Peter and Vicki Hedley own Swinside Townfoot in Jedburgh. Across the 423-acre farm, and an additional 250 acres on a grazing agreement, the Hedleys run 1,000 North Country Cheviot ewes. Using a simple system, they put approximately 400 ewes back to a Cheviot tup each year to produce replacement ewe lambs and tups to sell as shearlings.
In addition, 600 ewes are put to a Blue Faced Leicester tup to provide Cheviot mule ewe lambs. All sheep are run in a closed flock, other than purchasing stock tups.
Benchmarking is an important aspect at Swinside Townfoot, with Peter and Vicki undertaking the process for the past ten years, which they say helps them to find areas that may need attention or improvement. In addition, the purchase of a combi-clamp with added weigh scale has improved efficiency by allowing the Hedleys to monitor LWG closely and optimize the performance of both ewes and lambs.
Read more: Meet the AgriScot Scottish Sheep Farm of the Year finalists!
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