Retiring Suffolk Breeder Says Sale Has Helped His Efficiency
15th September 2018
Suffolk breeder, Worcestershire farmer John Sinnett, has supported the NSA Wales & Border Ram Sales since the early years. He and his father, Bill Sinnett, began by buying Border Leicesters, to produce Welsh Halfbreds, and then moved on to the Suffolk breed.
John is retiring from farming this Autumn and will also be stepping down from the committee of the NSA Wales & Border Ram Sales. But he is very appreciative of the role the sales have played in his farming career and in UK farming generally.
He say: “We supported it from the early stages. It was an outlet that we didn’t have before, when we just took sheep to weekly markets. We had been to Kelso to buy Border Leicesters and it seemed to follow that format.
“My first memories are of selling in the South Glamorgan Hall, where the sale pay desk is now. It was something a bit different and there was an opportunity to buy Border Leicesters, which were very much in demand, nearer home.
“We started with the Suffolks in the late 1970s. We started using them on the commercial flock and then started breeding pedigree Suffolks. They have bigger carcasses and produce longer, leaner lambs. The cost of killing a lamb is the same if it’s 18kg or 23 kg.
“The sale has helped to make us more efficient. We’ve been able to sell a bigger number in one day and not mess about all day to sell 10. We can sell 120 or so on the one day. We’ve been selling that quantity for ten years or so now.
“The sale has also helped everyone to become more competitive and quality has improved. There tend to be more xbred rams there now, even more than the Texels this year.”