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Animal records
Lackham Limousins serving up £1500 profit margins!
Easy calving Limousins heifers at Lackham College
Lackham College Limousins go on display
Project students get hands on Limousins at Lackham
College
Two
years after the arrival of the pedigree Limousin herd to Wiltshire College
Lackham, and the flagship project is growing from strength to strength.
Farm Manager, Philip Steans is delighted with the herds progress this year. The purchase of Stock bull Dyfri Robin who arrived back in June has performed well and will stamp some excellent performance figures on the next group of calves having served most of the herd.
Dyfri Robin who is in the top 10% of all recorded bulls lost a bit of weight during service but is now being rested in order to continue to grow and currently weighs 900kg’s.
At present, the nineteen-strong herd are all in calf and due from 6th April to 9th July 2002 with a calving index of 384 days.
Philip said: "The current calf crop is developing well and we are delighted with the growth rates so far. At present, the calves are being creep fed on an 18% protein cake and growth rates are very encouraging. The fastest growing are Lackham Stewart and Spaceage at 1.38kg/day and we look forward to comparing and analysing the first crop with the second crop of calves."
Results from Signet Beef breeder show our cows with an average Beef value of LM18. The calves beef value starts at LM13 with a top score of LM33 averaging LM25.
Student Project
Last month, a team of National Diploma students were selected to work with the pedigree herd as part of their Agricultural studies at Wiltshire College Lackham.
Dan Stanbury, from Exmoor said: "Working with the Limousins has to be one of the best experiences of my Agriculture course!"
Although the herd have been at Lackham since November 1999, due to foot and mouth disease students didn’t have the opportunity to obtain hands-on experience with the cattle. However, now foot and mouth free, the dedicated team of five students, (four male and one female) have chosen to study the herd as part of their final project.
Farm Manager, Philip said: "Throughout this project, current and future students will be looking particularly closely at calving ease, optimum level of milk production, fertility, mothering ability and marketing flexibility of the progeny."
The hands-on project aims to monitor the herds progress and development (from birth to breeding) and requires each student to submit a written report of their findings.
The majority of the students have been brought up on family farms but none of them have worked with pedigree limousins. They are finding the project an interesting challenge and enjoying handling the cattle to improve temperament.
Eighteen
year old Edward Williams who works on a sheep and beef farm in Powys, Wales
said: ‘I chose to study at Lackham because the course offered the
most general experience in dairy, beef and crops and gave me a broad spectrum
of all aspects of agriculture. I have worked with pedigree Welsh Black cattle
and Black Welsh Mountain sheep and hope that through this project I will
learn more about linear scoring cattle’.
The student team analyse and compare the herd by recording maternal traits, calf weight, weight, girth, head size and length.
Andrew Creed works on a dairy farm. He said: "I work with cross breds back home in Glastonbury and have never had the chance to work with pedigree cattle before so this is a fantastic opportunity to learn new skills. I am very interested in learning more about haltering and preparing cattle for showing."
Dairy and Arable farm worker James Braunton, 18 from Castle Cary said: "I have worked with a limousin bull before but not beef. I really enjoy working in this team - we are all very hardworking and enthusiastic about the project."
The students are working on their Limousin project throughout the year from October to June 2002 and work with the herd up to three times a week for three hours at a time.
The only female member of the team, Adriana Classey aged 19 from Gloucestershire enjoys working on the project. She said: "We have all known each other for three years studying on our Agriculture course. I have worked on organic and dairy farms in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire and am enjoying the challenge of working on the Limousin project. I am learning a lot and enjoy monitoring the herd on a daily basis."
She continues: "Pedigree cattle have always interested me and I hope to show cattle in the future. I am particularly keen in learning about picking out the best cattle for showing and halter training by noting temperament levels."
The students will be working with the herd until June and will be heavily involved with measuring the calves at birth and monitoring those calves until the next team of students come in to work with the herd in Summer 2002. All the students live on campus and are keen to be woken up at anytime of the night to see the first Limousin birth of 2002 down at the farm.
Farm Manager, Philip Steans said: "The students are so enthusiastic - they enjoy working with the herd especially handling because the breed are so much easier to handle than other breeds especially when you are on your own. They are learning to select calves for different traits and are keen to develop their existing skills. I believe that many will be interested in breeding Limousin in the future."
Philip continues: "Working within this project is a wonderful experience for them and it is great to see them so eager to learn!"
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