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www.beltex.co.uk
Beltex Sheep SocietyShepherds View,
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Beltex – A Cut AboveA family-owned retail business catering for the growing demand for locally-produced food is providing new opportunities for Ewen Forbes, who runs the 850-acre Little Kildrummie farm situated between Inverness and Nairn in the north of Scotland. Little Kildrummie is a mixed farm carrying a 400-ewe flock made up of Highland Mules, Texel X Mules and Suffolk X which run with Beltex, Texel and Suffolk rams. A 200-strong herd of mostly Belgian Blue X suckler cows runs with Limousin and Simmental bulls. 420 acres are down to barley, oats and protein peas and a further 250 – 300 acres of grazing is rented on a seasonal basis. The farm benefits from the district’s well-known micro-climate which sees more sunshine and less rain than anywhere in Scotland. But Ewen is quick to point out the downside. ‘It isn’t so great when you’re watching the grass burn away to nothing, as the rain passes you by!’ Calves and lambs are all finished on-farm which Ewen believes is a good selling point for customers. ‘It gives them that bit of extra assurance to know that our animals are reared and finished on grass and home-produced cereals.’
The farm’s Beltex rams are bought at Dingwall or Thainstone, where selection is based on mobility, shape and tight skin. Ewen likes the fine bone which makes for easy lambing. ‘I find the ewes with the Beltex cross lambs have an easier time. The lambs just pop out, give themselves a shake and are off looking for milk. We seldom have any problems with them.’ Lambs are finished off grass and stubble turnips, sown after harvest as a catch crop, and the aim is to have them all away by the end of the year. The bulk of the lamb crop is currently sold through the local auction mart at Dingwall where the Beltex X lambs are sought-after by local butchers. Ewen also supplies a company owned by his cousin, Steve, who started his retail business by selling home-reared beef and lamb packs direct to the customer. Steve and his wife Lynn now run 'Forbes Farm Fresh', specialising in food produced in the Highlands and Islands, as well as the home-produced 'Kildrummie' beef and lamb. They’ve taken advantage of the local farmers’ market to expand their customer base, and they also supply beef and lamb to McCulloch Foods, an Internet company based in the Black Isle. In 2009, the opportunity arose for Steve and Lynn to take over premises at an Inverness garden centre, and the opening of the ‘Country Larder’ farm shop took 'Forbes Farm Fresh' to a new level. The family is now looking forward to adding their own butchering unit, part-funded by a grant from the Scottish Rural Development Plan. Because of his involvement with processing and retailing, Ewen pays more attention than most producers to meat yield and carcase cuts. This has given him first-hand knowledge of the high killing-out percentage of his Beltex X lambs and the added value that this brings. ‘With a new butchery in the pipeline, we've been spending lot of time learning about the cutting and packing side of the trade,’ he says. ‘The amount of extra meat on a Beltex carcase is fantastic, and it's lean meat, which is important because customers just don’t like fatty lamb. And I’ve been amazed at how little waste there is with the Beltex X lambs compared to the other crosses. Beltex lamb ticks all the boxes and I'm looking forward to selling more of it over the farm shop counter.' |
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