Texels break records in 2021

Texels smash more records in 2021

As the sheep sector went from buoyant to booming throughout 2021, so too did the Texel breed, seeing new records set at both the English and Northern Irish National Sales and the Texel Sheep Society’s four National Sales once again grossed more than £2m of trade. At the English National Sale, Worcester, a new sale record for a shearling ram was achieved when the Williams family, Lampeter, sold their tup, Caron Dynamite for 32,000gns. This record busting price helped set a new shearling ram average for the breed at Worcester, with an 81% clearance seeing an average of £2552.29, up more than 33% on the previous record of £1905.31 which had been set just 12 months earlier. Meanwhile, at the Northern Irish National Sale, Ballymena, ram lamb Seaforde Egyptian Warrior stole the show when selling for a new centre record of 26,000gns. Once again this, and another five figure sale at 17,000gns, helped the breed record a centre best average of £1300.77 for ram lambs. The breed continued to perform strongly in the commercial sector too, with the latest GB Sheep Breeds Survey showing that Texels accounted for 27.2% of all rams used in the GB National flock, with 26% of all ewes in GB mated to Texel rams.

This dominance was also reflected in the national ewe flock, with 15% of crossbred ewes being Texel sired and 12% of all ewes being by a Texel ram.

Texel Sheep Society chief executive John Yates said the dominance of the breed was further reflected at major commercial ram sales too, with both Kelso Ram Sale and the Main NSA Ram Sale, Builth Wells, recording strong performances for the breed.

“A new sale record of £65,000 for Campsie Drambuie was the headline maker at Kelso, with Texels accounting for 41% of the gross sale value and registered Texel shearlings averaging £1412.72. At Builth Texels accounted for 37% of the total sale and registered Texel shearlings levelled at £935.45.” And while there were no individual record breakers at the in-lamb sales the demand at these was once again exceptional and what is believed to be a new record pen average for in-lamb females was achieved by the Boden family at the Christmas Stars sale with an average of £12,915 for 10 sold. The Society also hosted the inaugural Textravaganza National Texel Show at Carlisle, an event which showcased the very best of the breed to a huge audience from all corners of the UK, said Mr Yates. “While 2021 continued to present challenges as a result of Covid-19 it had been a tremendous year for the sheep industry and that had been reflected at all levels within the Texel breed.

“These headline prices are just the tip of the iceberg, with exceptional demand for both pedigree Texels and Texel sired crossbred stock across the UK. All of this was fed by a rampant demand for quality prime lambs throughout 2021, with prices never dipping below £2/kg throughout the year.

“This was reflected at breeding stock sales the length and breadth of the country which saw Texel cross females eagerly sought after and Texel rams achieving top prices at many centres.” Mr Yates said many Texel sales had seen record averages achieved alongside exceptional clearance rates. “The confidence felt among the commercial

The 32,000gns Caron Dynamite was one of the number of record breakers in 2021.

62%

jump in Ballymena ram lamb average

33%

lift in Worcester shearling average

41%

of total sale value at Kelso

37%

of total sale value at Builth

sheep sector had fed back up the supply chain as commercial farmers were prepared to dig deep to secure the breeding stock they needed to add value to their future lamb crops and their businesses as a whole.”

Changes to Society publications

As many members will be aware the Society board took the decision at the end of 2021 to cease production of the Society Journal with immediate effect. Society chairman Roy Campbell says this was not a decision the board took lightly, but one which was made following the development of other areas of the Society’s communications portfolio.

“When the Society was founded nearly 50 years ago an annual Journal was a natural and obvious way of providing members with information and to support the promotion of the breed for both the pedigree and commercial audience. However, much like the Texel breed has evolved, the way the Society communicates with members has also needed to evolve, with major improvements in the last decade.

“The introduction of the internet and subsequently social media has meant that the Society’s core communications are now largely online, via the website, Society social media channels, e-newsletters and increasingly also via iTexel.

“This online presence is then supported by timely, engaging print publications in the form of The Bulletin and Primestock magazine, with a further convenience of each hard copy publication also being available on issuu in digital format,” explained Mr Campbell.

“The Society has made significant investment in these other forms of communication to ensure members are always kept up to date with the latest Texel news, superseding the function of the annual Journal as the main form of promotion and communication.

“Additionally, recent years have seen a significant drop in advertising within the Journal as members have embraced other forms of promoting their flocks, largely using social media as a no cost option that is simple to update regularly.

“While the board appreciates that not all members will agree with the decision taken, I hope everyone can understand the evolutionary nature of Society communications, the investments being made and values the timely and efficient manner in which the Society conducts its breed promotion function.

“The bulletins of today are by far more informative than the journals of yesterday and are also easily kept for perpetuity if if that is the desire of individual members.” added Mr Campbell.

CARAS award for Steve

Society director and chair of the breed development committee Steve Smith has been awarded an Associateship of the Council for Awards of Royal Agricultural Societies (CARAS) for his submission ‘From Grey Pavements to Green Pastures’.

CARAS rewards individuals for their outstanding contribution to the Agricultural sector. CARAS Wales awarded Mr Smith his associateship at an awards ceremony held at the Royal Welsh Showground in September 2021. John Yates commended Steve on his accolade, adding that having known Steve for more than 25 years, his drive and enthusiasm for the industry has never wained.

Scrapie genotypes

In response to requests from members for more information on their animals, the Society is pleased to announce that Scrapie genotypes will be available for genotyped registered sires later this year. These will be accessed through iTexel and, for a fee, members will be able to view the genotypes and subsequently choose whether to publish them online, in catalogues and on pedigree certificates. Animals with available genotypes will appear on a new, dedicated page within iTexel, called Genetex and, in the first instance, genotypes will be available for sires registered in the last few years and all those registered in the future. Members should note these will be non-export approved genotypes, provided solely for management purposes.

Data cleaning

To help members manage their flocks more easily on iTexel, the data on iTexel has been cleaned to remove almost 45,000 live animals that were classed as unproductive. This included almost 32,000 unregistered animals and more than 12,000 aged females that haven’t lambed for two years which in most cases will have been culled or died. Members are encouraged to regularly update their flock records. Anyone who has concerns with their flock data should contact registrations@texel.co.uk

Completing flock data accurately

All members are encouraged to enter lambs’ birth weights and lambing ease scores in iTexel when lambs are birth notified. Including this simple to collect information improves the data quality in iTexel and supports the development of the terminal sire breed with the biggest single influence on the UK sheep industry.