A new entrant farmer in 1999 Macdonald has gradually increased the size of his holding, Taldale Farm, to just under 240 hectares on which he runs 600 Cheviot and cross ewes and 250 ewe hoggets.
His aim is not necessarily to increase ewe numbers but to have 600 productive ewes producing lambs to correct market specification.
To achieve that he keeps 400 Cheviots pure and crosses the rest with a NZ Suffolk, the progeny of which are crossed with the Beltex.
“I was one of the first in Scotland to buy into NZ Suffolk genetics and I have been very impressed with their fertility and libido,” Macdonald said.
“One shearling will serve 150 ewes and the resulting cross ewe has a good, thick coat, which helps in this area.”
He has improved his lambing percentage over the years and now scans at over 170% and achieves 156% at weaning, thanks to blood testing the ewes six weeks before tupping to identify any mineral or trace element deficiencies.
He also soil samples and has the unusual approach of combining the two results and adding the required minerals to his fertiliser programme instead of treating the sheep.
“Why do we drench sheep and put up with poor quality grass and silage when we can marry the two together and solve both problems at once,” he said.
The key to his winter feeding is making good silage.
He makes about 350 bales a year and has started using a specialist bale wrap that claims to prevent any oxygen entering the bales.
“We were losing as many as eight to 10 ewes a year with listeria, which was very frustrating, especially as it usually happened just before lambing,” he said.
“Since I started using the bale wrap (Silostop) I’ve not lost a single ewe to the disease.”
