over the Texel X mule ewes that repeated
after the embryo transfer program and we
will evaluate how these performed with the
electronic kill data we will receive back from the
abattoir via the welsh TaG scheme.
DeVeloPiNG aN aBerFielD multiPlier FlocK
since moving here we have established a good
working relationship with innovis and we were
delighted to be invited to develop a multiplier
flock of aberfield genetics. This new venture will
introduce an element of security as we have a
contracted agreement which secures the price
for the best rams that we will sell back to innovis.
last autumn 500 of our mule and
Texel cross ewes were implanted with 900
aberfield embryos from innovis’ elite nucleus
in aberystwyth. The first crop have proved to
be big, strong lambs and very lively at birth.
we have been fortunate to have eid reading
and electronic weighing equipment funded
through the TaG project and the agreement
is that the flock will be fully recorded to innovis
specifications. The best of the ewe lambs will
be retained to establish a flock of 800 aberfield
ewes over the next 3 years and some of the
highest performing rams from innovis elite
nucleus will be used as stock sires here.
aberfield is the new composite maternal
crossing sire from innovis and the rams will be
sold by innovis to produce aberfield crossbred
sheep which will be similar to the aberdale
Above: Innovis Abermax rams
crossbreds but they don’t have the prolificacy
gene and suit farmers that haven’t got poorer
ground or a system that’s geared towards non-
flushing.
we have the chance to feedback how the
sheep are doing – the good and the bad, and
hopefully this collaboration will benefit both
parties achieve their goals.
Above: Aberfileld nucleus lamb
our Grass aND ForaGe strateGies
to oPtimiZe ProDuctioN
the Welsh Government’s Young entrant
support scheme (Yess) included a grant
towards soil sampling and reseeding 75 acres
with a high sugar perennial ryegrass, clover
and chicory mix which we use for rotational
grazing ewes and lambs.
we use Charlie morgan, Grassmaster for
forage and reseeding advice and the seed
mixes we have used have been supplied by
Field options. The tour map indicates where
the different seed mixes have been used. our
aim is to produce a high output of finished
lamb off the farm as efficiently as possible and
there’s no point having the sheep that can
do it unless they are fed properly so grassland
management is vital to us.
although we do use some creep feed on
our crossbred twin lambs to ensure we do hit the
market before prices drop, the more we can
achieve out of forage the better. Feed is very
much a supplement not a substitute for grass in
our system.
Direct DrilliNG DemoNstratioN
in one of the adjacent fields to the tour you will see a direct drilling demonstration by oliver
seeds who will be running two different seed drills. To see the demonstration in more detail you
can walk up to the field via the small paddock behind the house where the seminars are held.
The seed mix being planted is Typhoon. This is specifically for overseeding and contains hybrid
ryegrasses, the advanced hybrid ryegrass lofa, and a new intermediate perennial ryegrass
called solomon, all from oliver seeds.
we are members of the princes’ Trust lamb supply Group for young entrants which gives us
access to consultancy and benchmarking. we are also members of the sainsburys lamb
development Group in wales.

ForaGe BreD—
PerFormaNce leD
if you would like to learn more about innovis sheep please visit
the stand inside the main building or contact us in aberystwyth
on: 01970 828 236 or visit: www.innovis.org.uk
thanks from sion and claire
we would like to thank everyone who has helped put this tour together including
the members of the working committee, stewards and tractor drivers organised by
dyffryn Cothi yFC, arwels agri services for supplying the tractors, portequip & Frank
sutton ltd. for supplying the trailers, innovis for organising the tour and for printing
the tour leaflet, Charlie morgan, Grassmaster and Francis dunne Field options for
sharing speaking duties at the grassland stop, oliver seeds for the direct drilling
demo, dewi Jones, innovis as speaker on the sheep stop, Jacobi brewery for the
refreshments and our landlords alfor & elwyn Thomas.
charlie morgan Grassmaster ltd.
charliemorgan462@btinternet.com
m: 07786 397 673
T: 01558 650 614
www.arwelagri.co.uk
T: 01671 402 775
sales@portequip.co.uk
T: 01544 262 500
www.field-options.co.uk
T: 01974 261 388
m: 07801 459 624
T: 01291 690442
www.franksutton.co.uk
INNOVIS
BREEDING INNOVATION
www.INNOVIS.ORG.uK