Lambing from hell

willy

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Rutland
The great thing about the uk is it has the sheep stratification that others do not have, the lowland flicks will need replacements as they do not want to or have enough grass to carry round hoggs. Where I think the process has lost the plot is in the fact that hill farms have intensified beyond what their ground can handle and then become reliant on concentrates and bought in forage to basically represent a low land system up in the hills but with out the benefit of cover crops and excess forage etc....
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
The great thing about the uk is it has the sheep stratification that others do not have, the lowland flicks will need replacements as they do not want to or have enough grass to carry round hoggs. Where I think the process has lost the plot is in the fact that hill farms have intensified beyond what their ground can handle and then become reliant on concentrates and bought in forage to basically represent a low land system up in the hills but with out the benefit of cover crops and excess forage etc....

Errrr, haven't you recently changed from buying ewes from that stratified system, to running a self-contained flock?:scratchhead:
 

willy

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Rutland
Errrr, haven't you recently changed from buying ewes from that stratified system, to running a self-contained flock?:scratchhead:

Yes, but after trying both I am going to be buying in my replacements off my next door neighbour as they are taking up too much high value land that shouldn’t be grass in my system.
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
The great thing about the uk is it has the sheep stratification that others do not have, the lowland flicks will need replacements as they do not want to or have enough grass to carry round hoggs. Where I think the process has lost the plot is in the fact that hill farms have intensified beyond what their ground can handle and then become reliant on concentrates and bought in forage to basically represent a low land system up in the hills but with out the benefit of cover crops and excess forage etc....

There's less ewes in the hills now than at any time in the last 50 years, at least!
 

jendan

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Northumberland
We shall wait and see.

I'm farther North as you, I've finished lambing and yes, there's been losses - but on the whole it's been very good.
Theres far more on here talking lesser ewes next year though
I am the same latitude as between Thornhill and Dumfries,so unless you are up at Sanquhar much the same northerly as me.But you are West,so not as cold.Just out of interest,what breeds are you lambing,and what sort of fields do you lamb in? How high up?
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
I am the same latitude as between Thornhill and Dumfries,so unless you are up at Sanquhar much the same northerly as me.But you are West,so not as cold.Just out of interest,what breeds are you lambing,and what sort of fields do you lamb in? How high up?


Aye, we are roughly the same.

Lleyn ewes, bred pure or put to the Texel. Also a small group of TexX ewes put to Suffolk. We were Blackies and Scotch Mules before I switched, and South Cheviots when Grandfather originally came here in '45.

The steading sits 400ft, but the village at my roadend, less than 3/4 a mile away, sits at 110ft and the top of the hill is 830ft, most of the land will sit around 600ft. The land drops away drastically to our South and West, so we are very exposed to these sides. A foothill of the Southern Uplands - the next bit of ground at the same altitude as us, to the South, is 30-40 miles away across the Solway Firth in Cumbria. And to the West, the other side of the valley, 2-2.5miles away. So although regarded as low by many, we are rough and steep, with shallow soil depth onto solid Whinstone.
All inbye ground is South facing. Lambing fields are the silage ground, there's one or 2 fields are relatively level with a gentle slope, but the most of it you wouldn't let an inexperienced round baler operator anywhere near!

You'll need to share yours now.
 

exmoor dave

Member
Location
exmoor, uk
Aye, we are roughly the same.

Lleyn ewes, bred pure or put to the Texel. Also a small group of TexX ewes put to Suffolk. We were Blackies and Scotch Mules before I switched, and South Cheviots when Grandfather originally came here in '45.

The steading sits 400ft, but the village at my roadend, less than 3/4 a mile away, sits at 110ft and the top of the hill is 830ft, most of the land will sit around 600ft. The land drops away drastically to our South and West, so we are very exposed to these sides. A foothill of the Southern Uplands - the next bit of ground at the same altitude as us, to the South, is 30-40 miles away across the Solway Firth in Cumbria. And to the West, the other side of the valley, 2-2.5miles away. So although regarded as low by many, we are rough and steep, with shallow soil depth onto solid Whinstone.
All inbye ground is South facing. Lambing fields are the silage ground, there's one or 2 fields are relatively level with a gentle slope, but the most of it you wouldn't let an inexperienced round baler operator anywhere near!

You'll need to share yours now.


Sounds very similar to us.
Home farm runs from 250ft to 1000ft.....over not much distance
Most of the farm at 600-800ft,
On a hill completely seperate from the rest of exmoor- like a jelly bean has been dropped on the map east-west, sea on the entire north side, steep, not much soil, dry..... totally exposed to wind from all directions (yard &lower fields sheltered from northerlys).
About equal north /south facing land.

Wouldn't swap it for anywhere else!
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Sounds very similar to us.
Home farm runs from 250ft to 1000ft.....over not much distance
Most of the farm at 600-800ft,
On a hill completely seperate from the rest of exmoor- like a jelly bean has been dropped on the map east-west, sea on the entire north side, steep, not much soil, dry..... totally exposed to wind from all directions (yard &lower fields sheltered from northerlys).
About equal north /south facing land.

Wouldn't swap it for anywhere else!

I wouldn't swap here, either... I wouldn't mind it scaled up by double, at least, though!
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.0%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 35.1%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 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

  • 1,290
  • 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