Sheep Farm Share

[Tim Parkinson]

We are looking at the possibility of starting a 'share farm' sheep flock in 2023 and was wondering whether anyone could help please?

We are a 2,500 acre arable farming business, farming regeneratively and organically and believe incorporating a roaming flock into this would be hugely beneficial. We would be looking to go jointly into starting a new flock of (probably Exlana) ultimately 400-600 sheep with someone who would be subsequently fully responsible for their care. The caveat requirement would be that they would also be able/willing to help out driving tractors in the busy arable times, i.e. harvest and autumn.

Has anyone got any experience in this sort of thing? Do farm shares work? Are people likely to be interested in the 'mixed farming' route?

Any pointers or advice would be much appreciated! Thank you

 

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

Where are you located?

 

[Tim Parkinson]

Where are you located?

Near Framlingham, Suffolk

 

[Collie dog Sid]

Just started one with a local estate PM if you prefer

 

[neilo]

We are looking at the possibility of starting a 'share farm' sheep flock in 2023 and was wondering whether anyone could help please?

We are a 2,500 acre arable farming business, farming regeneratively and organically and believe incorporating a roaming flock into this would be hugely beneficial. We would be looking to go jointly into starting a new flock of (probably Exlana) ultimately 400-600 sheep with someone who would be subsequently fully responsible for their care. The caveat requirement would be that they would also be able/willing to help out driving tractors in the busy arable times, i.e. harvest and autumn.

Has anyone got any experience in this sort of thing? Do farm shares work? Are people likely to be interested in the 'mixed farming' route?

Any pointers or advice would be much appreciated! Thank you

Surely what you’re looking for is a shepherd/GFW in that case?

 

[Tim Parkinson]

Just started one with a local estate PM if you prefer

Thank you. I will come up with some questions and be in touch!

 

[Tim Parkinson]

Surely what you’re looking for is a shepherd/GFW in that case?

Yes, but in all honesty we don't know a thing about sheep and if we were to own the flock ourselves and employ a shepard/gfw we run the risk of being left in the lurch without the knowledge or time to look after them!! Hence the 'going in together' aspect so that both parties have some security. I hope I'm not being too short sighted!?

 

[Al R]

@CopperBeech

 

[TlymarT_028]

Great way for you to potentially help out someone wanting to start up themselves! Get a proper contract sorted but could be a way of you purchasing the sheep and them contract farming them with an overall incentive to help keep them for longer/indefinitely (whether that be transferring ownership of a small %age of lambs each year or some kind of profit share to spur them on to manage them the best possible).....something I would be keen on if I was remotely close! Only struggle you may find is someone that is willing to run the sheep certified organic - lots of hoops

 

[Tim Parkinson]

Great way for you to potentially help out someone wanting to start up themselves! Get a proper contract sorted but could be a way of you purchasing the sheep and them contract farming them with an overall incentive to help keep them for longer/indefinitely.....something I would be keen on if I was remotely close! Only struggle you may find is someone that is willing to run the sheep certified organic - lots of hoops

Thanks JP, hopefully both parties can benefit and if we can give someone a leg up then even better. A firm contract would be essential but not a bad idea of offering an incentive. I think essentially there are lots of creases to iron out, just depends on who we find, what they come with (sheep/infrastructure/etc.) and build it up there.
Not worried about them being organic, you can have non organic sheep on a field for 3 months a year. We’ve got enough different fields/blocks we can keep them moving and keep to the strict rule book!

 

[TlymarT_028]

Thanks JP, hopefully both parties can benefit and if we can give someone a leg up then even better. A firm contract would be essential but not a bad idea of offering an incentive. I think essentially there are lots of creases to iron out, just depends on who we find, what they come with (sheep/infrastructure/etc.) and build it up there.
Not worried about them being organic, you can have non organic sheep on a field for 3 months a year. We’ve got enough different fields/blocks we can keep them moving and keep to the strict rule book!

Not many people that are open to the idea of giving people a leg up like you say. Very refreshing to hear - hope you can find what you're looking for

 

[puppet]

There are a variety of contracts available. If you employed a shepherd then I think you could quickly learn about sheep and provide backup. In Scotland there is a land matching service to help young farmers link to farmers wanting to step down which is not your situation exactly but may give some ideas.
Contract agreement is important as well as getting on with each other. Could you sit and chat to them over a cup of tea?

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

If you forget the organic part then it might work.
The problem with sheep farmed organically is that you increase the workload but get nothing extra in return.
If they had wool on then organic wool gets a premium but organic lamb meat doesn't!

Also the number of sheep you are looking at are insufficient to give a decent income for whoever is running the sheep.
I would hazard a guess that there are no fences on this farm and so a lot of work with electric and water.

I would also guess that there will be times of the year when you won't know what to do with sheep unless you are going to plant sufficient areas of permanent or temporary grass, at some time in the summer you will need at least 150 acres of grass and possibly more as you are in a drought prone area.

I would talk to a local sheep farmer first if there are any left!!

 

[ringi]

Can you provide housing, maybe using the planning rules based on needing someone on site to look after the sheep?

The caveat requirement would be that they would also be able/willing to help out driving tractors in the busy arable times, i.e. harvest and autumn.

This seem to be an unnessessy complexity compared to offering the person work under a seperate contact from the 'share farm' sheep flock operation.

Also the number of sheep you are looking at are insufficient to give a decent income for whoever is running the sheep.

That was my thought as well unless proformance recording to sell rams or selling organic lamb direct to consumers.

 

[ringi]

Has anyone done a contact when the shepherd pays for the rams and gets to keep/sell 25% of ram lambs?

 

[DieselRob]

@Electricfencer

 

[Tim Parkinson]

If you forget the organic part then it might work.
The problem with sheep farmed organically is that you increase the workload but get nothing extra in return.
If they had wool on then organic wool gets a premium but organic lamb meat doesn't!

Also the number of sheep you are looking at are insufficient to give a decent income for whoever is running the sheep.
I would hazard a guess that there are no fences on this farm and so a lot of work with electric and water.

I would also guess that there will be times of the year when you won't know what to do with sheep unless you are going to plant sufficient areas of permanent or temporary grass, at some time in the summer you will need at least 150 acres of grass and possibly more as you are in a drought prone area.

I would talk to a local sheep farmer first if there are any left!!

They wouldn’t need to be organic sheep…conventional sheep can spend 3 months a year on organic land without upsetting the soil association. We’ve got various feeding options throughout the year: overwinter cover crops, organic conversion land, summer catch crops (not great on a dry year) and a good chunk of permanent/fenced grass. Is that 150 acres of grass needed for around 500 sheep?
The financial side is a concern, whatever we do has to stack up. Do you think supplementing the shepard’s income with harvest corn carting, autumn rolling and some spring tractor work will fill the income void?

 

[Tim Parkinson]

Can you provide housing, maybe using the planning rules based on needing someone on site to look after the sheep?



This seem to be an unnessessy complexity compared to offering the person work under a seperate contact from the 'share farm' sheep flock operation.



That was my thought as well unless proformance recording to sell rams or selling organic lamb direct to consumers.

No, haven’t got housing available sadly. One of many hurdles to jump over!
Duly noted about the ‘complexity’. Solely from our point of view we would be getting the benefits of the sheep and have extra labour when required. Correct me if I’m wrong but from the shepards point of view it could be an entry into the industry and although we’re not talking huge numbers of sheep the tractor work could offer a bit of extra income. I don’t know how this will all transpire but it’s a starting point. May end up with thousands of the things!! Does that make sense and sound any better?
They wouldn’t be organic sheep!

 

[farmerm]

Poor shepherd will have a lot of work with electric fencing and water provision for feck all profit.. According to the latest John Nix, the best sheep farmers will just about turn a profit in 2023, if they ignore rent and don't take a wage.... No housing will mean outdoor lambing clashing with spring arable work and the sheep usually break out of multiple fields simultaneously and flatten a few acres of wheat just as the combine tank is filled and ready to unload. At any given movement you will either have far too much feed or far too little and just when you think things are going well 20% will drop dead for 20 different reasons... Some folk farm sheep because they love it, others because they love to hate it, I am sure none do it so they can retire young, fit and wealthy! can you tell how much I love sheep..

 

[Tim Parkinson]

Poor shepherd will have a lot of work with electric fencing and water provision for feck all profit.. According to the latest John Nix, the best sheep farmers will just about turn a profit in 2023, if they ignore rent and don't take a wage.... No housing will mean outdoor lambing clashing with spring arable work and the sheep usually break out of multiple fields simultaneously and flatten a few acres of wheat just as the combine tank is filled and ready to unload. At any given movement you will either have far too much feed or far too little and just when you think things are going well 20% will drop dead for 20 different reasons... Some folk farm sheep because they love it, others because they love to hate it, I am sure none do it so they can retire young, fit and wealthy! can you tell how much I love sheep..

View attachment 1081333

Clearly a fan!
Obviously if it’s not going to stack up it’s not worth doing. However if there’s an opportunity that could work for both parties then it’s worth exploring. Thanks for the feedback though, the tight margins seem to be a recurring theme…