with thanks to Jim Cooper, shepherd at Castlemilk Farms, Lockerbie
Turning a flock in to profit within four years by simply changing the genetics has been a significant achievement for Castlemilk Farms’ shepherd, Jim Cooper. “During that period, we’ve introduced forage bred and reared Innovis genetics that really do succeed maximising output per acre on our minimalistic input system comprising 30-year-old pasture, no conserved forage, no bought in fertiliser and no concentrate.
“Lambs are reaching a targeted average 40kg at 16 weeks, and we’re selling between 500 to 1,000 wethers on one day through Longtown store ring to repeat buyers. That level of performance is essential since the entire crop, apart from replacements has got to be sold off the unit from August onwards before the grass disappears,” he explains.
“We’re making the most of what the unit offers, naturally, on a rotational grazed system, and so far we’ve found the Aberfield cross Highlander fits the bill. The Aberfield is leaving a really nice shapely lamb, whilst the Highlander has improved our lambing percentage; this season’s scan was 182%, and that’s enough. We cross 800 ewes to the complementary Abermax meat sire, he’s leaving some classy lambs with shape and tight skins – they’ve that modern Continental look.”
This last season Jim says he lambed outdoors 1,600 ewes himself with occasional help from his wife, Abi; 95% lambed within three weeks starting 1 April. “I check them twice a day, and since Innovis has bred sheep with narrow shoulders, very, very little intervention is required – the ewes just spit their lambs and then milk like trains. They make brilliant mothers taking their lambs with them, and they’ve even mothered on a triplet without being skinned.”
Jim arrived to Castlemilk in 2020 having been brought up on a Lake District farm followed by over 20 years of experience working with traditional horned hill sheep breeds. “The farm then carried an indoor lambing Romney flock which just wasn’t working out and the unit’s owner, Sir John Buchanan-Jardine agreed we had to do something.
“We considered all sorts of breeds to suit this unit – we needed a prolific, hardy ewe that didn’t require flushing, come through lambing fit, and could easily keep herself all year round in BCS 2.5 to 3.0.
“I’d heard about Innovis, visited one of its breeding partners and was impressed by the range of breeds and their performance. I did some more online research to find these tups are bred from proper recorded stock so we could accurately predict how they’d breed. We made a plan and went to an auction. Sir John said ‘buy the best’ and I came home with 29 tups – a mix of Abertex, Aberfield and Highlander.
…we’ve proved Innovis is definitely going in the right direction breeding hardy sheep that work on a system without inputs simply because of the way they’re bred and reared
“Since then, we’ve proved Innovis is definitely going in the right direction breeding hardy sheep that work on a system without inputs simply because of the way they’re bred and reared. For example, between January and March we always need a bit of luck as far as the weather is concerned, but whatever, the Aberfield cross ewes come through on what we produce, without any purchased feed apart from blocks – from Christmas through to lambing we budget £10 a head, including the hoggs.”
Jim says the tups are equally robust with 30 head maintaining condition over winter on four shared blocks. “At tupping we introduce a ratio of one to 65 ewes, however I think we could go as high as 100 ewes.” When it comes to ram selection, then Jim says: “We are using the Innovis knowledge and buy the best – either Elite or Select based on the accompanying EBVs; we’re selecting for maternal traits and also backfat since we need the ewes to carry that condition over winter. A ram can have the best data in the sale, however if he’s not kind on the eye, he won’t be welcome at Castlemilk.”
To the future and he adds Castlemilk is continuing to experiment to further improve the flock and in 2024 introduced the Aberfield SR, a self-replacing sire specifically bred for closed flocks. “He’s leaving classy lambs with even more conformation. That’s the great thing about Innovis, you can pick and choose from its wide range genetics the ones best suited to your unit.”
