Meet the Challenge Sheep farmers

Meet the farmers who have been involved with Challenge Sheep. They're located around England and cover different types of farming systems. In return for sharing their data, they've received feedback and advice on managing ewe replacements.

Richard is a third-generation farmer, farming in partnership with his father.

The farm runs 300 Lleyn-cross mule ewes, 200 EasyDam shearlings and 200 EasyDam ewe lambs, as well as a pig enterprise.

Richard manages the day-to-day running of the farm business with his father and two full-time employees.

He joined Challenge Sheep so he could get more out of the data he already collected, with the ambition to use the information from the project to make more informed business decisions.

Richard wants to push the sheep side of the business to run it as efficiently as his pig enterprise, and Challenge Sheep has helped him identify areas where he can optimise efficiency in his flock management.

James has125 pedigree Aberdeen Angus sucklers and more than 1,300 sheep – the majority being Innovis-bred ewes and ram lambs – across 380 ha.

He joined Challenge Sheep in 2017, as he wanted to ensure he reared healthy, easily managed ewes and profitable sheep.

James’ next focus is on the functional genetics of his ewes from a low-input forage-based system which maximises health, management ease and maximum return through genetic management of all his ewes and ewe lambs.  

James is also part of our Environmental Baselining Pilot and the Breed for Ch4nge programme.

Jake is farm manager at Overbury Enterprises in Tewkesbury, alongside Tom Chapman, who is the farm shepherd and manages the day-to-day operations of 1,200 ewes.

Jake hopes that the Challenge Sheep project will allow him to gather more information from the flock to help him better understand culling and the reasons why some sheep perform better than others. He hopes the project will help to keep his farm sustainable post-Brexit, as well as assist in futureproofing the enterprise.

Through farmer-to-farmer learning, Jake is seeking best practice advice to help reduce replacement rates, increase scanning percentage, finish more lambs earlier and learn how he can adapt to outdoor lambing.

Robert and Anna Hawke are first-generation farmers. They manage a flock of 950 Romney/Romney cross sheep and have been collecting data for over a decade. 

They joined Challenge Sheep to share information that will benefit not only their farm but also other farmers.

This has helped them improve flock performance. Assessing body condition score (BCS) before tupping has helped with their culling decisions, and they’ve identified that a BCS half a point fatter has paid dividends when lambing outside and forage grazing is variable.  

“Data collection is only any use if you're going to use it and make good management decisions from it.”

Sam’s farm has been in his family for more than 90 years. He was shortlisted as Farmers Weekly’s Sheep Farmer of the Year in 2017 and won Sheep Innovator of the Year at the 2018 British Farming Awards.

Sam got involved with Challenge Sheep to gather as much information as possible so he could make informed decisions that would benefit his farm. He’s an advocate of gathering and interpreting data to improve the success of a business.

Sam has benefited a lot from sharing information with the other Challenge Sheep farmers. Seeing how their diverse systems operate has reinforced that there is no one‑size‑fits‑all approach.

Sam records ewe and lamb weights eight times a year, supported by livestock management software that streamlines and simplifies the entire process.

By engaging with his data more regularly, Sam has found it easier to interpret the information and apply it confidently to make management decisions.

Gareth, together with his family, farms at Launde in east Leicestershire. He has a flock of Aberfield-cross ewes and focuses on a forage-based system, selling all lambs deadweight.

Gareth supplies the on-farm butchery run by Gareth’s brother as well as a national processor. The farm was an early adopter of electronic identification technology and, having been part of the Sheep KPI project for four years, is accustomed to collecting data to aid flock management.

There were questions raised from the KPI project and it is hoped that Challenge Sheep will continue to provide answers, working with industry experts to help increase the farm’s profitability. 

Phil’s family has been farming in the area since 1650; he currently manages a mixed beef and sheep enterprise.

He’s passionate about bringing innovative ideas to the sheep industry and has a keen interest in genetics.

Phil joined Challenge Sheep to harness knowledge and expertise from AHDB and his peers to drive efficiency and improvement.

Phil has since noticed the benefits of body condition scoring his sheep five times a year, enabling him to manage and tailor the flock needs at crucial times of the year.

He’s found that keeping animals in an even body condition score helps maintain the longevity of his ewes, with weight gain between tupping and scanning helping to hold extra lambs at lambing.

Scott Kirby is the farm manager at Harper Adams University (HAU) and Tony Offland is the flock manager.

HAU has a flock of 1,000 breeding ewes and, this year, over 300 shearlings and 65 ewe lambs will be mated. The flock has recently expanded and the team is interested in gaining a greater understanding of the genetic base of the ewes – particularly in terms of ewe longevity.

The team at HAU already collect a wealth of data for pedigree recording with Signet and believe the Challenge Sheep project will help the university with the latest teaching around ewe performance and management.

Pete Webster contract-farms Matson Ground Estate in Windermere, running upland beef and sheep enterprises.

As a first-generation farmer, Pete wants to ensure the sheep flock delivers financially. Prior to the Challenge Sheep project, Pete was thinking about independently analysing the lifetime of his ewes, but as soon as he heard about the project, he thought it would make sense to share expertise with others.

Pete wants to ensure that solid foundations are made in establishing the performance of the flock and to continue to make the business both profitable and sustainable. He also wants to determine whether he is using the right breeds and management to achieve this on farm. 

Graham manages a hill farm comprising 700 mainly Swaledale ewes and 35 Aberdeen Angus suckler cows on 110 ha; he also has grazing rights on Bollihope Common.

Graham joined Challenge Sheep in 2017 to better understand new technology in data recording and how this can help to improve stock health and performance.

As a result, he routinely records lamb weights at birth, at eight weeks and at weaning, and uses body condition scoring as a major tool in mature ewe and shearling management.

Ian’s mixed farm has been in his family since 1932. It comprises arable crops and 600 predominantly New Zealand Texel ewes.

He joined Challenge Sheep in 2017 to learn from others, compare his farming practices and improve the efficiency of the flock, with a particular focus on ewe fertility.

Since being involved with the project, Ian has focused on increasing the fertility of his flock – body condition scoring ewes at key points and weighting lambs at birth, at five weeks and at weaning to assess daily liveweight gain.

He recognises that good grassland management and rotation is also key to his flock health as well as ensuring sufficient forage in times of drought and stress.