Venue for next NSA Scotsheep revealed

Kings Arms Farm in Ballantrae to host 2018 event

An Ayrshire farm with a top flock of 1,400 ewes is to host the national sheep event, NSA Scotsheep, next May.

The venue for the biennial event is Kings Arms Farm, Ballantrae, which is owned by Robert and Caroline Dalrymple and run along with long-time farm manager Andrew Maclean.

The farming enterprise extends to 350 acres at Kings Arms Farm, 350 acres at Crailoch three miles away, and a further 250 acres of rented land.

The sheep flock comprises 1,000 Texel cross Mule ewes which are firstly put to the Suffolk ram for the potential creep feeding of early lambs, followed by Texel and Beltex, and 400 Scotch Mules which are put to Texel rams to produce replacement Texel cross ewe lambs.

Mr Dalrymple said he was delighted and honoured to be asked to host such an important event for the sheep industry in Scotland.

“We are lucky to be in an area where we can grow grass and we try to make the best use of it. The farm is all-grass and all our lambs are finished on grass,” he said.

Ewes are lambed from mid-February and lambs marketed from mid-May onwards through Farmstock Scotland to Woodhead Bros, Turriff, for Morrisons.

In the two years 2012 and 2013, the flock was one of three selected for the QMS Better Breeding project to demonstrate the benefits of using performance-recorded Suffolk rams.

The results of the trial indicated highindex rams consistently outperformed rams selected in the traditional manner by £5 per ewe mated per year.

The farm also supports a suckler herd of 185 Limousin and Aberdeen-Angus cross Friesian cows which are crossed with home-bred Charolais bulls from the farm’s 15-cow Charolais herd.

The event is being organised by the Scottish region of the National Sheep Association.

NSA Scotland chairman John Fyall said the reputation of the sheep flock was sure to draw a large attendance of sheep farmers and other industry professionals from throughout Scotland and the north of England.

Organisation of the event will be in the hands of a local committee chaired by George Allan.

Mr Allan is a well-known exhibitor of Scotch Mules at the summer shows, and secretary of the Scotch Mule Association.

Looking forward to next May’s Scotsheep: NSA Scotland chairman John Fyall, host farmer Robert Dalrymple, farm manager Andrew Maclean, and organising committee chairman George Allan.