Richard Vines - Breeder

Burton Farm, Linton, lies within the catchment basin of the lower River Wye, 3 miles north East of the market town of Ross on Wye. The soil type derives from the underlying Old Red Sandstone which is heavily folded and inclined, producing a free draining medium that is steeply undulating and liable to mid-summer drought. This is increased with the rain shadow of the Black Mountains to the west and over recent years leads to spectacular thunder storms.

Some 140 acres are deployed on arable cash and forage crops with a further 200 acres of grazing of mixed quality and value. A flock of 350 cross bred ewes are lambed indoors in early January using Class 1 Meatlinc rams. They graze stubble turnips, rye, oats and eventually permanent pasture, aiming to finish lambs between April and early June with a modest level of creep feed.

The 300 Meatlinc ewes are subject to a similar regime but lamb in March and April under cover after leaving pasture in January. They too enjoy arable stands of Italian ryegrass, late brassica and cereals followed with good white clover rich leys. The ram lambs are weaned at about 12 weeks and graze maiden crops of Italian ryegrass and forage rape. In their second year they spend 8 weeks grazing oats and vetches and gravitate to silage aftermath. They are housed during the winter for 10/12 weeks on a diet of grass silage, maize silage, sugar beet nuts, oats and protein. The ewes consume quantities of sugar beet, fodder beet, lucerne grazing and arable byproducts.

All the sheep are kept strictly commerical on as much home produced forage as possible. Rams which are used for promotion purposes are housed for a week on dry food, washed and tidied. Customers are encouraged to inspect the sheep on the farm in their natural condition. The Meatlinc are MV accredited, scrapie blood tested and subject to all the usual health measures. The farm is FABBL approved, uses very little nitrogen, has an ELS scheme and uses the local auction market.