The 250ha farm is in one ring-fenced block, with some steep ground and around 95ha of hill land. Each year about 40ha of barley is grown for feeding and bedding, with any surplus grain being sold.

The herd consists of 85 Simmental cows that calve predominantly in spring. These are mated to Simmental and Charolais sires. Steers are sold store at between 10 and 12 months of age.

All heifers suitable for breeding from the Simmental bull are retained and calve down to a Limousin bull at just under three years of age. Replacements join the herd as required, however, the majority are sold with calves at foot when the calves are about three months old.

In addition to their own heifers, Charles and Alison also purchase in some bulling heifers at 16 to 18 months old and sell them with a calf at foot.

On the sheep side, a flock of 185 Cheviot mule and Texel-cross ewes. These are mated to Texel tups and lamb down in early march. Lambs are sold prime through the ring at Thainstone mart.

Benchmarking

Benchmark analysis carried out by SAC Consulting shows a current gross margin of £556 per cow. Weaning percentage is slightly low on the farm at 81%, however the reference year was a particularly bad year on the farm.

Currently the sheep enterprise is not returning a positive gross margin.

While scanning percentage is good at 196, lambs making it through to slaughter needs to be improved from the current level of 126%.

The challenges

Winter accommodation

Housing space is a limiting factor on the farm, which restricts much expansion of cow numbers. However, there is a group of about 10 cows that calve in late summer and autumn that will be removed from the system and replaced with heifers that fit into the spring-calving herd.

This will not only streamline routine tasks with more even batches of animals, it will also mean one less group of stock on the farm to manage.

These late-calving cows feeding calves during the winter take up valuable space in the house, that would be better used by 12 to 15 dry cows that fit into the spring-calving herd.

Output

Variable costs are high on the farm. There are two options when deciding how to tackle this. The farm must either achieve greater output for the current level of inputs, or reduce inputs while maintaining the current level of output.

In reality, the answer will be a little of both.

Soil nutrient status on the farm is good, once pH is corrected compound fertiliser use can be reduced in the short to medium term.

Concentrate input per ewe is also high and makes up the majority of the variable costs on the sheep side.

In the past, ewes have been scanned but not fed to litter size. This year ewes have been batched and fed accordingly, with singles not receiving any concentrate. This will have a big impact on the total concentrate used.

This change will also help increase output, increasing the number of lambs reared. Overfeeding of ewes in late pregnancy in the past led to large, single lambs – increasing problems at lambing.

Grassland management

This year, both the sheep and cattle will be rotationally grazed to increase ADG at grass. Maintaining a young, leafy sward in front of stock will drive milk production in the cows and ewes early in the season, and maintain performance throughout the summer months as offspring increase herbage intake.

Earlier weaning of lambs

Another change this year is to wean the lambs earlier. Traditionally, lambs are weaned in August, after the first couple of drafts have been sold directly off the ewe.

This year, lambs will be weaned in early July once the ewes are shorn. This will help reduce the amount of time the tailend lambs remain in the system.

The ewes will then move to the hill ground which is currently underutilised, while the lambs will remain to be rotationally grazed on the pasture ground.

Heifers with calves at foot

Over the years, the Websters have built up a strong reputation of breeding top-quality replacement stock. Therefore, the aim is to maximise the number of females suitable for breeding.

With this in mind, another Simmental bull has been purchased at the expense of the Charolais, who will be kept in reserve this year in case of any bull not performing.