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

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