a day ago
- Business
- Powys County Times
Powys farm using genetic testing to improve sheep breeding
A Powys farm is using genetic testing to improve results in their sheep breeding.
Richard and Sarah Wilde have credited the improvement in their farm near Welshpool over the last decade to the introduction of modern genetic testing to their traditional Welsh Mule flock.
The couple used initially the Abermax terminal sire followed by the Aberfield to develop an improved damline with the help of sheep breeding experts Innovis.
'We've been able to chose two different breeds from Innovis to suit our system - a 450 acre LFA in bye unit, and I feel we now have a more balanced enterprise,' said Richard.
"I like the Aberfield cross Welsh ewe, we're running a 1,100 ewe flock, it's scanning 180 per cent, we're now breeding our own replacements and consistently producing an easy fleshed 20kg deadweight finished Abermax cross lamb within spec to meet our Tesco Sustainable Lamb Group (TSLG) contract.
'For starters introducing Innovis genetics has taken the pressure off the workload, particularly at lambing when there's just the two of us doing the nightshift, and we have significantly fewer costs.
'Both the Abermax and Aberfield have been developed with narrow shoulders, consequently lambing is definitely easier and we've reduced lambing issues by approximately 30 per cent along with ewe recovery and the vet and med bill.
'We find these lambs are sharp. They're soon up and away. The ewes have plenty of milk and certainly look after their lambs.'
Richard said he initially read in the press about Innovis's performance recorded rams and their ability to work and said the system is 'definitely doing what it says on the tin'.
'Being forage bred and reared, they haven't been pushed like some rams so once they're home we don't have to nurse them or feed them any concentrate,' said Richard.
'They're lasting for up to four working seasons, that's at least one more than the Continental terminal sires we used to use.
'Furthermore, we're now able to virtually double the number of ewes we put to one ram. Continental ram to ewe ratio used to be 1:40, whereas nowadays it's one Abermax to 70 ewes, and one Aberfield to 80 ewes, and despite the workload, these rams keep themselves in BCS 2.0 to 3.0, a lot better than some other breeds.'
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Aware that Aberfield cross ewe lambs were in demand, the Wildes agreed to breed their own replacements to ensure a ready supply.
Back in 2020, they began to annually buy broken mouth Welsh Mule ewes to cross with the Aberfield and sell in wool the after weaning the lambs.
'The practice works really well. We annually select up to 250 ewe lambs for replacement purposes and finish the rest,' added Richard.
When it comes to investing in rams either at Innovis Aberystwyth sale or one of its selection days, Richard said: 'I like a good strong looking ram, however when selecting a new one I do use EBVs particularly for the Aberfield's prolificacy and ease of lambing since I'm aware he's going to influence the flock for up to 10 years.
"We're buying properly performance recorded rams, so we have that assurance. Innovis can accurately predict how the sheep will breed and it has large populations of sheep commercially farmed, so they come under a lot of selection pressure.
'We also consider we're working to develop a long-term working relationship with an established company; in the event we did have an issue with a ram, then we're confident Innovis would manage and replace.'
