- Location
- Cheshire
I’d keep your head down now. @jendan gets grumpy when we point out why half breds are a waste of space nowadays!Interesting to read the views about the trade for CM’s at Longtown….Linked to the price of NEM’s out of Hexham…..
Longtowns trade for CM’s has pretty well mirrored the decline in the NEM trade at Hexham.
A lot to do with the pursuit of Bonny Heids and ignoring the basic reason for the NEM’s existence.
A Sound ,Thrifty, Milky ewe that will produce two decent lambs and feed them with the minimum amount of care.
Plus as an aged cull had a reasonable value.
The NEM in the North of England took over from Half Bred ewes (BL X CHEVIOT) for precisely the expert breeders reasons the NEM is now falling by the wayside….HB Breeders became obsessed with big sticky up lugs and as thick white hair as you could manage….NEM breeders have become obsessed with Big Sticky up lugs and Bonny Heid Markings totally ignoring the basics.
Go to the canteen at St Boswells and look at the pictures of penned HB ewe lambs at the mart as far as the eye could see….
Seen many pens of HB Ewe lambs lately?
Victims of the Showring and the Tup breeders Merry go Round…(You buy mine and I will buy yours)..
Pretty obvious that the CM trade at Longtown is a classic case of demand exceeding supply with the opposite being the case with NEM’s.
For those seeking a further cross from the CM there are usually a decent but limited selection of Texel X ewe lambs out of CM’s at Longtown…but again demand is pretty strong for them.