Texel tups in travel to Tallinn

A MASSIVE expansion of the Estonian sheep industry is being planned by a group of the country's sheep breeders - with a little help from their British counterparts. In a visit organised by the MLC on behalf of the English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX) and Hybu Cig Cymru HCC) - a group from the Estonian Sheep Breeders Association (ESBA) spent almost a week studying production methods in Britain.

And the hope is their visit will result in members of the ESBA expanding their flocks with the help of British breeding stock and British genetics.

Speaking at Richard Shires' farm in Buckinghamshire where there are 800 Texel cross ewes in lamb, group member Rein Kilk, said: "A century ago there were 1.2 million sheep in Estonia, but today there are only 30,000.

"We want to look at the best breeds and the best genetics to create a big expansion in production at home.

"We have seen some very good breeds here and some very interesting new methods of production we would like to try."