Cefnllan Farm Facts

Cefnllan is a 105-hectare (ha) beef and sheep farm run by Neil Davies and his family; they rent a further 93ha and have grazing rights on Epynt Mountain

The flock of 2400 ewes is Epynt Hardy Speckled, a resilient breed that that can live on the mountain for 12 months of the year 

For the first two years, the ewes are sired to an Epynt Hardy Speckled ram to produce the flock’s annual replacement requirement of 600/ewes/year 

For the three years thereafter, the ewes are sired to a Texel ram to produce a bigger lamb – the aim is to achieve a sale weight target of 42kg

As the ewes are a mountain breed the average scanning percentage is 120%

Concentrates are fed to ewes rearing Texel lambs in the spring; this year this cost £8/head.

All Texel lambs are creep-fed, at a cost this year of £6/head

The older ewes lamb at the end of January and all the lambs from these are sold by end of May; the cull ewes are sold at this point also

Thirty-two hectares of roots are grown annually to provide winter forage

The farm has embarked on an extensive reseeding programme – 20ha is reseeded annually; these new leys are very productive in the spring when the business needs to make the most of its grass

Sixty Belgian Blue-cross suckler cows are sired to a Limousin bull with calves born in the spring; the offspring sold as stores at Brecon livestock market