The Brown family’s association with the Border Leicester goes back to the 1920s – but while the breed has experienced a major decline in numbers since then, Pete Brown remains confident that there’s still a place in today’s sheep sector for the right type of Border.

“I look at Border Leicesters from a commercial point of view. For me, they have to be big and long, with good conformation, to cross onto Blackface and Cheviot ewes. There’s no future for short, dumpy type Borders,” said Pete, a breed council member, who runs a pure Border flock and Hereford herd at Newbridge, Carstairs, with his wife Nicky, who runs the NFU agency in Lanark.

The family – including Pete and Nicky’s sons, Duncan, who is a doctor, and Fraser, a full-time rugby player for Edinburgh – also run ground at Corriecravie Farm on Arran, where Pete’s father grew up. There, they keep a flock of Blackface and Swaledale ewes, which are mainly put to the Border tup.

“We’ve just recently took over the rent of the farm on Arran, after my uncle passed away two years ago, so it’s a fairly new venture, but we’re delighted with the cross lambs we have on the ground just now. The first wedder lambs went away this week, averaging 37kg, they made £67.20 or £1.82 per kg liveweight through Lanark. We also plan to sell ewe lambs and keep some to lamb as hoggs. The Border Leicester has a lot to offer as a crossing tup – it has a better carcase than a lot of its rivals.”

Keeping that carcase is a main priority for the Browns, and therefore, they are particularly selective when buying in stock tups. Past purchases which have had a strong influence on the flock include Myles MacGregor, a show winner and successful female breeder, which died as a 10-year-old; the 1991 Royal Show supreme sheep, Hillend Major; and more recently, Knowsie Y2K, male champion at the Highland in 2002.

“Big, strong, level backed tups are our first consideration, before looking at breed characteristics, and I think there are more of those types available now. A bold, dark eye is important, but as for ears, as long as they can hear me whistle the dog, that’ll do.

“There’s no doubt that to survive and to compete with other breeds, the Border Leicester has to be prepared to change, in the way that other breeds have changed – notably the Bluefaced Leicester. But, the Border Leicester breed has worked hard for the past 10-15 years to breed good mouths, and they are improving all the time,” explained Pete, who is equally as selective in the females he keeps.

“We only keep females which have been born as a twin or triplet and have been multiple reared by their dam. Good maternal instincts are a must – they have to be able to look after their lambs.”

At present, the family run 20 ewes in their Bonniebraes flock, which was established in Staffordshire by Pete’s father in the 1960s, where he worked as a GP. Those ewes are now kept on Arran, while son Duncan’s Bosolo flock of 25 ewes are run at Newbridge, alongside the 50-cow Hereford herd. They are able to run the two farms with the assistance of neighbour Louden Steele, who helps out at Newbridge, and Pete’s Uncle Don, who keeps an eye on the Arran stock.

The two flocks are kept separate, but Pete says that ideally, he’d like to be using his best tups for pure breeding and on the Blackface flock. Consequently, he has decided not to re-test once his current MV status runs out.

“I don’t feel there’s any need for Border Leicesters to be MV accredited – none of the competitors, the Blueface, Blackie, Cheviot or Welsh Mountains, are tested. I’d rather use tups on the Blackface flock as lambs and then sell them as proven sires when they are shearlings,” he added.

Normally, 10-15 shearlings are sold each year, at Builth Wells or privately, and two or three lambs go to the Lanark sale. The ewes at Newbridge are run as a commercial flock, lambed from the last week in March onwards.

“The lambs are outside within a few days, and they’re a lot healthier for it – we don’t creep feed them either. Tup hoggs are all outwintered and we try to work the shearlings with the dog as much as possible, so they are fit and healthy by the time they get to the sale.”

Current stock tups include Didcot Man O’Hoy, bought for £3200 at Lanark two years ago, in partnership with Pete’s brother Jim, and Eildon Top Price, a tup bred by Jim and bought at Lanark in 2007. Both are big tups, which Pete feels could compete with any breed on conformation.

The Eildon tup is sire to the 12 shearlings heading to Builth next month, and to one of the trio of ram lambs for sale at Lanark on September 15. Also destined for Lanark are a son of the Didcot tup, plus one by Mosside McDuff, a tup bought at Lanark last year for £2300, which Pete owns a quarter share of.

As well as venturing as far as Wales to sales, the Browns also make a stern effort to attend many shows, both locally and nationally. The extra work has paid of on numerous occasions, with breed championships at the Highland in 1993, 1996 and 1999. Another proud claim to fame is winning the championships at the Royal, the Royal Highland and the Royal Welsh, in different years, but with the same tup, Myles MacGregor.

“Apparently I won the best baby competition at Arran Show in 1960 – so I’ve had a competitive spirit since then! It’s worth making the effort to show the sheep, because it’s a great way to promote the breed and let people see what it has to offer,” said Pete, who remains confident that there is a future for the Border Leicester breed.

“It’s important for British livestock that there is a variety of breeds for commercial producers to choose from, and as long as the Border Leicester breed is willing to change to meet the needs of the sheep sector, then there’s definitely a future for the breed. I’m not trying to buck the trend – I’m just aiming to produce good commercial ewe lambs and wedders, and I can do that with the Border,” he added.