The wool covers its head but leaves it wide face clean which is covered by a fine white hair emphasizing their black noses. “But the influence of the Romney on the female line shouldn’t be underestimated. For Woodchurch-based Edward and Gemma Lovejoy the aspiration to farm has been cemented into reality by hard work and a flexible approach to land tenure. “Increasing population and growing demand for meat mean there has to be a future in livestock farming. The challenge is to find ways of breaking into farming which allow youngsters the chance to thrive and farm in their own right in an age when access to land and finance is, for many people, difficult.”. “For the business owner it provides an ideal opportunity to step back from active farming while also retaining some control over their land and assets.”, Mr Lovejoy says his business has thrived as a result of working with farmers with no successor wanting to take the farm on, but who don’t want to give up their land or farming interest. They can handle a store period and still come fit for market quickly again when they are pushed on a bit more.”. “We then put these to a Texel again, so a lot of the lambs we sell would be near pure Texel. Romney sheep, as a dual purpose breed, exhibit the essential qualities found in all good meat-producing sheep. But without that we wouldn’t have been able to afford to start the sheep enterprise or invest in machinery and equipment, which have been the backbone of the business. Romney Sheep Characteristics Romney sheep is a large sized breed. “Maintaining good feet and overall good condition from lower inputs while boosting lamb numbers to about 165% is the aim as this is the best way to maximise profits from our system.”, Mr Lovejoy is confident there is a future in the sheep industry for himself and others like him. “Costs can be kept to a minimum, particularly running an outdoor lambing flock and the return on the investment can be quite quick compared to some enterprises. “Indoor lambing may have increased costs compared to outdoor lambing, but the benefits are there for both man and beast.”. And while many flocks may rely on a continual criss-crossing of breeds to produce quality lamb, for Mrs Langrish, there are only two breeds to worry about. And for the owner it takes some of the workload and management away from them, allowing them to concentrate on the rest of their business which is a diverse farming enterprise.”. However, no health issues emerged and we use a Fecpak kit to regularly monitor worm egg counts, so were able to keep an eye on egg counts throughout the grazing period. The technical fencing and sheep moving jobs are relatively straightforward, but care needs to be exercised when moving groups larger than 1000 ewes to avoid smothering.”. A total of 350 acres of grassland at the family farm carry the flock with the use of top quality genetics and strong grass and feed management helping produce top quality prime lambs from a flock which is split into three lambing groups, explains Helen Langrish. It is generally an open-faced breed with long wool that grows over the legs in full. Having no single farm payment also means the Lovejoys have to be focused in the approach they take to sheep farming. “However, with much of our ground being lower input grassland we still want to maintain an easier care system, so while increasing lamb numbers is a priority it won’t be done at the expense of easier care traits or with sheep which cost more to manage. “They also held onto their condition better through the winter, largely I suspect because they were able to keep warmer and drier as the fleece wasn’t holding as much moisture as a full fleece would do.”. “The all-grass wintering system was devised using cell grazing on a long rotation, with ewes grazing the cells from November 2011 to March 2012 on the farm at Helland, Bodmin. Sheep were FEC (Faecal Egg Count) tested and a FEC analysis was done by Signet. If you watch public television perhaps you’ve seen Romney sheep, which frequent the All Things Great and Small series. “With sheep farming your first crop of lambs can be for sale as little as eight months after you buy your breeding stock. Their wool is quite long and full giving them a soft teddy bear appearance. However, everyone involved is aware that Rome wasn’t built in a day! It is also high yielding and easily spun. The sheep, in time, adapted to these conditions and thus developed some of the characteristics we see in the Romney breed. “We aim to let the sheep look after themselves and try to make the most of grazed grass rather than concentrate feed, although in spring 2013 we have had to feed concentrates due to the poor grass growth over winter as a result of an early cold snap in September 2012.”, The April lambing flock is shorn first in early-mid June, when the flock has traditionally always been shorn, with the second shearing taking place a few months later, ideally towards the end of August or early September. So, they are generally sold a few weeks after their lambs, their ability to retain flesh and do well of little grass helps this policy, as does creep feeding the lambs.”, All lambs are creep fed from about eight weeks old to ensure they finish quickly and it is a strategy that clearly works for the flock. The first batch of 200 lamb from February 20 onwards and are the older ewes generally on their last lambing. “Then on 14 March we start the second batch of 350 ewes and on 5 April a further 100 pure Romneys are lambed. Mr Maxwell says he first saw flocks shorn twice a year in New Zealand where it is common practice to shear ewes ahead of lambing. grass on areas grazed at the beginning of the winter rotation. The Romney is not the ideal breed for every situation. The ram selected has been used widely in the group, so it is hoped to test his offspring this year to see if he has passed it on. farms able to operate outwintering systems in this manner. “Share farming could be a win:win situation for many farmers with no successors. There may also be some breed challenges to be overcome, with possibly not all breeds able to survive under this type of system. The sheep farming enterprise, which also encompasses a hay and straw supply business and contracting services, is based around 650 ewes run on 105ha of permanent grassland all taken on annual lets, explains Mr Lovejoy. A portion of these are bred pure, while the remainder are put to Texel tups.”. “The early lambing flock is all older ewes and for most of these it is their last time lambing. “We operate a relatively low input system with the bulk of the lambing done outside in April to coincide with grass growth. resulting in higher quality forage. “Ewes are far more eager to graze for longer when they’re not carrying a big heavy fleece and so eat more and gain condition quicker through the autumn. Henry Fell, in Intensive Sheep Management posits that the Romney is, “A breed which ha[s] all the virtues save one, that of prolificacy… will thrive happily at extraordinary densities and seems to enjoy it.” A number of large Romney flocks in New Zealand have in the last several decades achieved better than 1.7 lambs for every ewe exposed to the ram, showing much better prolificacy than Fell had observed in England. Looking further ahead he is keen to help other new entrants wherever possible and believes his model can be improved upon by the adoption of share farming agreements in the livestock sector. With suckler cows the payback is much longer and sheep are better able to use the lower quality grassland which is often all that’s available to new entrants in many areas.” Mr Lovejoy makes no bones about his eventual aspirations either, eagerly anticipating the day he can buy his own block of land to use as a base for his operations. 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