Dewi’s ram lamb sparks Charollais ding dong
AN OUTDOORS-reared ram lamb from Anglesey has become the second most expensive Charollais sheep ever sold.
Ffrwd Top Notch lived up to his name when he was knocked down for 22,000gns at the breed society’s Worcester Premier Sale last Tuesday.
For breeder Dewi Evans the moment was bittersweet as he missed his moment of triumph due his mother’s ill-health.
He left Worcester early to be at her hospital bedside in Liverpool and she died the following morning.
“I am fortunate to have great friends who were prepared to look after my lambs at the sale,” he said.
The sale was preceded by a moment’s silence for Dewi before the bidding flew past the day’s previous best price.
Top Notch finally fell to a joint bid by David Roberts, from Shropshire, and Jonathan and Janet Corbett, Gloucestershire.
Dewi, of Tyddyn y Ffrwd, Llanallgo, Moelfre, marketed the tup as having being reared outside day and night since the first week of January, often in snowy conditions.
Although he doesn’t have room to keep his lambs inside for months, Dewi believes they develop better outside anyway, even if growth rates may suffer.
Ffrwd Top Notch stood out from birth. A twin to a ewe lamb, out of a Mortimer Majestic daughter, he was sired by Edstaston Sotogrande, bought jointly with Jonathan and Janet Corbett for 4,000gns at last year’s Worcester Premier Sale.
“Whenever I looked at him (Top Notch), he always stood well,” said Dewi.
“Edstaston Sotogrande has exceeded our expectations. So much so that I bought the Corbetts’ share of the ram this year.
“I am very pleased with his offspring. The lambs have good heads, chest width, good tops and most importantly excellent back-ends.
“He has certainly moved the flock forward.”
Having sold their share of Sotogrande, the Corbetts were determined to buy back his bloodlines, and had agreed a pre-sale £12,000 budget for Top Notch with David Roberts.
The ram lamb’s new owners said that, although he was expensive, this sort of opportunity does “not come along every day”.
On what was a good day for Dewi, a second lamb by the same sire, Ffrwd Tyrone, sold for 6,200gns to a collective of Welsh buyers, Adrian Davies, Justin Evans, Tim Pritchard and David Curran.