Swedes bash lambing costs
SWEDES UNDERSOWN into a grass ley to feed high-growth rate lambs sired by performance recorded rams are key elements of a successful early lambing flock in Lancs.
Although the Vose family”s Blundell House Farm is mainly down to arable cropping, it also carries 1100 Suffolk x Mule ewes, with 600 lambing in early January and the rest in early March.
This year”s first batch of 10-week-old lambs was sold deadweight on Mar 21 to Keepac at Preston and aver<00AD>aged 3.80/kg for 18kg-21kg lambs classifying U and R 3L and 3H. The heaviest – a twin-born lamb – weighed 25kg. The average marketing age for the early lambs is 12-14 weeks. But Will Vose – who runs the business with his father, Bill, and brothers, Stephen and Alan – says early lambing does not have to be high cost.
“If we were lambing in February we”d still have to start feeding ewes before Christmas and we”d still have to creep feed lambs. Our ewes are working for their living soon after Christmas and the swedes – along with other vegetable waste – are an economical way of feeding,” says Will Vose.
Early lambers are housed in straw yards in early December, with the pre-lambing diet consisting of a 16% concentrate. This is fed at 1kg a head a day at housing, rising to 1.25kg a head a day of an 18% protein concentrate by lambing.
“Having the right type of ewe is critical. Our Suffolk x Mules are big ewes and they milk off their backs. We feed them well prior to lambing, but we only feed for a month once they are turned out.”
Early born lambs are turned out of lambing sheds on to swedes, direct drilled into an old grass sward, which provide an ideal feed for ewes and lambs, says Will Vose. “They fit in well with our grass and arable rotation on this light, sandy loam and are winter hardy. We”re using the variety Marianne, which is club-root resistant.
“We sow grass in July/August, which stays down for two years. In May of its second year we direct drill grass with swedes to provide a crop for sheep the following spring.”
Direct drilling into the sward means there is a turf base for sheep to walk on and that stops land cutting up too much. It keeps lambs clean and it means the swede actually grows on top of the sward, making them more accessible for feeding.
“Ewes knock swedes over to feed, so there”s nothing in the ground and little wastage. They don”t have to eat into them as they have to with swedes grown in a cultivated bed.” Will Vose says this year”s price has been as good as last year”s despite the lower value of hoggets this spring.
“Easter isn”t as critical as everyone thinks. It”s the supermarkets that have the biggest influence on price and they don”t usually start buying until they know they can source large enough numbers – usually mid-late April.”
Handling lambs carefully each week is essential to ensure they hit specification, but the Voses reckon they can almost draw on weight. “Since we started using recorded Hampshire Down rams we not only have superior growth rate, but we also get a much more even crop of lambs with far less variation.
“When a lamb is at the right weight, say 38-40kg liveweight, more often than not it is carrying just the right amount of finish.”
Will Vose reckons the Hampshire Down is unbeatable for speed of growth. “No other breed finishes as fast as a Hampshire Down. We don”t want to produce a three-quarter Suffolk lamb, so using Suffolk tups is not an option.”
Performance recorded tups have been used for six years, with about six tups bought each year from Henry Derryman”s flock in Devon. “We were involved in benchmarking last year and, as an indication of the impact of these tups, we achieved 96% in U and R 3L and 3H grades, so it is clearly paying off.
“We have definitely cut down on the backfat on lambs and every year we are able to buy tups showing further improvement in EBV figures. We want rams to give us fast growth rate and those we are buying now are miles ahead of those we started buying six years ago – that”s how fast the performance of these tups is progressing.”