A visit to a previous monitor farm

This visit included two farms run by two brothers. They run both farms as a unit together. They keep Romney ewes and put a Suffolk, Dorset or Hampshire rams on them. They also keep cattle, Friesian cross Angus and put a Charolais bull on them. They also rare dairy heifers. Sheep are not fed any concentrates or conserved forage. Cattle are fed silage over the winter when needed. Mainly to keep lambing paddocks for the sheep. The sheep are set stocked for 6-8 weeks over lambing. 

They are currently weaning lambs and have already sold 60% of the lambs before weaning. 
It was interesting to see how well the dogs worked in the handling pens and the setup of the handling pens.

While discussing the monitor farm they were really pleased with how this worked and how it really helped them move forward. The steering group and attendees at the meeting gave lots of good ideas. Some not so good and they felt it was up to them to pick out what suited them and the farm. They both said one of the best things about being a monitor farm was all the tests they did as part of it and the contact they had with the vet. The terrain of this farm was again very steep and difficult to get around with all spraying done with a helicopter and fertiliser applied with a plane.