The Farmers Mart Oct/Nov 2015 - Issue 42 | Page 42

Brook House Farm Blazing their way ahead Chris Berry talks with Bentham-based Raymond Heigh about the Zwartbles breed »»Twenty years ago the Zwartbles breed of sheep from Northern Netherlands was first imported and during the past decades it has won over many farmers and has found its own niche. One of the directors of the Zwartbles Sheep Association is Raymond Heigh of Brook House Farm in Bentham where he farms in partnership with his parents Robert and Wendy. ‘I took up with Zwartbles ten years ago at the time when we had just come out of dairying. I had been around cows all my life and we had up to 60 Holstein Friesians but the price was just too low for us to carry on. The farm needed a new dairy set-up and it just wasn’t worth it. The cost to reinvest would have been around a quarter of a million.’ Today’s farming operation across their 130+ acres runs to beef store cattle and sheep. The cattle are generally bought-in from Bentham, plus some from Kirkby Stephen at 8-10 months old and are taken through to 24 months. They have about 45 to sell during the back-end. The main sheep flock is 170 Texel X or Suffolk X ewes and a few Mules. Lambing takes place from January to March as they try to hit the early lamb market. Replacements are usually bought-in rather than providing their own and this year they have bought 100 store lambs because of the plentiful supply of grass. The Zwartbles are Raymond’s individual enterprise within the farm partnership. ‘When the cows went in 2005 it was really weird. I always used to get up at 5.30 in the morning and then I was out of the door again at 4 o’clock in the afternoon to get the cows back into the parlour. I wouldn’t go back to it now but when you’re doing it you just go along with the routine. We made a move towards beef and upping the sheep numbers and I was also looking for something different, which is where the Zwartbles came in. The white blaze on black attracted me and it is a good-looking breed with a lot of good qualities. It is a lean meat sheep with a good taste to their lamb.’ ‘What you want on them is a compromise between their naturally stockier frame and their taller variation. If you just keep STATION ROAD . SETTLE . BD24 9AA BENTHAM AUCTION MART MAIN STREET . HIGH BENTHAM . LA2 7LE High Bentham, Nr Lancaster, LA2 7HF Premier Sales of Breeding Sheep & Gimmer Lambs Every Wednesday - 2000-3000 Cull Ewes & 4000 - 5000 Prime Lambs Seasonal Sales of Store Lambs & Sheep with Lambs Proud to be associated with Raymond Heigh of Brook House Farm Tel:- 015242 61444/61246 (Sale Days) www.benthamauction.co.uk 42 Oct/Nov 2015 www.farmers-mart.co.uk getting them up and up you get less meat on them. They’re now keeping a good shape right across the breeders in the UK and that’s one of the reasons why they are getting a bit more noticed when stood in interbreed competitions. They are also renowned as milky mothers.’ Raymond currently has 25 breeding ewes. It’s quite a healthy rise on the 16 he had last year and as clear an indication you