Dorsets in demand at Ballymartin farm shop

The farm is made up of the 110 ewe Ashvale Dorset flock, 120 cow Ashvale and Castlemount Shorthorn/Angus herds and a family run farm shop.

“Ballymartin Farm Shop” was established in 2020 as a COVID-19 diversification strategy and since then has flourished. Now, very much a thriving business the shop is built upon top quality beef and lamb produced from the farm as well as rare breed pork, Northern Irish Chicken, home bakes and accompaniments.

At the heart of the farm shop is the family’s fresh Dorset lamb which has proven extremely popular with customers travelling far and wide to purchase. Dorset lamb is providing the McKeowns with a competitive advantage due to the unique ability to provide fresh lamb all year round. This is made possible by the renowned trait for Dorsets to breed at any time of the year, capable of producing three crops of lambs in two years and therefore a constant supply of fresh lamb. This superior freshness coupled with flavour that is consistently succulent, tender and rich makes for an incomparable taste experience.

To feasibly manage lambing 110 ewes all year round, along with a young family, large cattle enterprise and farm shop, it is paramount that ewes are low maintenance. For the McKeowns the Dorset fits seamlessly into this role with their outstanding maternal ability meaning ewes are excellent milkers, easy lambed, prolific and have a strong mothering instinct. Lambs themselves are vigorous at birth, eager to get to their feet to suck and so have a solid foundation for getting off to the right start. This means minimal intervention is needed, cutting down on time, labour and expense. Their docile nature allows the children to get involved providing a good opportunity to work together as a family.

Of course, boasting the excellent maternal ability comes at a massive benefit to lambs at foot - which as a result have fantastic growth potential, easily being finished in as early as 12-13 weeks at any time of the year. Along with quick growth, the McKeowns have observed lambs to be easily fleshed and well-muscled comfortably achieving U3 grades which fits neatly with their market for shop produce. Currently the McKeowns retain a number of ewe lambs as replacements, also supporting breed sales throughout the year with quality breeding stock whilst demand in the farm shop is fulfilled with ram lambs.

Going forward, the Dorset breed is set to hold a firm place at Ballymartin for generations to come as demand continues to prosper both through sales of lamb through the shop and sales of prime breeding stock. As a whole the Dorset breed is ever expanding with increased popularity year by year, launching it into the limelight as an attractive investment for any sheep enterprise due to the perfect balance between maternal and terminal traits.

The next event in the sale calendar is the 49th Annual Premier Show and Sale to be held in JA McClelland and Sons Livestock Mart, Ballymena on Monday, 26th July 2021 with the sale starting at 6.30pm. With over 200 lots to choose from, this provides an excellent opportunity for prospective purchasers to invest in top quality genetics.