Two big sales of Suffolks - from both sides of Border

The Rugley Suffolk Flock was established over 40 years ago, by Alan and Lorna Jackson, and this sale will see 130 females going under the hammer. Alan and his wife Lorna are retiring, and their daughter Lucy, who will keep 10 older ewes, is taking over the tenancy of Rugley Farm near Alnwick.

The Spotsmains Flock was established in 1991 by JS & JB Mauchlen at Spotsmains Farm, Kelso, on the back of many years of buying Suffolk rams for use on their long-established flock of Scotch Halfbreds. The flock has been recording since it was first established. This final dispersal is the result of a decision to move out of sheep production on the farm where the flock currently resides. A total of 43 sheep will be presented for sale comprising 24 ewes, 18 gimmers & 1 stock ram.

With a full Signet recording history, both of the flocks are MV accredited and are tremendous examples of the Suffolk breed. On announcing details of this combined cross Border sale, Scott Donaldson, Joint Managing Director at Harrison & Hetherington said:

“The Jackson and Mauchlen families are noted consigners and renowned for producing well grown tight skinned Suffolk shearlings for the Kelso Ram Sale market and both have sold a remarkable number of shearlings that fall in the top 1% for performance over the years.

“Top performance figures have been bred into the Rugley flock which will prove to be vital for lamb production in the future. Their emphasis is on commercial production and Alan, Lorna and the family have focussed on producing Suffolk sheep that meet the requirements of the market, both present and future.

“The Mauchlen family are recognised for producing not only top-quality prime lambs but also excellent Suffolk cross breeding females.

“This is a key Suffolk sale and as such the sheep being sold, will be sought from across the country by those looking for both pedigree and commercial breeding stock.”

Over the years the Jacksons have used many successful Sires, most recently Strathisla Cappi, who has produced many sought after progeny, the best of these being Rugley Terrific who continues to produce excellent lambs. Annually selling Shearlings at Kelso Ram Sales, the Jackson’s aim has always been to produce fast growing sheep with good carcasses.

On the quality of the herd, Alan Jackson commented:

“We have made good use of the CT Scanning facility for several years and at one stage more than half of the top 1% of sheep scanned for CT Muscularity belonged to the Rugley Flock. We are extremely proud of this history and ready to pass down this pedigree to the future owners to ensure the sheep are for tomorrow’s market. To conclude Lorna and I would of course like to thank everyone for their support over the years.”

With the Spotsmains flock, the Mauchlen family set out to produced sheep for two purposes - fast growing, easy fleshing lambs which would finish early and at good weights to capitalise on the early season market for quality lambs, and to sire females to be sold for breeding as crossbreds to be put back to other terminal sires.

Endeavouring to avoid the extremes of the breed, their Suffolks are acclaimed for being structurally sound, clean boned with good skins and smooth black hair. Like the Jacksons, they have used performance recording as a supplementary tool in order to give their ram buyers additional confidence so that they know they are purchasing not only an animal which looks the part but has the figures to back up the looks.

Speaking about Spotsmains, John Mauchlen said: “In our annual consignment to Kelso Ram Sales, our stock now shows that the majority of the animals in the flock are within the top percentiles of recorded Suffolks nationwide. This is quite a pedigree to be passed on to future generations.”

Further information on the two sales can be obtained by contacting H&H’s dedicated pedigree team on 01228 406230.