EweTalk

Another good year at the Royal Welsh Show

Once again Innovis had a stand at the Royal Welsh show this year, with prime location at the front of the NSA shed. Despite crowds on Monday and Tuesday seeming to be fewer than in previous years, we were still busy all week and it was great to see so many of you. We had a fantastic turnout at the cheese and wine night on Monday; you must have all been thirsty as we got through a lot of wine!

Any of you that were interested in what Innovis has to offer you, we will be in touch with you over the next week or two. If anyone has any queries for us and missed to see us at the Royal Welsh, please feel free to give us a call in the Aberystwyth office on 01970 828236.

Aberdale ewes and Charollais sired lambs, Aberdale rams and Aberfield rams on the Innovis stand

Enjoying the cheese and wine on Monday night

Aberdale Brecknock Cheviot ewe and her 12 week old grass-fed Charollais sired lambs

Great fun stone picking!

Last summer I joined Dewi and Innovis shepherd John picking stones in plough fields at Mynydd Gorddu. This year unfortunately I missed out on the fun, but from the photos I would say a great day was had by all picking stones in Ddwy Garreg (which translates to 'Two Stones' - I have a feeling there were more than that!) at the Innovis farm Mynydd Gorddu this week.

The 10 acre field is situated at the top end of Mynydd Gorddu at about 1000ft, and unlike the majority of the farm is north facing. It has a pH of 5.2 and has received 2t/acre of lime with the same to follow in 12-18 months, and a P Index of 2 and K Index 1. According to the land owner the field has been ploughed many years ago, with evidence of this from the stone piles in the field. There was virtually no ryegrass and no clover in the sward, with the field being targetted for reseeding due to such low production. The mixture to be sown is a long term cutting and grazing ley consisting of Aber High Sugar Grasses (both Intermediate and Late heading varieties), Timothy and small and medium leaved Aber white clover.

There is a total of 80 acres of land to be reseeded across the two Innovis farms this year, equating to just over 12% of the total land area. A further 10 acres will be put into swedes in June.

All hands on deck

An unusual sight - Eurion getting his hands dirty! (sorry Eurion!)

Scabivax supplies short this spring

Sheep farmers have been advised by Intervet Schering Plough that Scabivax, the vaccine against orf is in short supply this spring as recent batches of the vaccine have failed to meet approved specification levels. As a result it is unlikely that the vaccine will be available to sheep farmers at all this spring.

Orf is a common, highly contagious disease of sheep (and goats and deer), which requires an abrasion of the skin for infection to establish. Sheep become infected by contact with a scab-contaminated environment or by direct contact with other infected animals.

There is no proven treatment for orf. If your flock has a history of orf and you are used to vaccinating against it, there are some alternative control strategies that you may consider:

• Isolate infected animals (to reduce the likelihood of infection spreading)
• Good hygiene in the lambing shed (deep, clean bedding)
• Prevent access to rough pasture such as thistles that can break the skin
• Control secondary bacterial infections with Engemycin spray
• Reduce overcrowding

These are just a few suggestions, and not all of them may be practical. You may also know of some other ideas. I am sure I remember seeing my dad rub a mixture of butter and salt (using a glove!) onto lessions on lambs mouths when I was younger, and when a family friend had orf on his hand he swore by rubbing the plant Pennywort into it! Whether they worked or not I have no idea!

Orf lession on muzzle (picture taken from Intervet.co.uk)

Some photos from the first lambing of 2011

We mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the first group of 160 AI ewes in the nucleus flock were lambing at Mynydd Gorddu, the new Innovis upland unit. Thankfully the ewes were lambing indoors, as the first few days of lambing saw sub-zero temperatures, and by the end of the week heavy rain storms were hampering West Wales with flooding in many areas. After a few days, the weather improved and the ewes and lambs were trailered down to better pasture at Peithyll, the lowland unit.

 
One of the ewes ready to give birth - two feet and nose in position

 
Ewes and lambs turned out onto better pasture at Peithyll

Aberdale rams 'off to work'!

The past couple of weeks have been busy for the Nucleus flock in Aberystwyth, in preperation for approximately 200 Aberdale rams and ram lambs to be delivered to farms all over Wales, to parts of England and as far afield as Scotland.

All rams have been MOT'ed before delivery to ensure that they are in full working order before running with 80-100 ewes per ram. The first rams have been delivered to early lambing flocks over the past few weeks, while the majority are being delivered over the next two weeks. Rams are selected for farmers based on appearence and on their performance records.

    
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Prize draw winner announced!

Congratulations to Mr Stephen Vaughan from Llanigon near Hay-on-Wye on winning the Innovis terminal sire in this years prize draw. A grand total of 339 people entered the draw which was made by Jonathan Barber, Chairman of the National Sheep Association at the NSA Sheep Event in Malvern last Tuesday. Best wishes to Mr Vaughan with his new ram!

Above: Jonathan Barber with the winning draw card
 

Be aware of sawfly larvae on brassica crops

The larvae of sawflies have been spotted on Redstart (rape and kale hybrid) crops at the nucleus farm in Aberystwyth. The larvae can cause significant damage to the leaves of brassica crops, with some species being capable of defoliating crops within a few days. The larvae are generally green-black, and look like caterpillars. It is important to check leaves on a regular basis to spot eggs laid by sawfly before they hatch. Regularly checking the brassica crops means that you will be able to spot the sawfly early, which will make controlling the sawfly larvae easier. Control of sawfly larvae is usually in the form of chemical pesticide.

It is also important to be aware of Large Cabbage White caterpillar larvae that can cause severe damage to brassica crops throughout the summer.

Below: sawfly larvae on a brassica leaf

 

Below:Large Cabbage White caterpillars on brassica crop

Aberdale's head North

The NSA Scotch Sheep event will take place at Stirling tomorrow Wednesday 2nd July, and Innovis will be there for the Scottish launch of Aberdales. Aberdale rams are already being leased to hill flocks in England and Wales, and due to the high demand for Aberdale crossbred ewes this year Innovis are heading north to Scotland and the Borders.

This will give Scottish farmers the opportunity to work with the crossbreeding programme, which features a secure contract for all producers as Innovis buys back ewe lambs with a guaranteed premium. Aberdale wether lambs are consistently reaching target finishing weights and achieve better carcass specification than the purebred or longwool alternatives.

For those of you attending the event representatives from Innovis will be available to talk to all day, and you will be able to see Aberdale rams and Swaledale ewes with 8 week old Aberdale Swaledale lambs at foot.

Below: Swaledale ewes with 2 week old Aberdale Swaledale lambs at foot