Farm Stock

Black face lambMost of the sheep that you see in the National Park will be black face sheep. A proportion of the ewes are put to a lowland ram such as a Blue-faced Leicester, Suffolk or Texel to produce a cross-bred or mule lamb. These lambs are sold either for meat or commonly as breeding stock for lowland farms. The lowland rams are called tups locally. Pure bred tups are also produced for sale by a number of farmers. One of the highlights of the farming year is the annual tup sale at Kelso.

Cattle farming is based around herds of suckler cows producing calves for the beef market. No one breed of cattle dominates the farms of the National Park. Many farmers produce continental cross cattle. A few herds of the more traditional Aberdeen Angus, Galloway and Blue-Grey cattle still remain. Calves are frequently sold as stores to be fattened elsewhere.