JEWITT BELTEX
Est. 2006 Flock Letters. HCJ MV ACC
In The Press
Beltex proving a big success for teenager
Henry Jewitt
Beltex has proved itself a viable commercial sire for County Durham’s
Jewitt family for more than a decade – just ask young Henry Jewitt,
one of the youngest breeders in the society’s flock book.
Eighteen-year-old Henry puts his faith in the quality of Beltex for his
family’s 350-acre farm, both as a pedigree flock producing high-quality
rams and females for sale, and as the terminal sire used over their
entire 250-ewe.
Based at Gracie Farm, Barnard Castle, the commercial flock, which
comprises Beltex cross Texel, Mule, Zwartbles and other continental
cross ewes, has been put to Beltex rams since 2000, after his parents
were impressed by the breed’s shapely carcase at breeding sales in
the North East.
Henry said: “We lamb everything on the farm to the Beltex. The farm is 1,200ft above sea level and, with the exception of this year due to bad weather, we generally lamb everything outside from April 1 for six weeks, with minimal problems.
“The Beltex rams leave smaller lambs on the ground that are quickly up to suckle and start to put on meat off milk and grass within the first few weeks.” Henry has just completed sixth-form college and has already started to work with his parents on the hill unit.
In 2013, the commercial flock scanned at 187% and reared 178%.
The pedigree flock is lambed inside in early February, with embryo transfers lambing the previous month.
“We find the Beltex cross lambs are all fit to be weaned at 16 weeks and they are sold either finished at an average 38kg liveweight or as stores off milk and grass alone at 16 to 22-weeks-old in mid-September, to a farmer who finishes them for his farm shop in Darlington, favouring the shapely, smaller carcases that the Beltex-sired lambs offer with minimal bone and fat waste.
“We find we can secure a premium by selling the lambs to one buyer; we come to a good deal with the farm shop each year and it makes finding time to manage the rest of the farm, including an 80-cow suckler herd and pedigree Belgian Blue herd, easier by not having to go to the market or slaughterhouse each week.”
On the back of using Beltex rams commercially, in 2006 Henry bought their first pedigree females privately, and made ram purchases including the 9,000gns Glantre Royce.
Today, the Jewitt flock stands at 65 ewes with up to 35 gimmers retained each year as replacements. Any surplus is sold privately or through Carlisle society sales where four gimmers will be up for sale this month.
Henry said: “The main objective of the pedigree flock is to breed rams for sale and this is made easier by marketing the flock at shows including the Great Yorkshire Show where our aged ram Jewitt Prime Minister won his class in 2012, as well as championships at Northumberland, Driffield, Egglestone and Bowes shows.
“Privately, we have sold rams to 2,000gns and last year took 1,100gns at Carlisle for a shearling ram. I have also recently been to Belgium to select some new top-quality bloodlines to take the flock forward.”
He visually selects both females and rams for a powerful, shapely carcase with sound legs and teeth, and a strong head.
Sticking with Beltex will ensure the Jewitts’ future success in the market place, said Henry: “The Beltex will definitely continue to have a place in the commercial sheep enterprise as we have found a ready market for the clean, smaller-framed lambs with minimal waste to suit the modern consumer.”
The Beltex will definitely continue to have a place in the commercial sheep enterprise
Henry, 17, shows way to success (Northern Farmer May 2013)
HENRY Jewitt is looking forward to the show season after last year’s was his best to date.
The 17-year-old has a pedigree Beltex flock, with the Jewitt prefix, which he founded in
2006 with two pedigree gimmers and two pedigree ewe lambs.
Today, the family partnership runs 65 pedigree ewes and 40 Beltex x Texel ewes,
for breeding show and cross rams, on their 350-acre Gracies hill farm at Romaldkirk,
near Barnard Castle, County Durham.
The farm also supports a flock of 200 cross ewes and a herd of 80 suckler cows, including
a small herd of British Blues under the Sunnybank prefix.
Henry said: “We like the Beltex because of the high quality of the carcase and the premium price which Beltex finished lambs command in the market place.”
Tup lambs from the flock have sold for up to 2,000gns for a son of Beachy Perfection, a first-prize winner at the Royal Highland Show in 2010. The first lambs are now on the ground from the latest flock sire, Glantre Royce, purchased at Carlisle in August for 9,000gns.
AI allows access to a wider range of rams, and embryo transfer is also used to improve the flock.
The best ewes are flushed early to top Beltex rams to facilitate early lambing and bigger lambs for the early shows.
Successes last year included championships at the Northumberland, Driffield, Egglestone and Bowes shows and a first at the Great Yorkshire at Harrogate.
Shearling rams, ram lambs and shearling gimmers are sold at breed society sales and privately from the start of August.
The Jewitts have overwintered their lambs and hoggs, and feed their sale rams with Harbro’s Clover pedigree Kelso 16 nut. They also include it in their show mix – and are pleased with the performance of their sheep.
“We received a sample of the feed in the post and decided to try it,” said Henry.
“It has been quite successful and the sheep have been doing a lot better.”
Kelso 16 has been specially formulated to promote rumen health and optimise growth and fertility in the pedigree tup.
The inclusion of a unique live yeast, Yea-Sacc, optimises rumen health and fibre digestion, while Veo Premium, a unique blend of essential oils exclusive to Harbro, stimulates feed intake.“Our tups are certainly doing very well on it and achieving their full genetic potential,” said Henry.
Kelso 16 is also included in the winter rations of the flock of Jacob x Beltex and Mule ewes along with Harbro mineral licks.
