Page 7 - Commercial Suffolks 2019
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GWEN






 TAKES






 STOCK








       ewes by a Suffolk ram scanned at 163%.   ‘I wanted a
 At 24, Gwen Price is already
       Lambing  in  February,  her  first  batch  sold
 proving that she has the   on 22 May 2020 and the last batch went   commercial flock
 drive and expertise to    on 29th June with an overall average price
 build an excellent    of £93.  The average of lamb weight and   producing what
       grades for 2020 were:
 farming enterprise                         the market wants
       GRADES
              1  2   3L     3H   4L 4H  5   in the best way
         E
 tudying for her BSc in agriculture and   taking on more responsibility in both   U        13.04%  43.48%           possible’ Gwen Price
 then her masters, she also worked full   administration for the family business and   R        39.13%  4.35%
 S time for Wynnstay. A multiple award   stock management. Gwen has her own   O                       evidence of weight gain and helps identify
 winner, Gwen now farms in her own right   20ha (50acre) rented unit just 10 minutes   P-                       top performing lambs. She examines
 as well as working as a Farming Connect   from home. Sitting at 130m (420ft) above   P+                       her  cost  of  production  in  fine  detail  and
 development officer for Brecknock.  sea  level  she  runs  a  flock  of  100  Suffolk   produces lambs from a low cost system
 cross  speckled  face  ewes,  48  Suffolk/  WEIGHT PER GRADE Kg  based on tetraploid HRG, white clover and
 Growing  up  with  three  older  brother   speckle yearlings and 50 Suffolk ewe      1  2  3L  3H  4L 4H  5  rape for high energy – high protein forage.
 triplets, she has been involved in farming   lambs. She also rears British Blue cross and   E
 as long as she can remember and is now   Hereford cross calves to sell on, either as   U        20.4  21.4           Gwen’s goal is to produce lambs and
 stores or in-calf heifers.                 heifers as cost effectively and efficiently as
         R          18.3   19.6             possible, making the best of what she has
         O
 Gwen’s lambs are sold to nearby Dunbia     rather  than  stretching  herself  financially
 through the  Wales  YFC Lamb initiative   P-                       in the short to medium term by trying to
         P+
 which provides an extra £1 per head if     expand acreage or stock numbers too
 lambs  are  hitting  the  required  scheme   soon. She plans to increase her flock over
 specifications. She finds both the maternal   With  a strong focus  on  key performance   the next 5 years by selecting and keeping
 and more traditional terminal sire traits in   indicators (KPIs) Gwen used  Welsh   the best ewe lambs for breeding stock. ■
 the Suffolk suit her enterprise. In December   Government funding to buy an electronic
 2019, her 22 Suffolk ewes put to a  Texel   lamb weigher so she can monitor weight   Based on an article originally published in
 ram, scanned at 200% and 100 speckled   gains at least every fortnight which provides   the Farmers Guardian July 2020
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