EweTalk

Moving on to pasture's new!

As some of you may already know, today is my last day working for Innovis. Since graduating from Harper Adams in 2008, I have had a fantastic 3 and a half years based in Aberystwyth working with Innovis. Over that time I have worked with some incredible people; the staff at Innovis, staff at IBERS Aberystwyth University, many fantastic farmers and some really great people working in the industry.

I have learnt so much from working at Innovis, and with Charlie Morgan on all things grassland. It has been a priviledge and an honour working for such a great company with really exciting work going on driving the sheep industry forward. I have been fortunate enought to spend two months working on a farm in New Zealand with Inverdale ewes in 2009, and again to spend another 5 months in New Zealand working with farm consultants Abacus Bio earlier this year. All these opportunities have been given to me thanks to Dewi Jones, MD at Innovis, and to him I am extremely grateful.

So today is my last day, and I am looking forward to a nice Christmas meal with the whole team today before the Christmas break. In the New Year, I will begin a new venture working with the British Grassland Society. I am extremely looking forward to this new exciting chapter and all it will have to offer, but I hope to continue to remain in close contact with Innovis in the future.

I would like to say a big thank you to all of you that I have worked with and got to know over the past few years, it has been a real pleasure. This is not the end of 'The Pasture Princess', I will continue with my blog at the BGS and hope to bring some exciting new things to light in 2012. Thanks once again, and have a very Merry Christmas!

Rachel Greenow

Aberdale Dorsets on S4C's 'Ffermio' programme

This week Welsh farming programme 'Ffermio' headed to Llansawel in Carmarthenshire to visit young couple Sion and Claire Williams. Last year the pair took on a 10 year lease of a 255 acre farm, and in the past 12 months have built up stock numbers to 1,000 breeding ewes, including Aberdales, Mules, Texel Mules and some purebred Texels.

The programme focused on how Government grant's for newcomers into agriculture have helped Sion and Claire to stock the farm and reseed 70 acres within the first 12 months of tenancy. There was a big focus on the Aberdale ewes that Sion has purchased over the past year, both the Aberdale Welsh and Aberdale Dorset ewes. Sion explained that Aberdale ewes carry the Inverdale prolificacy gene, which makes them very fertile. The idea for the Aberdales over time is to run them tight on one half of the farm, and finish lambs and keep his other ewes on the other half of the farm. Two days before filming, Sion scanned the 170 Aberdale Dorset yearling ewes that are due to lamb indoors in January. It just happens to be that the ewes scanned higher than any other Aberdale ewes have ever scanned, at just under 250%, including two ewes to scan for 5 lambs, the first time any Aberdale ewes will ever have given birth to 5 lambs!

It was evident to see on the programme that the ewes were looking very well, and are good strong ewes to cope with a heavy load of lambs. Sion explained that he was happy with the ewes that had scanned as triplets, but he is a little more worried about how the ewes scanned with 4 and 5 lambs will get on. Innovis will be working closely with Sion and Claire over the coming weeks, working out appropriate feed rations for the ewes and considering what the best options are for the extra lambs, such as hiring in a lamb feeding machine.

The coverage of Aberdales on 'Ffermio' highlights just how prolific Aberdale ewes can potentially be, especially for early lambing ewes that are being flushed in April - May when grass quality is at it's peak, and Aberdale ewes do not need flushing! Last year the average flock scan result for Aberdale ewes was 192%, up from 186% the year before. These results highlight that Aberdale ewes generally scan between the range of 185-205%, but if grass quality is too good and there is too much feed available, they will be flushed and scan higher. This was the case for Sion, as he is starting out on a new farm in a very fertile area, and being under stocked has meant that the ewes have had a better place for tupping that he would have planned on giving them.

Over the coming months we will keep updating you on how the Aberdales are performing with Sion, including feedback on how lambing goes, what system Sion decides to go for in coping with the extra lamb numbers, and to see how many kg of lamb is reared per ewe and what return that gives him next year. Watch this space to keep updated!

If you would like to watch the programme, follow the link below. If you don't understand Welsh but would like to see the programme, English subtitles are available.

http://www.s4c.co.uk/clic/c_level2.shtml?series_id=469907094

 

'Wear it Pink Day' raises £120 for Breast Cancer Research

On Tuesday 1st November Innovis hosted our very own 'Wear it Pink Day', with the aim of raising as much money as we could for Breast Cancer Research.

The whole office dressed in pink, with everyone paying £2 for the priviledge! We all brought in items to go into the raffle, and with tickets at £1 a strip a lot of money was made. Homemade cakes and biscuits following the pink theme were sold, and we all guessed which item would be 'next on the washing line'. Eurion won the prize of £11 (half of the money that was made in the competition), and kindly bought the remainder of the cakes left on sale for everyone in the office to enjoy. In total we raised £120 for Breast Cancer Research, not a bad total considering we are a small team.

Eurion showing off his assets!

Chief organiser Amber announcing the winner of 'What's next on the washing line'!

The Pink Ladies! - Judith, Julie and Sheila

The pink themed raffle prizes

First Innovis ram sale a big hit

On Friday 12^th August Innovis held our very first ram sale, taking place at the nucleus farm Mynydd Gorddu near Aberystwyth. With 130 performance recorded Texel, Charollais, Abermax, Suffolk cross Texel and Aberfield rams to sell, we were delighted with a turnout of 75 invited buyers.

The rams were available at set prices ranging from £500-800, with the majority of the Texel and Charollais rams qualifying for the HCC Elite Ram Project scheme. Rams were run into the ring for sale, with a TV showing the figures for that particular ram (also displayed in the sale catalogue). Dewi gave a brief of the figures for each ram, highlighting what benefit each ram would bring for you – from high growth rates to easy lambing. Each registered buyer was given a sellers number, which was displayed if they wanted to purchase a ram. In the event of more than one bidder wanting to purchase a particular ram, buyers were given the option of drawing each number from a hat at that set price, or to bid in £25 increments.

In total 118 rams were bought on the day, with average prices of £744 for 46 Texels, £635 for 28 Charollais, £608 for 26 Abermax, £625 for 5 Suffolk cross Texels and £733 for 13 Aberfield rams.

 We have a small number of our younger shearling Texel and Charollais rams and Aberfield rams available for anyone that did not make it across for the sale on Friday, so please call us o n 01970 828236 as soon as possible if you are still in need of rams for this autumn's tupping.

Are you Britain's Young Farmer of the Year?

Do you think you have what it takes to be crowned Britain's Young Farmer of the Year? If so, BBC Three want to hear from you now! Applications are due in for young talented farmers, carpenters, bakers, gardeners or tailors to take part in the show 'Young Talent of the Year'. You must be aged between 16-25 in order to apply.

Be quick though, applications need to be in by this Friday 5th August.

Phone:             0161 244 3716      
Standard geographic charges apply and calls may be included in your telecoms provider's call package. Calls from mobiles may be higher.

Email: youngtalent@bbc.co.uk

Write:
Young Talent of the Year Applications
5th Floor
Bridge House
MediaCityUK
Salford
Manchester
M50 2BH

http://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/beonashow/young_talent_2011

Don't miss your last chance to see Eurion on Countryfile!

For anyone that missed to see Eurion Thomas on Countryfile this week, you still have a chance to watch it! We have had some fantastic feedback so far, and you all obviously enjoyed seeing Eurion with Adam talking about the FECPAK system. By following this link you will be able to view the BBC iPlayer, which will continue to be shown for only another 4 days. To save you watching the whole show, 'Adam's Farm' starts at 34 minutes into the show, and Eurion appears after 35 minutes! Happy viewing!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0134cgn/Countryfile_31_07_2011/

Innovis' first trip north to Bakewell Show

For the very first time, Innovis Breeding Sheep will be travelling north to Bakewell Show this year. The two-day event takes place in Bakewell, in the heart of the Peak District this Wednesday and Thursday 4th and 5th August. Stuart and Rachel will be at the show for Thursday only, with Aberdale ewes and their lambs, and 4 Innovis Texel rams on the stand. For anyone in this area attending the show, or for anyone on holiday in the area this week, feel free to come along and visit us at our stand. We will see you there this Thursday!

From FEC to FAME!

I'm sure many of you have had the pleasure of hearing Eurion Thomas' spiel about Faecal Egg Counting in the past. This time it's the turn of Adam Henson, farmer and Countryfile presenter to learn all about FEC and how the FECPAK system works.

Tune into Countryfile this Sunday night, 31st July from 7.30 onwards, where John Craven and the team will be on the Llyn Peninsula exploring the coastline and mountains. A few weeks ago Eurion went down to Adam's farm, and taught Adam how to collect Faecal Egg Count samples (FEC) and look for the worm eggs under the microscope. Adam bought a FECPAK  system for his sheep and cattle enterprises to monitor parasite burden and to allow for accurate and timely treatment. In the face of drench resistance, the ability to monitor worm burdens on a number of mobs quickly and effectively has aided in the ability of making informed parasite management decisions. By worming only when needed, this means that less money and time is wasted on drenching, and less wormer is being used ineffectively.

We look forward to seeing Adam and Eurion this Sunday evening having fun collecting FEC samples and playing with microscopes!