Burnhouse Mains is a 900 ha upland livestock farm situated in the Scottish Borders. It is owned by The Campbell Partnership and managed by Alistair Cutter. Burnhouse Mains is run in conjunction with Oneholmes Farm in North Yorkshire where the Campbell family live.
At Burnhouse Mains, Alistair manages a closed breeding flock of 2000 ewes with all lambs being sold for slaughter either through auction or direct to buyers. 600 ewe lambs are retained annually for breeding.
Mr Campbell had been using other software programs from Farmplan, namely, Business Manager and Cattle Manager. When Cattle Manager became compatible with EID Alistair started to use it for managing the beef herd at Burnhouse Mains. "I first became interested in EID and began to use it in 1996". Alistair had confidence that the Sheep Manager program would be reliable and function in a similar way to Cattle Manager. "As soon as the Sheep EID Pilot scheme in Scotland opened in 2008, I signed up as I knew from my extensive use on cattle that EID would be a great aid in the collection of accurate sheep data".
Sheep Manager Software from Farmplan has been designed to help farmers manage individual Sheep Records more effectively to gain greater business benefits. The program can be used to help meet sheep identification and movement legislation, aid traceability, manage vet and med treatments, record pedigree details, monitor performance of individual ewes and rams and more.
Alistair explains "Farmplan's Sheep Manager software program is the most positive thing to happen in the sheep sector for many years. Since implementing EID, all sheep now have individual medicine records rather than, for example, 246 lambs treated with Depidex on 07/07/2007 with no identification of the 246 lambs, only a batch record. All sheep also have individual weights, life histories and more. It's fantastic!".
When weighing and handling lambs to select some for sale, Burnhouse Mains use the new Tagmaster weigh crate fitted with a Tru-test weigh head. The data from Sheep Manager is downloaded to the weigh head. When each lamb enters the crate, a read panel scans the lambs EID tag and displays the lambs breed, sex, weight and estimated carcase weight on the screen instantly. At the end of the session the weights are uploaded into the Sheep Manager software program and each weight is automatically allotted to each lamb's weight history along with a record of weight gain.
Sheep Manager can reduce manual processes, duplication of effort and the chances of financial penalties. It also checks for and prevents many common errors.
Alistair says "any time medicine is used, we always identify each sheep treated to keep accurate individual records. We always read individual EID tags before they are sold so that I can produce a planned sale lot. This can then produce a market declaration report complete with a list of tag numbers and an FCI (food chain information) document. There is also the safeguard in doing a planned sale lot; if any selected sheep are in a drug withdrawal period they are flagged up so you know they can't be sold for slaughter just yet. We are constantly vigilant for any lost tags. Sheep Manager does an excellent job of recording change of identity and tag numbers".
Alistair says "there are a number of farmers desperately searching for answers as to how they can create a system that will meet the new sheep recording regulations. Mixed messages within the industry have left some farmers feeling isolated, confused and unprepared. Most of them are not computer literate and in awe of gadgets. I believe these farmers deserve a chance to see the positive side to EID".
Alistair concludes "we had a sheep inspection on the 5th November 2010, needless to say the movement records were spot on. The flock register had much more information than the inspector was looking for this year. Next year it will be necessary to record all individual tag number of sheep leaving or arriving or even deceased on a farm in a flock register so I'm glad I have it in place already. The cross reference for tag changes were very impressive, in fact all the recording requirements were more than met. Last but not least, the actual sheep count matched the records".
To contact Farmplan for a free no obligation demo of Sheep Manager or Flock Manager, please call us on 01594 545011 or email sales@farmplan.co.uk.
Email sales@farmplan.co.uk or call 01594 545000
