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www.beltex.co.uk
Beltex Sheep SocietyShepherds View,
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Beltex Carcase Performance Wins Premier Shows
The superior carcase performance of the Beltex has been winning major awards at premier shows for Gloucestershire producers Philip and Carol Houldey. The couple have been producing prime lamb for the commercial market and enjoying success at primestock shows for many years. Three quarter bred Beltex lambs bred by the Houldeys at Hill Farm, Hasfield, near Gloucester, have scooped numerous top awards recently, including the group of eight lamb carcases at the 2002 Royal Show, Stoneleigh, for the fourth time! The award is for the group of eight lambs which are most evenly matched. The 2002 winners all graded E2 or 3L, ranging in carcase weight from 18.5kg to 21kg and 37-38kg live. The March-born lambs were a mixture of wethers and gimmers, and five of them were by their latest ram, while the rest were sired by their senior ram. While the Houldeys were pipped at the 2000 event, they won the same award for the previous three years running. A three quarter Beltex lamb carcase won them the Welsh Winter Fair carcase championship for the first time in 2001. The wether lamb graded E3L and weighed 20.5kg, an ideal supermarket weight for the judge at the event. The lamb was by the junior stock tup. Also in 2000, the couple won the lamb carcase championship at the Bath and West Winter Fair with a wether lamb grading E2. Live lambs won the Christmas primestock championships at local markets at Ross-on-Wye and Andoversford in 2000. In 1999, they won the reserve champion carcase at the National Festival of Meat competition, taking second place in the live section and winning the carcase section. The ability to finish Beltex lambs at weights for any market was reflected this year when a May-born lamb took a first prize in the lightweight carcase class at the Royal Welsh Show weighing only 13kg and grading U3L. For the last couple of years three quarter Beltex gimmers have been
kept as flock replacements and they now number around 50 ewes. The original lambs were sold to a butcher in Wales who wanted more
the next week. The three quarter Beltex carcases classify in the top
two grades, E and U, commanding higher premiums when sold deadweight.
They kill out well at up to 53 per cent when other prime lamb carcases
would probably only achieve 47 to 48 per cent of the liveweight lamb. Rams are selected on their ability to produce superior carcases. The
last ram purchased at the Carlisle August 2000 sale. Currently, their four Beltex stock rams each cover more than 100 ewes. Hill Farm borders the River Severn and in the early part of the year the Houldeys lost up to 80 acres of their grassland under flood water. Up to 300 ewes are lambed in batches, which is also the maximum the farm‚s buildings can accommodate, with the early group lambing in the first week of January and the late group in May. The Houldeys find that the Beltex are easy to lamb and they are hardier than other breeds. Lambs receive little or no feed and are usually only fed concentrates in the last two of three weeks of finishing - some of the group of eight which won the Royal Show award had not received any supplementary feeding. |
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+44 (0)17683 41124
The
Houldeys run a flock of 1,000 ewes alongside a small suckler herd on
their 300 acre unit. The majority are Texel-Beltex crosses with some
North Country Mules. The Texel has been used for many years but it is
in the last ten years that the Beltex has been gradually introduced to
the flock.
