Joe Emmett 26 Norfolk
If 1,100 breeding ewes, 4,000 bought-in store lambs and 150 sucklers weren’t enough to keep him busy at work, Joe also runs his own 340-ewe flock and 25-cow herd on rented ground near his home at King’s Lynn. His aim is to move his flock towards all pure-bred New Zealand Romneys and increase numbers but, for the meantime at least, to also continue his work as a self-employed shepherd. On both the farm where he works and the land he rents, Joe has a mix of grass/forage crops in arable rotations and poor-grade grazing on heathland. “I strongly believe in building working relationships and having a good reputation as a grazier,” he says. “I’m enjoying seeing how you can utilise marginal grazing to produce a quality product.”
Ambassador goal: Knowing that local NSA meetings are great for giving him a boost, Joe’s excited about travelling as an NSA Ambassador and meeting people from other parts of the UK.
Joe completed NSA Q&As throughout 2018
March
- Are you planning anything different for this lambing season? I’m roughly half way through lambing at work and it’s going quite well. Something new is that I'm lambing a flock of Lleyn cross and Romney cross ewes on turnips. The weather is throwing up challenges but the sheep are dealing with it well. I’m hoping for better weather during April when my own flock start.
- What was the biggest surprise for you attending the first NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? Best and biggest surprise was being in a room full of people who genuinely didn't mind talking about sheep all day!
- What will be your favourite thing about the clock’s changing on 25th March? Daylight!
- If you could swap your farm (or the farm you work on) for the farm of one of the other NSA Next Generation Ambassador’s this year, which one would you chose and why? Probably where Sion works. I like the look of the space, the scenery, the scale and the progressive nature of the livestock enterprises.
April
- What was the highlight of lambing this year? (Or highlight so far?) Seeing how well sheep can deal with bad weather and how tough they can be when it’s needed.
- How are you getting on with meeting the targets you’ve set yourself as an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? Some progress, but when lambing and calving is finished that’s the time when my targets kick in and I will see if I hit them.
- The tough spring conditions have caused high lambing losses and stunted grass growth for most places. If a genie offered you more grass growth, more live lambs on the ground or one other wish, which would you chose and why? More live lambs, as grass in Norfolk has had a good start this spring.
- If you were asked to step in at the last minute and compete at the Commonwealth Games, what would be your best discipline and why? The decathlon. Shepherds have to do most disciplines on a daily basis: run, jump, lift, go cross-country, and even swim and throw (your crook at the dog)!
May
- What’s keeping you busy at the moment, and what job do you really need to get done but can’t find the time for? At the moment I’m busy getting dry sheep sheared, getting fly cover on my ewes, and tagging and tailing my lambs. I have been under movement restrictions with my cattle until last week due to a local TB breakdown, but now I'm free to cart out/sort into bulling groups. I should really be thinking about haylage if the weather stays good, but need to be getting back to work for Richard Evans.
- How is your 2018 lamb crop performing so far? Doing well so far, early days but pleased with lambs on the ground.
- Defra has just closed its 'Health and Harmony' consultation on post-Brexit agricultural regulation. Environment, health and welfare were given higher priority in the paper than food production. what are your thoughts on this? It's definitely the new reality we have to accept. I’m all for it, as it will stop farmers/landlords sitting on large blocks of land and doing nothing with them.
- What were you doing on the hottest Bank Holiday Monday on record? Shearing hogget lambs.
- What (sheep related) wedding gift would you give Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and why? A £10 Mole Country Stores voucher. Who wouldn’t want that?!
June
- What did you learn from the second NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? That it is important to intensify your stocking rates where you can.
- If a bus of NSA members turned up to view your flock today, what would you take them to see (and what would you try and hide)?! I would probably take them to see a typical Breckland scene, to show how harsher an environment it can be, with grass burnt off in two to three days. But show it is an interesting place to live/work. I would try to hide my crops of thistles!
- The Government is currently exploring animal welfare in transport / live exports, due to pressure from the anti-farming lobby to ban live exports. What would you like to say to Michael Gove and his civil servants on this topic? I'd say that you're right to explore it, because you'll find that livestock transport can be a very easy, stress free process for the animal and stockman if done right. Unfortunately there will be cases where animals are stressed and uncomfortable but it should be the government’s job, as well as our job, to minimise this.
- What is your favourite sheep farming task and your worst task? I quite enjoy any dog work, especially moving large numbers of sheep about. I don't enjoy bolusing small lambs. It’s way too fiddly and I'm a bit short on patience.
- The average attendance for a FIFA World Cup game is more than 53,000 fans! You’ve got 10 minutes during the half time break for a sheep farming demonstration. What would you show off and why? Working a sheepdog. Because lots of people always like to watch a dog round up sheep.
July
- How are you and your flock coping in the drought conditions? I think the sheep are dealing with it better than me, as I can't take the heat very well. Grass-wise, I'm in a muddle but not yet in trouble. But another week or 10 days and there will be nothing left worth eating on our sandy land. I do not envy shepherds and sheep men in harsher parts of the country.
- Are you optimistic that we’ll a) get a Brexit deal before our official departure date from the EU, and b) that it’ll be a good deal for UK agriculture? Yes I'm optimistic. We have to be otherwise none of us would keep sheep! Any deal will bring some major changes, which we will have no choice but to work with and make the best of.
- What was the best take home message from your day at NSA Sheep 2018? To try and think positive and be proactive when you’re faced with challenges.
- What summer agricultural shows are you going to / have you gone to? Which is your favourite and why? I've only been to the NSA event and am not sure I'll get a chance to get anywhere else. I would love to go to the Royal Welsh and watch some shearing competitions … maybe next year.
- Tell us about your sheepdogs. I've four dogs at the moment – two collies and two kelpies. The oldest collie, Ned, is stone deaf and likes hiding stones in the back of truck! The other collie, Jack is trial trained, tiptoes and creeps about looking like he knows what he's doing, and enjoys hiding turnips from the other collie in the back of the truck. With the Kelpie dog, Bruce, unless you drop in an expletive into every command he won't listen to a word I say! But he's useful when he's tired. The little kelpie bitch Roo is 10 months old, learning fast and starting to be useful. It’s a funny old team but I’d be lost without them.
October
- Who is your farming hero? The people I've worked for have inspired me to do what I'm doing now.
- What would be your one, best piece of advice for someone looking to enter the world of sheep farming? Try and keep an open mind to the different systems within the industry, and work hard because people will recognise it.
- The previous NSA Ambassador session visited British Wool, a timely visit as ‘Wool Week’ falls in October. What surprised or encouraged you about this visit? It was encouraging to see British Wool is pursuing new marketplaces.
- If sheep were not your passion, what other farming enterprise would appeal to you the most? I would be a contract fencer and forester.
Final round of questions
- Of the farms you’ve visited during your year as an Ambassador, which would you like to live and work on and why – or, which farmer you have met would you like to work with and why? I'd like to work with Frank Lloyd, on his setup. I really liked his progressive attitude towards breeding the best sheep to suit his system, and at the same time adding value to stock for sale.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and implemented on your farm since becoming an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? Are you seeing any benefits from this already? I have started using Wyn Owen’s techniques for time management and business planning.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and plan to implement in the next year or two. I hope to implement more focus on adding value to my breeding females, buying in more improved genetics.
- Select an ambassador from team 2018! Where do you see them in 10 years’ time? David McMullan, will be the dairy king of Northern Ireland!
- 2019 is just around the corner. Will you be making any new year’s resolutions for yourself personally or for your farm / place of work in 2019? To be on the NSA Eastern Region committee.
- Brexit has been the top topic during your first year as an Ambassador. Where do you think the final negotiations will end up and will it be good for UK sheep farmers? I've no idea where we will end up but hopefully our government isn’t going to send us into a muddle!
If 1,100 breeding ewes, 4,000 bought-in store lambs and 150 sucklers weren’t enough to keep him busy at work, Joe also runs his own 340-ewe flock and 25-cow herd on rented ground near his home at King’s Lynn. His aim is to move his flock towards all pure-bred New Zealand Romneys and increase numbers but, for the meantime at least, to also continue his work as a self-employed shepherd. On both the farm where he works and the land he rents, Joe has a mix of grass/forage crops in arable rotations and poor-grade grazing on heathland. “I strongly believe in building working relationships and having a good reputation as a grazier,” he says. “I’m enjoying seeing how you can utilise marginal grazing to produce a quality product.”
Ambassador goal: Knowing that local NSA meetings are great for giving him a boost, Joe’s excited about travelling as an NSA Ambassador and meeting people from other parts of the UK.
Joe completed NSA Q&As throughout 2018
March
- Are you planning anything different for this lambing season? I’m roughly half way through lambing at work and it’s going quite well. Something new is that I'm lambing a flock of Lleyn cross and Romney cross ewes on turnips. The weather is throwing up challenges but the sheep are dealing with it well. I’m hoping for better weather during April when my own flock start.
- What was the biggest surprise for you attending the first NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? Best and biggest surprise was being in a room full of people who genuinely didn't mind talking about sheep all day!
- What will be your favourite thing about the clock’s changing on 25th March? Daylight!
- If you could swap your farm (or the farm you work on) for the farm of one of the other NSA Next Generation Ambassador’s this year, which one would you chose and why? Probably where Sion works. I like the look of the space, the scenery, the scale and the progressive nature of the livestock enterprises.
April
- What was the highlight of lambing this year? (Or highlight so far?) Seeing how well sheep can deal with bad weather and how tough they can be when it’s needed.
- How are you getting on with meeting the targets you’ve set yourself as an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? Some progress, but when lambing and calving is finished that’s the time when my targets kick in and I will see if I hit them.
- The tough spring conditions have caused high lambing losses and stunted grass growth for most places. If a genie offered you more grass growth, more live lambs on the ground or one other wish, which would you chose and why? More live lambs, as grass in Norfolk has had a good start this spring.
- If you were asked to step in at the last minute and compete at the Commonwealth Games, what would be your best discipline and why? The decathlon. Shepherds have to do most disciplines on a daily basis: run, jump, lift, go cross-country, and even swim and throw (your crook at the dog)!
May
- What’s keeping you busy at the moment, and what job do you really need to get done but can’t find the time for? At the moment I’m busy getting dry sheep sheared, getting fly cover on my ewes, and tagging and tailing my lambs. I have been under movement restrictions with my cattle until last week due to a local TB breakdown, but now I'm free to cart out/sort into bulling groups. I should really be thinking about haylage if the weather stays good, but need to be getting back to work for Richard Evans.
- How is your 2018 lamb crop performing so far? Doing well so far, early days but pleased with lambs on the ground.
- Defra has just closed its 'Health and Harmony' consultation on post-Brexit agricultural regulation. Environment, health and welfare were given higher priority in the paper than food production. what are your thoughts on this? It's definitely the new reality we have to accept. I’m all for it, as it will stop farmers/landlords sitting on large blocks of land and doing nothing with them.
- What were you doing on the hottest Bank Holiday Monday on record? Shearing hogget lambs.
- What (sheep related) wedding gift would you give Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and why? A £10 Mole Country Stores voucher. Who wouldn’t want that?!
June
- What did you learn from the second NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? That it is important to intensify your stocking rates where you can.
- If a bus of NSA members turned up to view your flock today, what would you take them to see (and what would you try and hide)?! I would probably take them to see a typical Breckland scene, to show how harsher an environment it can be, with grass burnt off in two to three days. But show it is an interesting place to live/work. I would try to hide my crops of thistles!
- The Government is currently exploring animal welfare in transport / live exports, due to pressure from the anti-farming lobby to ban live exports. What would you like to say to Michael Gove and his civil servants on this topic? I'd say that you're right to explore it, because you'll find that livestock transport can be a very easy, stress free process for the animal and stockman if done right. Unfortunately there will be cases where animals are stressed and uncomfortable but it should be the government’s job, as well as our job, to minimise this.
- What is your favourite sheep farming task and your worst task? I quite enjoy any dog work, especially moving large numbers of sheep about. I don't enjoy bolusing small lambs. It’s way too fiddly and I'm a bit short on patience.
- The average attendance for a FIFA World Cup game is more than 53,000 fans! You’ve got 10 minutes during the half time break for a sheep farming demonstration. What would you show off and why? Working a sheepdog. Because lots of people always like to watch a dog round up sheep.
July
- How are you and your flock coping in the drought conditions? I think the sheep are dealing with it better than me, as I can't take the heat very well. Grass-wise, I'm in a muddle but not yet in trouble. But another week or 10 days and there will be nothing left worth eating on our sandy land. I do not envy shepherds and sheep men in harsher parts of the country.
- Are you optimistic that we’ll a) get a Brexit deal before our official departure date from the EU, and b) that it’ll be a good deal for UK agriculture? Yes I'm optimistic. We have to be otherwise none of us would keep sheep! Any deal will bring some major changes, which we will have no choice but to work with and make the best of.
- What was the best take home message from your day at NSA Sheep 2018? To try and think positive and be proactive when you’re faced with challenges.
- What summer agricultural shows are you going to / have you gone to? Which is your favourite and why? I've only been to the NSA event and am not sure I'll get a chance to get anywhere else. I would love to go to the Royal Welsh and watch some shearing competitions … maybe next year.
- Tell us about your sheepdogs. I've four dogs at the moment – two collies and two kelpies. The oldest collie, Ned, is stone deaf and likes hiding stones in the back of truck! The other collie, Jack is trial trained, tiptoes and creeps about looking like he knows what he's doing, and enjoys hiding turnips from the other collie in the back of the truck. With the Kelpie dog, Bruce, unless you drop in an expletive into every command he won't listen to a word I say! But he's useful when he's tired. The little kelpie bitch Roo is 10 months old, learning fast and starting to be useful. It’s a funny old team but I’d be lost without them.
October
- Who is your farming hero? The people I've worked for have inspired me to do what I'm doing now.
- What would be your one, best piece of advice for someone looking to enter the world of sheep farming? Try and keep an open mind to the different systems within the industry, and work hard because people will recognise it.
- The previous NSA Ambassador session visited British Wool, a timely visit as ‘Wool Week’ falls in October. What surprised or encouraged you about this visit? It was encouraging to see British Wool is pursuing new marketplaces.
- If sheep were not your passion, what other farming enterprise would appeal to you the most? I would be a contract fencer and forester.
Final round of questions
- Of the farms you’ve visited during your year as an Ambassador, which would you like to live and work on and why – or, which farmer you have met would you like to work with and why? I'd like to work with Frank Lloyd, on his setup. I really liked his progressive attitude towards breeding the best sheep to suit his system, and at the same time adding value to stock for sale.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and implemented on your farm since becoming an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? Are you seeing any benefits from this already? I have started using Wyn Owen’s techniques for time management and business planning.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and plan to implement in the next year or two. I hope to implement more focus on adding value to my breeding females, buying in more improved genetics.
- Select an ambassador from team 2018! Where do you see them in 10 years’ time? David McMullan, will be the dairy king of Northern Ireland!
- 2019 is just around the corner. Will you be making any new year’s resolutions for yourself personally or for your farm / place of work in 2019? To be on the NSA Eastern Region committee.
- Brexit has been the top topic during your first year as an Ambassador. Where do you think the final negotiations will end up and will it be good for UK sheep farmers? I've no idea where we will end up but hopefully our government isn’t going to send us into a muddle!
