Why did the romney never take off in the u,k?

$Sheep

Member
Location
New Zealand
Why did the Romney never take off in the UK?
The widespread adoption by commercial farmers of any sheep breed will occur only if they are satisfied that the virtues of the breed will deliver a positive return, in most cases this is represented as profit from the sale of production output namely lamb and wool. The virtues are made known by a variety of methods such as word-of-mouth, field days and seminars, advertising and other marketing campaigns.

The other critical aspect I would suggest is that not many years ago the traditional stratification of the UK sheep industry supported a viewpoint as to the type of or breed of sheep suited for a particular area hence the continued proliferation and support of local breeds or their crosses. This strength however was also a weakness in that there would have been great reluctance to break away from this structure so limiting a farmer from doing something different.

The Romney Marsh as a sheep breed in the context described above would have been perceived as being suitable only in its local area. Whilst the Romney proved very suitable and adaptable in NZ across all types of terrain and climate this did not mean a great deal back in the UK.

Nowadays in the UK it can be seen that some farmers are willing to break away from the traditional mould and are adapting or refreshing their ideas as to the type of sheep that would best perform for them. With this change in mindset the Romney may well become a breed that will be adopted by more farmers once its virtues are better known. The farmers who have adopted the Romney (or any other breed) as the breed of choice in those areas away from where they originated and have done well will become beacons that other farmers will follow.
 

JD-Kid

Member
thinking about it the rom only realy took off in NZ in a major way there were other breeds merino's and 1/2 breeds as well in large numbers years ago tho from a breeding flock point of view rom or rom crosses would be the main stay here tho
 

W Sawday

Member
Location
Hay- On- Wye
I wouldn't call them slow growing, though obviously not up to Charollais standards ;)
Weigh like lead though and frequently surprise me as they come through the weigh crate.

I'd also point out they can be as prolific as you want them to be. The late Richard Chantler bred a very prolific strain of NZ Romney - to the extent I heard people complaining they were too much so, scanning well over 200%. I think they've eased off on this now - Penny and the boys continuing the good work. Perhaps @W Sawday could add something if he still looks in here.

I cant remember having a 200% scanning. We have always been in the region of 185%. However we have brought the % down a bit in recent years. We lamb everything outside and all ewes that have triplets have to rear triplets or one lamb gets sold to a mate down the road with a milk machine (or bopped on the head) and the ewe will get culled.
 

Pasty

Member
Location
Devon
Why did the Romney never take off in the UK?
The widespread adoption by commercial farmers of any sheep breed will occur only if they are satisfied that the virtues of the breed will deliver a positive return, in most cases this is represented as profit from the sale of production output namely lamb and wool. The virtues are made known by a variety of methods such as word-of-mouth, field days and seminars, advertising and other marketing campaigns.

The other critical aspect I would suggest is that not many years ago the traditional stratification of the UK sheep industry supported a viewpoint as to the type of or breed of sheep suited for a particular area hence the continued proliferation and support of local breeds or their crosses. This strength however was also a weakness in that there would have been great reluctance to break away from this structure so limiting a farmer from doing something different.

The Romney Marsh as a sheep breed in the context described above would have been perceived as being suitable only in its local area. Whilst the Romney proved very suitable and adaptable in NZ across all types of terrain and climate this did not mean a great deal back in the UK.

Nowadays in the UK it can be seen that some farmers are willing to break away from the traditional mould and are adapting or refreshing their ideas as to the type of sheep that would best perform for them. With this change in mindset the Romney may well become a breed that will be adopted by more farmers once its virtues are better known. The farmers who have adopted the Romney (or any other breed) as the breed of choice in those areas away from where they originated and have done well will become beacons that other farmers will follow.

I've been following this thread with interest. As somebody looking to get into sheep I've been probing my farmer mates with questions over breeds / management etc. I had heard of Romneys I think from the Eversfield website where we buy most of our meat from. They run them (or used to if they don't now). I had sort of discounted them as I'm looking at shedders but this thread has caught my eye. Interestingly, out of I think 6 sheep men I have spoken too, only 2 of them had heard of the breed and one of them was vague. I find this amazing but maybe proves your point. As a poultry man, I doubt there is a breed in the UK I haven't heard of and can have a stab at describing. Certainly not a mainstream commercial one.

I suspect the average UK farmer is knocking on 70 and can't be arsed with changing what they know and that's understandable. Maybe 'the boy' or 'the girl' has a few Romneys on the go out the back.
 
What was there before the Romney ? nothing ?
The 1st sheep were Merinos, which struggled in the wet, when refrigerated transport became available these were crossed with Lincolnshire and Leisters, these sheep while better struggled on the recently cleared land with poor grass and burnt Stumps. The Romney was the next ( and only) cab off the rank. There was really little other choice.
 
The introduction of the Romney into the NZ flock gave rise to the term "Crossbred" which is still used to this day to describe strong wools typified by the Romney style. The Romney breed in NZ gradually became less productive and more difficult to manage through the mid 1900s so that crossing with other breeds such as the Border L was very common. The age of show ribbons ruled. This coincided with hill soil development via aerial topdressing post WW2 which grew the NZ flock to around 60 million.
During the mid 1960s maverick Romney breeders questioned the direction ram breeders were leading the industry, especially the rising reqirement for labour and health inputs. The first cab off the rank was the NZ Romney Development Group in 1966 (which I became a member in 1984) followed soon after by the Wairarapa Romney improvement Group (Wairere is a member of this group) and Romney derived breeds such as the Coopworth (Rom x BL) and the Perendale (Rom x Sth Country Cheviot). The new generation of breeders armed with performance recording and a desire to return the sheep to having the ease of birthing, increased twinning, vigour, improved health and better growth of meat and wool by intensive selection and ruthless culling.
It is my personal opinion that the sheep industry would have imploded if these breeders had not gone from maverick to saviour status by supplying the majority of genetics once their points of difference were seen. It was common to see flocks go from 100% weaning to 130% weaning by just one cross of rams selected from breeders with improved performance and away from nonfunctional traits. In the last 20 years productivity per ewe of the NZ flock has risen by 86% of which half is genetic. The impact of Composite breeds has had only a small impact in the latter years. Their effect may be realised in the next 20 years.

If these genetic changes had not occurred, the Romney breed in NZ would now be a very minor breed used only to exploit hybrid vigour. The opportunities still available to exploit will keep the Romney breed as the most significant in the NZ industry for years yet across all land types and extremes of climates, as breeders now have a much bigger tool box to work with.
There is no reason why a commercially useful breed cannot dominate in other countries as the Romney has done in NZ.
 

romneymarsh

Member
Location
Romney Marsh
If I was to open a can of worms would the removal of subsidies change people's thoughts on sheep systems?


It would only really change sheep production if support was removed from Hill and Upland , the production base for the Mule would then whither and the stratified system would end and totally change breeding strategies . But that scenario is unlikely for socio-economic reasons.
 

shearerlad

Member
Livestock Farmer
Considering that most things that need doing to a sheep mean turning it over, the Romney is hard work. Big body, wool everywhere and loose skin always made it a nightmare for me when I was shearing. Give me a Welsh half-bred any day. But that needs 6ft high fences...

Never heard of a shearer complaining about romneys. Some of the best shearing sheep in the world.

Re the article in FW. Matt is a top shearer and past world record holder. Don't think he will see it as a chore.
 

Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
I cant remember having a 200% scanning. We have always been in the region of 185%. However we have brought the % down a bit in recent years. We lamb everything outside and all ewes that have triplets have to rear triplets or one lamb gets sold to a mate down the road with a milk machine (or bopped on the head) and the ewe will get culled.
Fair enough, I was going by comments from a couple of people who'd bought rams off Richard, Perhaps they'd had particularly prolific ones.
 

easyram1

Member
Location
North Shropshire
Fair enough, I was going by comments from a couple of people who'd bought rams off Richard, Perhaps they'd had particularly prolific ones.
For many years Richard imported Romney semen off Global Ovine. They were very close friends and I believe that GO may well have been the very first person to ever scan ewes in NZ ( certainly he used Richard ). Certainly GO's point of difference in his breeding was initially the production of more prolific Romneys achieved through recording etc and I m sure his flock scanned around 200% for many years
 

romneymarsh

Member
Location
Romney Marsh
Probably not going to be popular locally but the NZ genetics(Wairere) I have been using for the last four years are streets ahead of local for functionality by that I mean easy lambing and vigour. There is a lot more to these genetics than just marketing as some suggest. There is only one local Romney Breeder who has been recording long enough to have strong Data and he would have the most prolific at around 180% yoy

. Most local ram breeders rely on the corn bag and the big sale day .

This has done the breed no favours. all IMO
 

Jackson4

Member
Location
Wensleydale
You can always tell a Yorkshireman. Not a lot !

:rolleyes: Racist!:LOL: and your as bad neilo.. already called us tight!:LOL:
I think the answers to all this were on the first page and weve moved from why they weren't/arent popular. I want to know, like i have been touched on before, is there a good answer to what scanning % returns the most, or is most efficient for grass eaten for lambs sold and can be low labour etc for a rygrassed farm like mine. The fact its on this thread is no doubt that in the past the romney was known for having 1.5 lambs (1.36 in a farm book i have here) and since the mule is so popular doesnt this explain it:sleep: And yes i know romney marsh isnt in anyway lowland and you have been telling me the breed has evolved(y) I heard you first time.
 

JD-Kid

Member
i used to do a lot of nightshooting roms were the only breed i know that eats 24/7

i would be intrested to see kg's eaten to kg's sold the roms i seen in the mid 80's would be some of the poorest feed converters alot selling more dags than lamb Kgs off them thats changed tho over the years

to me it's KG's weaned not sold after weaning lambs are on a finshing program and it's only gean efect of the ewes so lambs could be born on place brought in etc etc

it would be an eye opener to get all weights at weaning and then follow up the finshing side of it just on paprer no money changeing hands but would highlight costs in the raseing of lamb to weaning and then true finshing cost might work out if lambs cheep eneff better to sell ewes and just trade in finshing lambs OR it might show better selling lambs as stores killing out the tops
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,293
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top