Prime livestock production on show at NSA Welsh Sheep 2023

A welcome return to the farming event calendar this year will be NSA Welsh Sheep, hosted this time by Huw and Sioned Owen and son Dafydd, of Redhouse Farm, Aberhafesp, Powys.

Red House extends to 550 acres (220ha) and rises to 855ft (260m) above sea level, with sweeping views down to the Severn Valley. The farm is owned by Huw, Sioned and Dafydd. Huw’s late father, Bryn Owen of Sandilands Farm, Tywyn, Gwynedd, bought the former dairy farm in 2013 for the family, who also run a caravan park and farming business in the same town.

At Red House the Owen family have 1,000 mainly Texel cross ewes, together with Dafydd’s flock of 55 pedigree Beltex’s. They also run a flock of 100 pedigree Texel sheep, plus a similar number of pedigree Limousin suckler cows.

Huw says: “We’re all looking forward to NSA Welsh Sheep. God willing, it will be one of the first events of the season.

"I believe there will be a lot of people wanting to attend. We’ll throw ourselves into it all and show people how we do things. It’s a working farm with an emphasis on producing top quality prime lamb and beef.

High standards

“I like to think we do our best to do everything to a certain level. We’ve got some Suffolk cross Mule ewes and cross them with a Beltex. We also put the Texel yearlings to a Beltex ram. We are proud of our stock and want people to know us for what we are producing,” Huw continues.

Lamb production is focussed on producing a good quality carcase, at a weight appealing to all liveweight markets. They aim for about 42kg and above, ideally 45-46kg at the top grade, to reach the widest possible range of buyers.

Huw says: “You get butchers coming back to buy lambs weekly, so you need your lambs to be doing what they want them to do.

“We’re producing lambs for the market on the day. We start selling as a rule from June until the end of August. The cattle are all sold as stores and our aim is exactly the same, to produce a high-quality carcase animal that we sell at about 12 months of age supporting local markets Welshpool and St Asaph.

“Because we’re a pure Limousin herd, we produce a good conformation animal and again it’s going back to repeat customers. The product we’re selling is what they want.”

The family say quality is paramount in everything they do and Sioned stresses the farm is a team effort, with everyone helping out where necessary. And they all have confidence in good quality sheep production.

Lambing begins in February with the pedigree Beltex, followed by the Texels and the commercial flock at the beginning of March. Ewes are housed before lambing and timing depends on whether they’re carrying triplets, twins or singles, as does feeding. Weather permitting, they’re out as soon as they’ve lambed and lambs have sucked.

Triplets and twins are fed cobs in the straw, as well as silage. The singles are just fed silage. They all have ad lib minerals. The family’s approach is to look after each and every one, with health and welfare paramount. Dafydd does the night shift, while his parents take the lead during the day.

The calving begins almost as soon as lambing finishes in mid April. The 80 cows are brought in as they start bagging up, so they can be closely watched via CCTV. Huw says they are relatively easy calving and prioritising their health and welfare helps with longevity. Replacement heifers are reared on the farm and each cow is kept as long as possible.

Replacements

The family generally buy in replacement ewes for the commercial flock, but with the Texel and Beltex flocks, the best ewe lambs are identified and kept. In terms of grassland, they try to plough 10% every year with a regular grass seed mix.

Family and teamwork are at the heart of everything, with one valued part-time member of staff complementing the family unit. Dafydd is at home full-time having finished his studies at Glynllifon College, Gwynedd, and Llysfasi College, Clwyd. At 24, the pedigree Beltex ewes belong to him and he was recently awarded best flock in Wales from the Welsh Beltex Club.

Dafydd is very forward thinking and comments: “I decided to start breeding Beltex sheep around 12 years ago to allow us to breed our own rams for the commercial flock. We do the same with the Texels. Breeding our own rams enables us to produce top quality lambs.

“People will always need food to survive and the sooner governments realise that the better. It’s a basic necessity that people take for granted.”

Welsh sheep

Sioned is hugely enthusiastic about NSA Welsh Sheep and the fact local schools and colleges will be invited this time. “I came into farming when I married Huw and I have a real passion for the industry. We work together as a family, sharing the joys and the tears,” she says.

“We’ll revel in the chance to showcase our industry to the general public this year, as well as to fellow sheep farmers. It will give them more insight into the huge value their food has and the care and attention embedded into rearing the stock and getting such nutritious meat to the table.

“It’s a great story and we’re so happy to share it. I hope it means young people especially schoolchildren, understand where food comes from – It’s important these days.”

Huw adds: “It’s a growing population and people need feeding. People seem to forget that food needs to be produced.

“The environment is important, but so is food production. We need a more balanced approach from our political leaders and opinion formers. We farm here and try and keep a balance between nature and providing high quality lamb and beef for the public to enjoy.

“We have planted hedges and the countryside around here wouldn’t look as it does without it’s farmers. As part of our farming routine, we maintain the hedges and double fence to stop the stock getting to them, so they grow and provide shelter for nesting ground birds and small animals.

“Fencing was the biggest challenge when we came here. It’s taken years to get to where we are and it’s ongoing, as it is on every farm."

The family’s joy in continually improving the farm and producing top qualify food in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner is evident. They can’t wait to share their story with visitors to the event in May.