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www.beltex.co.uk
Beltex Sheep SocietyShepherds View,
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Beltex breeds premier carcases for Scottish upland farmBeltex-sired lambs bred and finished on a Scottish upland farm are proving to be consistent winners in premier UK carcase competitions.
But the extra bonus has been the prime carcases produced by the Beltex cross lambs which have gone on to win supreme championships at both the National Festival of Meat in London and the Scottish National Winter Fair. The father and son won the supreme champion carcase at the 2001 Scottish Winter Fair with a 25kg carcase from a Beltex sired wether lamb. And the supreme champion carcase at the 2000 National Festival of Meat staged for the first time by the Royal Smithfield Club was one of two first prize winners to produce 19kg carcases was won by the Mortons in their first show entry. At last year’s event they took the first three prizes out of four in their class at the National Festival of Meat. Andrew Morton and his wife Jean along with son Andrew and his wife Hilary, run almost 1,000 acres running between 650 and 850ft above sea level. Andrew Morton has farmed the traditional unit for 41 years, gradually increasing its size to the present acreage. Originally its stocking was 200 Blackface ewes and 40 beef stirks on 380 acres.
Now the all-grass farm runs a flock of 1,500 ewes and 47 mainly Limousin cross Simmental suckler cows put to the Charolais bull. Up to 50 calves are finished each year and sold through Scotbeef to Marks & Spencer. The ewes comprise 330 Blackfaces, with replacements being bought-in, which are crossed to produce Mules which make up the majority of the flock. The Mules are crossed with the Texel and 230 of these crossbred ewes are retained in the overall sheep flock. Each year 200 hoggs are put to the Beltex along with 50 of the Texel cross ewes. The first pedigree Beltex tup was bought almost 10 years ago at one of the early Carlisle sales. Andrew Morton had seen the new breed at the Highland Show and persuaded his father to give it a try. Their first purchase was an Ancroft tup lamb, bred by WJ Turnbull and Sons, at Ancroft, near Berwick-on-Tweed, placed third at the Carlisle show and sale in August 1993. “We were surprised at how heavy the Beltex cross lambs were. When
we weighed them they were from 36 to 40kg liveweight - they didn’t
appear to be so heavy but their extra muscling tipped the scales,” said
son Andrew. Because of last year’s movement restrictions when they would have bought in another pedigree, they also used a home-bred tup last season Each tup is run with 50 ewes partly because of the lay-out of the fields but it also enables the Mortons to easily check on the breeding ability of their rams. Lambing begins in mid-April, starting with the ewes and the hoggs following on mainly through May.
Lambs finished off grass are sold usually from the third week in July, starting with the larger singles, on a weekly basis right through to the following February. They are either sold live through the rings at Caledonian Marts or United Auctions in Stirling or through Scotbeef at Bridge of Allan. In February 2001 the Beltex cross lambs were making 139p per kg through the ring in Stirling. “When you are selling later in the season the Beltex hold on to their shape and we are finding we are getting extra premiums for them. From November onwards last year we were getting 120p per kg through the ring,” said Andrew Morton, senior. Although generally there is a ready and consistent market for lambs from Lochend, the Mortons agree that Beltex sired lambs are easier to hold without getting overfat. The Mortons have won the Christmas prime lamb show in Stirling for the last four years and numerous other prime lamb prizes. This year lambs bred by them won the championship carcases at the Aberdeen Spring Show at Thainstone. Selling deadweight through Scotbeef enables the Mortons to analyse the Beltex cross lamb carcases. The majority grade E3L and command a 10 per kg premium. They kill out at about 54 per cent. “Selling both live and deadweight particularly during September and October we often have three outlets for our lambs each week,” said Andrew Morton senior. The lambs are finished off grass until November when they are housed 200 at a time and finished on ad-lib pellets within 10 days. Between 70 and 80 finished lambs are sold each week “We like the Beltex for our hoggs because the lambs are small and they are much easier to lamb. We have tried other breeds on the hoggs but we prefer the Beltex which we might try on our cross-bred gimmers,” said son Andrew. “Despite them being small, they are quickly up and sucking but they are easier filled and don’t take so much out of the hoggs,” he added. The hoggs are lambed inside and once they have bonded with their mother they are turned out after a couple of days at the most. “The lambs are hardy and lively and they are contented.” The ewes receive beet pulp nuts to about a month before lambing when they are transferred to a 16 per cent protein pellet. The ewes are not fed at lambing time to help prevent mis-mothering. Only the triplet lambs are creep-fed. |
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+44 (0)17683 41124
Beltex tups have been favoured for a number of years to cross with the Mule
hoggs at Lochend Farm, on the south side of Loch Coulter, near Stirling,
for Andrew Morton and his son Andrew.
