Swapping the Herefordshire countryside for the Pembrokeshire coast in 1983 has led the Jones family to run a forward-thinking dairy herd with pedigree sheep as a key part of the system, switching from their traditional beef and sheep system.
Fine-tuning some of the details within the commercial sheep breeding enterprise has been among the priorities for the Jones family, as well as expanding the dairy system at Robleston Hall, near Haverfordwest.
Making the move, the family decided to introduce a dairy system on to the farm, which was 53 hectares (170 acres) at the time, but since then, the enterprise has grown to 121ha (300 acres) owned, with 336ha (830 acres) rented, most of which is adjoining the home farm.
Today, John and Carol Jones farm in partnership with their son Gareth and his wife Cathy, who are driving the business forward.
The couple has three children under the age of nine, Osian, Dylan, and Oliva, all of whom are proving to be keen stockmen.
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Despite still being very much a family farm, Robleston also employs a small team who are vital to the day-to-day running of the farm. It was John's parents who decided to uproot from Rowlestone, Herefordshire, wanting to expand and moving west provided more opportunity.
With them, they brought the family's passion, their Suffolk sheep flock, which runs under the Rowlestone prefix. After dispersing the dairy in the early 2000s, the family decided to move back into cows in 2014.
From then, they have built up the herd to 500 Holstein Freisan cows, which are milked through a 24:48 swing-over parlour. Averaging 10,000 litres annually, the calving is split, with one third calving in the spring, while two thirds calve in the autumn.
Sexed semen is used to breed heifers, however, everything else is put to a Charolais bull. Cathy says: "Many dairy-beef calves are viewed as a byproduct; however, this is not the case for us."
Bovine TB allowing, calves are sold between four and six weeks old at Hereford market, where this June they broke records, receiving £1,220, and on one day's trading their 41 baby calves averaging £1,002. Some cattle are kept and sold as stores in Whitland market.
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"Our aim is to be as self-sufficient as possible, so we grow maize and corn for home consumption, a lot of the work is done ourselves, but contractors are brought in during the busy periods," says Gareth.
Sheep have always been on the scene for the Jones's, running a commercial flock alongside their Rowlestone Suffolk flock, which was established in 1961 and is among the oldest established.
This is what started their passion for pedigree sheep, with four breeds making up their current flock of 450 ewes.
The Texel flock shares the same prefix, Rowlestone, while the flocks of Charollais and Bluefaced Leicesters run under the Robleston prefix.
The flock is run as one, all with the aim of producing top quality pedigree rams for commercial farmers across the country.
Gareth says: "The decision was made when we grew the dairy herd to disperse the commercial ewes, retaining the pedigree flocks and focus on refining our breeding.
"Our aim is to breed a ram for the commercial farmer, if a ram sells to a pedigree breeder, it is a bonus. We want breeding with longevity that will consistently produce."
The Charollais are something that the family introduced at this time and have enjoyed building up a reputable flock.
"We have built up over the years from a few foundation ewes and in the early days, local breeder, Arwyn Thomas, guided us and has really benefitted the flock," he says.
The family attend a couple of local shows and have won Charollais male champion at the Royal Welsh Show for the past two years.
"This gives us faith that we are producing rams that are in demand for both pedigree and commercial breeders alike and provides an excellent shop window," says Gareth.
Lambing starts in December with the Charollais, followed by the Suffolks in January and Texels and Bluefaced Leicesters in February, which take them through to finish in March.
Due to the dairy herd requiring shed space, the sheep lamb away from the yard in a polytunnel.
At flushing, ewes receive a pre-tupping mineral drench with the aim to scan at 180 to 190%. To reduce workload and ensure lambs are given the best start, wet lamb adoption is practiced where possible.
Cathy says: "Our flock is not mollycoddled; we lamb and calve at the same time, so we do not have time to fuss with the lambs. We try not to intervene, so we need lambs that thrive, that will get up, suck and do."
This is something that also applies to their strict culling policy. Gareth says they do not believe in carrying passengers, especially with the cull trade where it stands currently.
All of the sheep run on a grass-based system, and with the cows brought indoors during the winter, they have the whole grazing platform to take advantage of.
They breed their own replacements to retain quality maternal traits, with breeding stock selected as lambs. Anything which is not selected is sold deadweight.
Gareth says: "When we do buy in breeding lines, which mainly come through rams, we try to purchase from systems that are doing a similar job to us. We look at the breeding and want something from a commercially run system, like ours."
Across the breed, the family desire different characteristics, however the traits they want to breed are the same.
"We aim to breed a sheep with the basics, a good mouth and legs coupled with conformation throughout, a good shoulder, topline and natural fleshing ability. The wow factor is a bonus," he says.
They say they aim to breed strong, powerful rams while retaining easy lambing.
The breeding of the rams all comes down to one day, the NSA Wales and Border ram sale, where the majority are sold.
"We sell a handful at the early NSA ram sale and a few pedigree sales, but nearly all of our rams head to this sale in September," says Gareth.
Only selling yearlings, they believe the sale is the best opportunity to sell a variety of breeds in one day to a large customer platform.
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Preparation for the sale starts in May, following the final selection of rams, when they are shorn. The sheep are then dipped as an insurance policy against disease and fly strike until the autumn.
Leading up to the sales, some supplementary feed is provided alongside their grazing which are all new leys planted within five years, as they have a regular reseeding policy.
They are also trimmed, bloomed and belly clipped, depending on the breed.
Cathy says: "It is important that our rams are produced outside so that they will last for their next home and with this we see returning customers."
Making up the most of their offering are the Suffolks, selling up to 60 rams annually and 2016 was a turning point for the breed when they decided to add a splash of new genetics into their breeding with a Roxburgh-bred ram which was one quarter New Zealand genetics.
Gareth says: "This has made a real difference and pushed our flock forward. It sharpened the rams and reinforced vigor and milk back into the breeding. We like to breed a Suffolk which boasts the traditional traits, but is met with the silky, sharp head and the attributes of modern breeding."
This has been reflected in their sales, with one of the highlights, selling a Suffolk ram in 2023 to Skelfhill Farm, Hawick, for £4,600.
This type is echoed in their Texels, with the Jones' aiming to produce rams which will give ease of lambing.
"We try to stay away from bigger headed rams, while retaining the power and conformation in the body," he says.
Some new breeding has also been introduced into the Charollais and the family is looking forward to see the results.
A ram lamb was bought following judging duties carried out by Gareth at the Charollais Export sale in Dungannon.
Jointly purchased for 10,000gns with fellow Welsh breeder, Emyr Hughes, Bronwydd flock, the lamb, Hollylodge Dynamite, was bred by Steven and Trevor McConnell, Co Antrim, and is sired by Ballynoe House Comanche.
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In recent years, the flock have started to use their pure genetics to produce more crossbreds, offering a selection of Charollais cross Texels, as they have seen appetite increase, with their pen last year averaging £1,150.
Balancing all the breeds in one system can be tricky, but the family's passion to produce the ultimate commercial animal shines through.
Cathy says: "All of our children are very keen to get involved in the sheep, even at this early age. We want to continue producing quality stock which they can show now they are young and continue to breed as they get older."
51AV视频facts
- A flock of 450 pedigree ewes.
- Around 150 commercial rams are sold annually, with the intention to increase.
- 500 Holstein Fresian cows milked.
- Charolais bulls are used to breed dairy beef.
- 89 hectares (220 acres) of maize is grown and 65ha(160 acres) of cereals are grown.
