COLUMN: My visit to the inspirational Aussie farmer who created a new breed of sheep
From the Farm by Victoria Ballantyne
I've been thinking about the people we visited as part of my Nuffield travels in Western Australia at the end of last year.
Every visit was different and equally impressive, but the one that inspired us most was a morning with Dawson and Greta Bradford at Hillcroft Farm, a large cropping, pig and feed mill business, near Narrogin.
Dawson runs a Poll Dorset stud alongside a commercial flock. He was also heavily involved with reinvigorating the Western Australia Lamb Marketing Board.
After a major health scare in 2002 he decided to lighten his workload by breeding an 'easy-care' sheep that naturally sheds its wool – wool production didn’t add any value to the enterprise, cost a lot to shear and caused management problems.
He went on to create an entirely new breed – the UltraWhite – a meaty, nearly wool-less, easy kept and prolific ewe that is the result of exceptional stockmanship and a comprehension of genetics.
Last year the Bradfords sold nearly 500 rams, topping at $20,500 (£12,800) as Australian buyers competed for the top animals.
They run these rams on their own commercial flock of 8000 pure UltraWhites, with 800 of the best pedigree ewes and lambs recorded for the stud.
They are very modest, quietly spoken, hospitable people who continue to strive to produce an animal that makes life easier and more profitable for their buyers. I would loved to have spent more time with them.
Back in Brora, and much of January and February have been spent catching up on endless paperwork and compliance whilst Jason looks after the stock, carries out repairs and maintenance and we wait for the longer days to arrive.
We have a relatively simple winter routine feeding cows weekly and calves daily, though we make sure everything is seen and counted daily. Our sheep are mostly off the farm, grazing rough ground elsewhere so we visit them a few times a week to check all is well.
This simple system allows us to catch up on maintenance, with plenty of fence posts replaced, gates swung and the farm ready for when our busy season starts in April. It also allows us to get away from the farm for meetings or to see friends.
We attended our first NFU Scotland conference last month. A great experience with excellent presentations, robust discussions and a look at future government policy. We are lucky to have knowledgeable people nearby who can keep an eye on things whilst we’re away.
We have pregnancy scanned the ewes and were very pleased, at the results with an average 170 per cent, which has been our target for a few years.
Only the gimmers were given a fluke and worm and we didn’t give any extra minerals or trace elements, so we hope we are breeding a sheep that works in our environment without having to throw a lot of extra products at them.
Our challenge now is to manage our grass so we have plenty at lambing. This is crucial in ensuring the ewes have high quality colostrum, which is turn sets up the lamb for a healthy life.
I’m off to Iceland next week for the next leg of my Nuffield travels and am really looking forward to getting an insight into agriculture in such an extreme landscape.
Victoria and Jason Ballantyne run Clynelish Farm, Brora.
