I farm: “70 suckler cows and 1,500 ewes with my father, Mervyn, my wife, Joanne, and our children, John and Charlotte. The farm consists of 860 acres between lowland and hill ground.”
Farm supplies: “Joanne also runs McFarlane Animal Health from our yard, which is a farm supplies business. Online sales have taken off in the last two years with customers as far away as America.”
Alwyn McFarlane checking over some of his ewe lambs.
Breeding sheep: “Our sheep flock consists of 350 Lanark-type Scottish Blackface ewes and 1,150 Mule ewes. The whole flock runs under the Benbradagh prefix. Our Mule ewes are bred to Suffolk and Texel rams and we have built up a good market selling ewe lambs for breeding every August. The ram lambs are sold direct for slaughter. We have built a similar market for our pedigree Blackface sheep with surplus females sold as gimmers, along with 10 to 12 pedigree rams every autumn.”
Selling ewe lambs: “For the past 17 years, we have sold Suffolk- and Texel-bred ewe lambs at the first breeding sheep sale of the year in Ballymena Mart. We have around 240 ewe lambs entered for this year’s sale on 5 August. In recent years, buyers have favoured Suffolk lambs from Mule ewes over the Texel-bred lambs and will pay a premium for them. Lambs are sold in batches of 12. Most of our pens will be bought by repeat customers which gives us a lot of satisfaction.”
The flock consists of 350 Lanark-type Scottish Blackface ewes and 1,150 Mule ewes.
Home sales: “We also have new and repeat customers buying ewe lambs direct from the farm every year. Having sold lambs through the mart is a good way to set a price when selling out of the yard.”
Sale preparations: “This week, lambs will be clipped and have their fleece dyed to prepare them for the sale on Saturday. On the day before the sale, we will batch lambs into groups of 12 to make them look as even as possible for the sale ring.”
Read more
Five tips to prepare weanlings for autumn sales
Cow cull scheme could draw farmers from west - ICMSA
I farm: “70 suckler cows and 1,500 ewes with my father, Mervyn, my wife, Joanne, and our children, John and Charlotte. The farm consists of 860 acres between lowland and hill ground.”
Farm supplies: “Joanne also runs McFarlane Animal Health from our yard, which is a farm supplies business. Online sales have taken off in the last two years with customers as far away as America.”
Alwyn McFarlane checking over some of his ewe lambs.
Breeding sheep: “Our sheep flock consists of 350 Lanark-type Scottish Blackface ewes and 1,150 Mule ewes. The whole flock runs under the Benbradagh prefix. Our Mule ewes are bred to Suffolk and Texel rams and we have built up a good market selling ewe lambs for breeding every August. The ram lambs are sold direct for slaughter. We have built a similar market for our pedigree Blackface sheep with surplus females sold as gimmers, along with 10 to 12 pedigree rams every autumn.”
Selling ewe lambs: “For the past 17 years, we have sold Suffolk- and Texel-bred ewe lambs at the first breeding sheep sale of the year in Ballymena Mart. We have around 240 ewe lambs entered for this year’s sale on 5 August. In recent years, buyers have favoured Suffolk lambs from Mule ewes over the Texel-bred lambs and will pay a premium for them. Lambs are sold in batches of 12. Most of our pens will be bought by repeat customers which gives us a lot of satisfaction.”
The flock consists of 350 Lanark-type Scottish Blackface ewes and 1,150 Mule ewes.
Home sales: “We also have new and repeat customers buying ewe lambs direct from the farm every year. Having sold lambs through the mart is a good way to set a price when selling out of the yard.”
Sale preparations: “This week, lambs will be clipped and have their fleece dyed to prepare them for the sale on Saturday. On the day before the sale, we will batch lambs into groups of 12 to make them look as even as possible for the sale ring.”
Read more
Five tips to prepare weanlings for autumn sales
Cow cull scheme could draw farmers from west - ICMSA
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