Farm Walk - NSA South West Region
Date: 26th September 2017
Time: 2.30pm
Location: Home Farm, Sidbury, Sidmouth, Devon, EX10 0QE
NSA South West Region with kind permission from NSA South West committee member Phillip Derryman invited members, neighbours and friends to a farm walk at Home Farm, Sidbury, EX10 0QE on Tuesday 26th September. A good number of attendees enjoyed a talk and tour of the farming enterprise, as detailed below.
As a result of his many visits to New Zealand, Alan has adopted Kiwi genetics and many management principles across his flock of 900 New Zealand Romney ewes. The ewes run alongside a herd of 70 Stabiliser sucklers and a small amount of arable production. Alan began introducing New Zealand genetics around four years after starting with the Romneys, using AI for four seasons. He set up six family groups at this time, to allow him to breed rams and use them without risk of inbreeding. He feels the NZ breeding offers increased hardiness and better meat yield, with little disadvantage in terms of prolificacy and is currently breeding a lot of his own rams - some of which he sells.
