The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Mair family reap reward for backing Beltex breed
SHEEP: Business renowned for producing quality stock in north-east of Scotland
The Beltex breed’s premier show and sale at Carlisle next week will see nearly 1700 catalogued entries including 14 aged rams, 918 shearling rams and 331 ram lambs as well as 420 shearling gimmers.
Among those selling will be a family renowned for producing quality stock in the north-east of Scotland which has helped to put the breed on the map.
Known for breeding pedigree Texels and Suffolks in previous years, the Mairs – headed up by Bruce and son Colin – now focus on the double-muscled Belgian breed at their Everton of Auchry Farm near Cuminestown, Turriff.
Nowadays their Aviemore flock numbers 100 breeding females, some featuring five generations of home genetics, alongside a team of stud rams, many of which are shared with fellow breeders.
One of the most influential sires was the 6500gns Corstane Whistler whose female offspring have all bred well and continue to feature in the flock today. Nowadays, the top eight or so ewes are flushed each year and Bruce is pleased to report they yield well with a consistent 70% success rate.
This year the Mairs have around 40 gimmers to sell between Carlisle, Kelso, Thainstone, Lanark and privately, as well as 40 shearling tups and 12 ram lambs.
The Mairs have also celebrated success in the show ring over the years, winning the championship at their local Turriff Show on several occasions.
The breed has changed in the UK in the 30 years since the first imports back in 1989, but the Mairs believe these changes are for the better.
“When we started breeding Beltex they were very much a carcase breed, being small and not always the most mobile. Now, they still have the strong carcase traits but have better mobility,” said Colin.
“Something few realise is that the Beltex ease of lambing is far greater than that of a Suffolk or a Texel and we’ve had far fewer caesareans with our Beltex than we did when we bred Suffolks or Texels,” added Bruce.
With the Mairs believing the Beltex breed is numerically at saturation point, the bottom end of the Aviemore ewes are covered by a Perdi-bred Bleu du Maine to produce the now renowned Millennium Bleu. Both Millennium Bleu males and females are then offered for sale with some of these females used as recipients in the flushing programme.
Proving the popularity of this hybrid breed, the National Bleu du Maine Show held recently at Turriff included a Millennium Bleu section and it was a mature ram from the Mairs that claimed the championship.