While many lowland sheep farmers across the UK have already completed or are nearing the end of the of the lambing season, the more up country ones, among them members of NEMSA – the North of England Mule Sheep Association – are still in full swing
The curators of the all-purpose North of England Mule ewe are once again hoping for plenty of fit and healthy lambs, although last year will certainly take some beating.
Despite COVID-19 and the national lockdown – sheep farmers are, of course, familiar with self-isolation during lambing time – NEMSA’s national chairman, Chris Harrison described the 2020 lambing as “probably the best in my living memory”.
Thankfully, signs are again looking good, according to Mr Harrison, a third generation sheep man who farms at Coatlith Hill, Alston, who started lambing the family’s small flock of 55 NEMSA Mules, in-lamb to the Dutch Spotted Texel, though not scanned, at the beginning of April.
His 350 Swaledale ewes that go to the Bluefaced Leicester to produce the hardy North of England Mule were due to lamb from April 6 and have scanned at 164 per cent, followed four days later by a further 250 ewes to the Swaledale tup, all lambed outdoors and scanned at 147 per cent.
Mr Harrison said: “I’m very happy with the scanning results considering the ewes tupped to the Swale spend all their lives at 1,300 feet and more above sea level on heather and rough allotments.
“The winter has been relatively kind, the snow came in January and February as it should and the worst thing that could happen is a snowy late April – the Beast From the East is still in the memory! All we want now is weather similar to last year.”
He added: “Prime lamb trade remains strong and hopefully this will continue through the summer. If travel restrictions abroad remain in place, UK restaurants, hotels and B&Bs should certainly benefit, with any luck all cooking British Lamb!”
NEMSA vice-chairman Jonathan Hodgson, who farms at High Borrans, Windermere, said: “Sheep are in good fettle and have wintered well.
“We also started lambing at the beginning of April and are looking forward to seeing how the new tups perform.
“We have scanned 1,020 Swaledale ewes at 168 per cent in lamb to the Bluefaced Leicester for our Mules and 234 kept pure that have scanned at 165 per cent.
“We have very few barren ewes and a lot less triplets, so overall it’s a good scan.”
He added: “Having a connection with a local market it’s great to see fat lambs making a good price, particularly NEMSA wether lambs.”
Both breed and association appear in fine heart. The North of England Mule ewe remains Britain’s most prolific sheep breed in terms of numbers, while NEMSA is one of the UK’s biggest and strongest sheep breed associations with a membership around the 1,000 mark.
NEMSA reports that it is taking a more active role in the Mule Group, an umbrella body formed to promote and market the five main Mule breeds of Britain as the premier breeding female.
“There are clearly benefits of being part of a group that promotes all Mules.
“NEMSA is by far the largest association within the group and our identity will not be diminished by our involvement.
“Indeed, we will continue to work hard and promote North of England Mules independently,” said Mr Harrison.
Meanwhile, work will continue as always through the summer months – with any luck taking in some enjoyable and breaks with the hoped for resumption of some agricultural shows.
Then it’s on to the high profile autumn North of England Mule show and sale season at the major northern marts, most notably the flagship gimmer lamb highlights.
Auctioneers were upbeat after a highly successful 2020 sales season, praising both the performance and renewed popularity of the breed in the sales ring. One described the North of England Mule as the “queen of commercial lowland breeding sheep”.
Another noted that “after a couple of years of some sheep producers looking to alternative breeds, the North of England Mule gimmer lamb bounced back to prove herself as possibly the most resilient and prolific breeding sheep in the UK”.
Mr Harrison said: “We are looking forward to the 2021 autumn sales with a good degree of confidence. One thing’s for sure – all Mule breeders will again be pulling out all the stops to ensure their charges get to both show and sales rings in peak condition.
“Importantly, only sheep bearing the NEMSA tag can be sold through official NEMSA sales.
“This is a cast iron guarantee of both provenance and quality – and one of the main reasons buyers come flocking back year on year from all parts of the country to replenish stocks of the North of England Mule.”
