Lambing Goes Well As Wellheads Prepares For NSA Scotsheep
09/05/06

NSA Scotsheep 2006 host, John Gordon, has had a good lambing on the family farm of Wellheads, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, where he runs a flock of 820 Greyface and Blackface ewes and 230 beef suckler cows.

Wellheads is the venue for the Scottish Region of the National Sheep Association’s biennial national sheep event, NSA Scotsheep, on Wednesday, June 7. The farm is one of the best known upland stock farms in the North-east of Scotland and the farm’s reputation for producing quality sheep and cattle will be a big attraction for the thousands of sheep farmers from throughout the UK and Ireland expected to attend this year’s event.

A popular feature of NSA Scotsheep will be the tour of the 1250-acre farm, which rises from 600ft at the steading to 1230ft at the top of the hill. Weather permitting, tractors and trailers will take visitors right to the top to enjoy the panoramic view to the Sutherland hills and enjoy shortbread, courtesy of Deans of Huntly, and a welcome tot of Glayva (a liqueur whisky) to be provided by one of the sponsors, Harbro Ltd, who are also producing the farm tour guide. Tractors are being supplied by HRN Tractors and trailers by Portequip while machinery group, Ringlink Scotland, are providing drivers.

It has been a busy time for John Gordon who, in addition to the day-to-day running of his sheep and suckler cow enterprises and preparing for NSA Scotsheep, has seen the completion of two general purpose buildings on the farm and has recently finished the planting of 35 acres of native species under the Forestry Grants Scheme.

“Now that we have the two new sheds, we have been able to take our ewes inside for lambing,” he reports. “It’s a lot of work but it has made a big difference and we have had a good lambing with a high survival rate.”

The new buildings can accommodate 500 ewes for lambing. Rams are keeled at tupping time to identify the early lambing ewes which are housed and turned out after lambing to allow the 300 later lambing ewes to be taken inside.

Wellheads is a typical family farm and at lambing time it is all hands on deck, with wife, Fiona, taking time off from her busy life as a stockbroker in Huntly, to help with the lambing, along with son, Ewan, and daughter, Kirstie. Two lambing students are also employed.

John’s main concern this spring has been the lack of early grass growth as a result of cold weather throughout March and early April.

“I was hoping for a better spring to give the lambs a good start,” he says. “But we have the lambs on the ground and all we need now is a bit more warmth to get the grass growing.”

The 230 Blackface ewes are crossed with the Border Leicester and the best ewe lambs retained as replacements for the 600-ewe flock of Greyface ewes which are crossed with Suffolk and Texel sires. As many lambs as possible are finished off the grass and all are away before Christmas. Finished lambs are sold through the Aberdeen and Northern Marts’ lamb marketing scheme.

“We feed the last 300 lambs on stubble and finish them as quickly as possible in order to preserve grass for the pregnant ewes in the spring,” John explains.

Half the black Limousin cross cows calve in the spring and the other half in the autumn. Yearling Charolais cross stores are sold twice a year at Thainstone and are always eagerly sought after. This spring, steers averaged 155p/kg and heifers 139 p/kg which is testimony to the quality of the calves which the farm produces. All home-bred calves are sold and breeding females purchased with calves at foot as replacements.

Although 700 acres is considered ploughable, with the rest hill and rough grazing, cropping is confined to 80 acres of barley for home feeding and 18 acres of turnips. Around 160 acres is cut for silage and hay is also made if weather conditions permit. This year Wellheads won the baled silage section of the North of Scotland Grassland Society’s annual silage competition.

The foresight of John’s father, the late Ian Gordon, in planting trees 20-30 years ago has provided invaluable shelter for outwintered stock and John is continuing this policy. The 25 acres of new planting in areas of rough land and steep banks in arable fields will provide shelter when the sitka spruce planted by his father are felled.

John is equally committed to creating an attractive environment on the farm and has been involved in the Countryside Premium Scheme, and more recently the Rural Stewardship Scheme, since 1998.

Beetle banks, water margins and three ponds have been created and 1200 metres of hedgerows planted. An area has been set aside for unharvested crops and species rich grassland to support the bird population.

Twenty-metre strips of hardwood have been planted this year alongside the existing shelter belts to provide a wildlife corridor when the shelter belts are felled. Advantage has been taken of the generous grants available under the Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme.

“We see ourselves as custodians of the countryside and enjoy seeing wildlife on the farm,” says John. “We have tried to maintain a balance between maintaining a viable stock farm and sacrificing less productive areas for environmental projects.”

It is not surprising that last year Mr Gordon was one of the finalists in the Royal Northern Agricultural Society’s Best Farm Practice Awards.

The Gordon family has farmed at Wellheads since 1879 when John’s great-grandfather became a tenant of the Duke of Richmond. His grandfather bought the farm in 1937 and John is particularly indebted to his father who made Wellheads the productive farm it is today by a continuous programme of applying phosphates and lime, drainage and the planting of shelter belts.

As for the future, John has no thoughts of cutting back following the introduction of the Single Farm Payment and uncertainties about future returns from producing cattle and sheep.

His confidence in the future is demonstrated by the erection of two new general purpose buildings and the recent installation of a new sheep handling system.

“You’re either farming or you’re not,” is John’s philosophy. “I am indebted to my father for the improvements he made on the farm in his time and I would like to give my son the same opportunity to follow me if he wants to farm.”

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