with thanks to Kevin Davidson farming in partnership with his wife, Maureen
Factfile
- 380 acres Banchory
- 165 acres Turriff
- 400 Highlander cross Aberfield and Highlander cross Abermax ewes + hoggs (Targeting 700 ewes 2026, 1,000 ewes 2027)
Kevin says the quest was on to find the right genetics he wanted to farm over a decade ago. After online research followed by meeting the Innovis team at NSA Highland Sheep 2015, he decided on the Aberfield and Highlander maternal lines, the foundations to building a closed flock, together with the Abermax meat sire.
“We wanted to create a sustainable sheep farming business with up to 1,000 ewes managed by myself with family help at busy times. Brought up with traditional Greyface and Mule ewes put to the Suffolk and Texel, these breeds were labour intensive, particularly at lambing. We wanted to move away to something more efficient, requiring minimal input, a prolific ewe that would maintain herself in BCS 3.0, was easy to lamb in a simple outdoor system, and leave vigorous, fast growing lambs with better conformation for the commercial market.
“Too much to ask? We aligned ourselves to Innovis that selected their sheep in an equally hard environment based on the landscape and topography, without any concentrate fed; they’re forage bred and reared, they’re not forced, consequently we’ve found the rams provided by Innovis don’t melt away.
“We initially invested in Highlander cross Aberfield ewes and hoggs in 2019 and things evolved from there; to increase prolificacy and motherability we introduced the Highlander. I’m not deterred by a high scan, I believe every sheep is designed to carry two lambs and these breeds have proved their worth. We’re aiming to get ewes close to 200% reared to help build the flock in a structured manner, along with bought in ewes, to a viable 1,000 ewes.
“We let Innovis do the heavy lifting and we are investing in their improvements. I want to use the very best genetics and only select Elite rams. I’m passionate about making selection decisions using EBVs rather than looks alone, and priorities are given to prolificacy, ease of lambing, motherability, and growth rates and muscle depth, whilst also looking for good vigour, length and conformation. I discuss with Innovis what I’m looking for and they select the rams for me.
“Innovis genetics has been all about efficiency and sustainability. It’s allowing me to grow the flock and increase profitability, while enjoying the work and maintaining workload levels as we reseed, re-fence and invest in the farm – all in a bid to help the unit and the flock reach their max potential.”
- Kevin and Maureen took over the Davidson family’s Turriff based farm in 2011 and acquired the Banchory unit’s tenancy from Maureen’s father in 2024.
KPIs
- Scan
- 208% ewes (five-year ave)
- 182% gimmers (three-year ave)
- 124% hoggs (four-year ave)
- Rearing
- 192% ewes ave
- 95% (ave) ewes lamb within the first cycle
- One ram : 75 to 100 ewes
- Five working seasons
