Best known for their success with commercial show calves, the Munros from Invercharron, Ardgay in Sutherland have recently branched into sheep after discovering the magic of the double muscled Beltex breed.
Invercharron is home to 50 pedigree Beltex ewes, alongside other pedigree flocks of Suffolks and Blue Texels. They also run 70 pure Texels, 600 commercial cross Cheviot ewes, and 170 Blackface ewes.
The family, made up of husband and wife Mark and Debby, son Duncan and daughter Tilly, forayed into Beltex with a terminal sire on their commercial Cheviots to produce finished prime lambs. Looking for a new challenge they bought a few pedigree ewes from John Scott, Fearn Farm.
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Mark said: “We always had cross Cheviots on the farm and had been crossing Beltex tups over them. We also had unregistered Texel ewes that were crossed with the Beltex, from which we could sell 30 to 40 tups from them from home, so going into breeding Beltex felt like adding another string to our bow.
“We now sell around 80 shearlings from all four breeds from home and at the various breed sales. We also sell Beltex cross Texel tups bred from pure Texel hoggs and our pedigree Beltex tups.”
The Munros were taken aback by Beltex’ strong mothering ability and hardiness of the lambs.
“I genuinely didn’t expect them to be that easy to work with and they are such good mothers, which helps them fit in well with the other breeds here,” said Debby.
They are also easy fed with Invercharron Beltex producing scanning percentages of 150% after which they are provided with mineral buckets and hay before lambing inside, in February and March. However, they are put back out to grass as soon as the lambs are up, suckled, and have bonded with their mothers.
Despite the new focus on pedigree, the Beltex at Invercharron are still very much farmed commercially.
“Commercial producers buy most of our tups so we have to breed a product for them. That’s why we look to breed slightly bigger tups with shape and carcase than the more traditional pedigree breeders. Our bread and butter is the commercial trade so we always prioritise that,” said Mark.
Although very much in their infancy with pedigree Beltex having established the flock two years ago, they have already had a reasonable splash at various shows and sales. Just last week, they won the breed championship at Nairn and Black Isle with the bought-in Criffel Flower which also went on to take the supreme sheep at Nairn.
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“We are mostly selling through Dingwall as that’s our local mart but we also sell at Stirling. Currently we have a really good commercial trade and sell to the same buyers both ringside and privately from home,” Mark added.
“We’ve got shearlings bound for the pedigree sale at Stirling and hopefully once we build up the flock further, we’ll be able to take a pen of tup lambs and shearlings to the Premier sale in Carlisle. This year is also the first we are selling females, with gimmers for sale.”
He added that he looks to breed a good consistent pen of sheep rather than one or two that attract big money.
“If you have one that sells for a lot of money, and the rest go for very little, what are the chances of that expensive tup doing as well compared to having a strong pen of sheep that are more likely to produce a consistent product.”
No strangers to the show circuit having enjoyed huge success with their commercial calves in the past, the Munros took the opportunity to exhibit their sheep to potential buyers.
Mark added: “Showcasing our sheep to as many people as possible through shows while also competing with what’s out there gives us a really good idea of where we sit and have still to go to compete.
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"We even decided to compete at the Royal Highland with Beltex this year, which we were not planning on, but we ended up being placed in all classes which was amazing since we hadn’t prepared for it and we weren’t sure what the competition would be like. Being up against the big breeders who have been in the game for years and being placed alongside them was so beneficial to us and showed us what level we are at.”
The family has also been achieving big things with their Blue Texels over the last two show seasons when exhibiting at Latheron, Sutherland, Black Isle, Grantown, Nairn, and Caithness – provided it doesn’t clash with Sutherland. They also showed at the National Blue Texel Show in Stirling this year. To date, the Blues and the Beltex have taken inter-breed and reserve inter-breed championships at Latheron, Sutherland and Nairn this year. They also took supreme overall at Sutherland last year.
“According to the stewards, this year was the first time a Blue Texel took the inter-breed sheep honours two years in a row at Sutherland, which is really something considering the show is so Cheviot heavy.”
Very much a family affair, Mark stressed that every decision is a group one. “I don’t just tell everyone what to do – it has to be unanimously agreed on or it isn’t happening. It’s really nice to have the kids involved in the business as much as we do and we leave them to look after parts of it themselves. They have always been super keen which definitely helps.”
Duncan has recently finished studying agriculture at college and Tilly left school last year to pursue lambing work on other farms – but both are heavily involved with the farm, attending to cattle as well as running the Blackfaces on one of the four main holdings that make up Invercharron.
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Despite claims by Mark that he is ‘a sheep farmer now’, there are still cattle on the farm, albeit in reduced numbers.
“We have gone from 120 to 80 commercial suckler cows. We still do show calves but we have reduced that from 18 head at one show down to a more manageable number and it is purely up to Duncan and Tilly when it comes to showing them.”
Sheep and cattle are also very different when it comes to showing. Debby added: “Show calves have to be halter trained to gain full control of them in the show ring, whereas the sheep are so much easier – they’re just left to run to show themselves until you catch them up.”
As a family new to the Beltex breed, they have never been taught how to formally dress lambs for shows and sales.
“We had never seen anyone dress a sheep before – I think I got a picture of the champion tup at the Highland Show one year and just used it as a reference picture,” said Debby.
“Somehow we were able to make it work just by copying the picture and that’s how we have been dressing the sheep ever since.”
Back at the farm the Munros are continuing to build up their flock but with numbers increasing they are able to be a bit more selective on the genetics.
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“We’re looking to breed bigger sheep with a bit more length and size while also possessing the typical Beltex traits. We are currently retaining 10 gimmers per year which is maybe more than we need but it means we can cherry pick the best ones and anything that scans empty or has health issues is killed,” Mark said, adding that Debby keeps notes on the females with the good ewes having stars put against them and any problem ewes black marks.
Looking to the future the Munros feel extremely positive after two years of sheep breeding under their belt. “We hope to know more about sheep in the years to come. We like where we are going with the Beltex and we don’t feel too far off the mark,” said Debby.
Mark concluded: “It’s so nice to go into something completely different as a family. We are a team at the end of the day and it’s really gratifying starting from the very bottom of something we know absolutely nothing about and doing it together as equals. Getting to go on this journey with my wife and kids is genuinely so much fun.”
Farm Facts
Farm size: 800 acres over four holdings with Invercharron acting as the base of operations.
Livestock: 50 pedigree Beltex, 40 pedigree Blue Texels, 70 pure Texels, six pedigree Suffolks, 600 commercial Cheviot crossed ewes, 170 Blackface ewes for breeding mules. Alongside 80 suckler cows.
Who’s all involved: Mark, Debby, and children Duncan and Tilly.
Recent show success: Supreme champion at Sutherland 2023, interbreed sheep and reserve at Latheron 2024, interbeed sheep at Sutherland Show 2024, Interbreed sheep at Nairn Show 2024, and Champion Beltex at the Black Isle show 2024
Arable: 80 acres of silage and hay for own use.
On The Spot
Biggest investment? Machinery.
Words of advice? If you are going to be busy you might as well be really busy.
Favourite show? Sutherland or Black Isle.
Something you couldn’t live without? Farming.
Where do you see yourselves in ten years? Further down the line with each breed working closer to where we want to be.
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