PREMIER SUFFOLK BREEDER SECURES TITLE
One of the best displays of prime lambs ever seen at the Scottish Winter Fair, saw the Sufffolk breed take the top honours for the first time in 10 years.
"I've been showing at the Winter Fair for 24 years and this is undoubtedly one of the best shows of sheep I've ever seen," said the sheep judge, Andy Hamilton, a former president of the Scottish National Fatstock Club. "The champions - from Malcolm Stewart, Brotherstone, Melrose, were just such a pair. I couldn't believe how evenly matched they were when I first handled them in their class and they had meat in all the right places".
SHEEP FARMER OF THE YEAR 2007 - PETER BABER, Weir Park Farm, Devon
Peter Baber isn't your typical pedigree breeder. He didn't inherit a pedigree flock, he's not attempting to create a flock capable of clinching prize tickets at shows and he isn't selling stock for thousands of pounds.
He simply wants to breed terminal sires more suited to commercial flocks. But this came about out of frustration. "We were finding rams weren't doing what we wanted them to. They weren't lasting, failed to serve sufficient ewes and couldn't survive under our management system."
Farm facts
• 120ha grassland unit
• 650 pedigree ewes
• Aim to breed a different type of ram
For Peter sheep breeding isn't about the size of a ram's ears or the dome of its head. It is, however, about mixing the best genetics available to constantly improve the flock and its performance, so his customers have sustainable businesses.
This in itself makes Peter something of a visionary among breeders. Indeed many pedigree flocks are now heading down similar routes.
And his latest move, as a founder member of the Sheep Improvement Group in the south west is testament to this vision. "What we as a group are trying to create is a prolific, well-fleshed, wool shedding sheep with easy lambing characteristics."
Having started with 40ha of rented grazing, Peter has now expanded to the point where his flock is run over 120ha and numbers 650 ewes consisting of pedigree flocks of Texels, Suffolks and Frieslands.
Most of the land used by the flock is owned by recreational landowners. "While a lot of these landlords don't require any rent, they do tend to stipulate management criteria largely based on environmental concerns and lifestyle issues."
This means that while the farm doesn't participate in any environmental schemes Peter does practice the highest level of environmental management, applying little to no artificial fertilisers or sprays.
And, in line with his aim to breed a more commercial type of terminal sire the flock, including rams for sale, is fed no concentrates. "I want to sell sheep capable of serving at least 100 ewes a season without losing excessive condition and needing to be fed to recover from tupping." As a stated desire it's a big ask, particularly when most farmers still buy on looks alone, but it's one he's determined to execute.
This, Peter reckons, is where performance recording and proactive marketing plays a big role. All ewes are performance recorded with the aim of improving estimated breeding values year on year, something which is currently being achieved.
On the marketing front all existing and potential customers receive a newsletter explaining how the sheep are bred and listing all available rams together with their performance data and price - an approach favoured by few others, but one which avoids the need for Peter to attend any sales.
In line with the minimal input ethos, the farm is also, unlike many others, not a machinery salesman's paradise. It operates with three main pieces of kit, a pick-up, a livestock trailer and a quad bike, helping keep fixed costs down to the bare minimum and maximise profit margins which in recent years have stood at more than £18 a ewe.
Away from the farm Peter has for a number of years been active in farming politics, taking on roles within NSA, SCOPS, Meat South West and numerous other sheep industry initiatives.
WHAT THE JUDGES LIKED
• Low fixed costs, eliminating unnecessary inputs.
• Vision for the future of his business and the sector.
• Providing industry leadership.
• Works to enhance the farmed environment.
GENESIS FARADAY TECHNOLOGY ROADMAPPING WORKSHOP
Technology roadmapping is increasingly seen as a key management tool, enabling companies to link technological capability to product and business plans so that technology and strategy go hand-in-hand. The technique has been found to be extremely useful to business of all sizes and types who wish to 'plan their route into the future'.
In December 2007, Huw Jones and David Telford operated the Genesis Technology Roadmapping Tool with the Premier Suffolk Breeders Group, (formerly know as Suffolk Sire Reference Scheme).
Seventeen group members attended the meeting at Stoneleigh. The event went very well, and overall, the Roadmapping process operated very effectively, and provoked a lot of interesting discussion. By the end of the process, the group had a good idea of how they should progress in the future, and have already begun to put new plans in place.
"I found the Roadmapping Tool extremely thought provoking, but more importantly I think it was very encouraging for group members to realise how closely their thoughts and opinions were already aligned," commented Peter Baber, the Group Chairman, after the event. "It has certainly brought our group closer together and enabled us to jointly find and agree a new development plan for an exciting future".
