Katie Evans 25 Norfolk
Sheep farming is most definitely a family affair for Katie, who works alongside her parents and siblings on the enterprise’s three separate sheep flocks. Katie herself manages a flock of 600 performance recorded pedigree Lleyn producing finished and breeding stock for sale. The farm also runs 800 crossbred ewes and 700 Hebrideans that graze heathland as part of a native breed scheme. In addition to work at home, Katie’s ambition has seen her recently go self-employed offering contract shepherding in her local area, something she hopes to increase over the next five years. Katie is already an active member of various sheep groups, recognising their importance for learning and networking opportunities, so is excited to now join the Next Generation ambassador programme. She comments: “I am very grateful for this opportunity and looking forward to seeing what we can achieve as a group. In order to combat future challenges it is important the next generation work together, which is why I think the NSA ambassador programme is so important”.
Katie kept a blog in 2022
March. We have just finished the main lambing here at Stonehouse Farm. Everything is lambed extensively apart from the triplets, which we lamb inside. The Lleyns lamb in small blocks for ease of performance recording. Every lamb is tagged and weighed at birth. This year we have paid extra attention to colostrum management and hygiene, using a refractometer to assess colostrum quality. Lambing has gone well and I’m currently enjoying a quieter couple of weeks before the ewe lambs and Hebrideans start lambing in April.
May has been a busy month with Lleyn eight-week weights and tagging and tailing all the crossbred and Hebridean lambs. A couple of weeks ago I attended a British Wool shearing course, which was a great experience and I’m looking forward to putting the training into practice. We also had our second NSA ambassador meeting, which was a great opportunity to catch up with the other ambassadors post-lambing and learn more about the UK sheep supply chain. Particular highlights of the trip for me were the tour of Marc Jones’ sheep and beef farm and the visit to Farmers Fresh. I look forward to the next meeting in July.
June. This season’s Lleyn lambs are performing very well considering how dry it is here. Frequent weights on our system allow us to make judgements based on daily liveweight gain. Daily liveweight gain combined with mob FEC samples gives an indication of worm burden allowing us to use anthelmintics in a targeted and sustainable way. The majority of the male lambs are on target to be finished straight off their mothers in time for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. High EBV ram lambs have been marked up to retain for breeding. I recently attended Groundswell, which is an amazing show that I would highly recommend it if you have never been. I also attended an NSA farm tour of the Sandringham Estate, which is an impressive set up with a lot of history.
August. It won’t come as a surprise that the first thing that came to mind when I started writing this is how dry it is! It’s been a difficult summer but the sheep and cattle look surprisingly well. After a late June draw, we weaned the rest of the male lambs onto creep. We weaned the ewe lambs at the beginning of August. We have selected our replacements for the Lleyn flock based mainly on EBVs and selected crossbred replacements on condition and extent of shedding. I’m excited to be writing this update in Canada! My sister and I are out here for a month travelling around British Colombia and Alberta in a campervan. We’re planning to get on some farms/ranches later in the trip so I look forward to seeing how it’s done over here.
End of the year comment: The Next Generation Ambassador programme has been an amazing experience. I’ve come away from every session with new knowledge and ideas. It has also been a great way to learn more about farming in other areas of the UK. Some highlights for me included the visit to Marc Jones’ farm in Wales. His livestock system and grassland management were both interesting and impressive. I really enjoyed our sheep health discussions, in particular about actions to take at lambing time. It was a great session for gaining tips and new ideas. Having seen the results from colostrum quality studies, I went home and purchased a refractometer and a colostrum milker, which are two great pieces of kit for improving colostrum management. Although I am sad the programme has come to an end, I am excited to see what the future brings and look forward to staying involved with NSA.
Sheep farming is most definitely a family affair for Katie, who works alongside her parents and siblings on the enterprise’s three separate sheep flocks. Katie herself manages a flock of 600 performance recorded pedigree Lleyn producing finished and breeding stock for sale. The farm also runs 800 crossbred ewes and 700 Hebrideans that graze heathland as part of a native breed scheme. In addition to work at home, Katie’s ambition has seen her recently go self-employed offering contract shepherding in her local area, something she hopes to increase over the next five years. Katie is already an active member of various sheep groups, recognising their importance for learning and networking opportunities, so is excited to now join the Next Generation ambassador programme. She comments: “I am very grateful for this opportunity and looking forward to seeing what we can achieve as a group. In order to combat future challenges it is important the next generation work together, which is why I think the NSA ambassador programme is so important”.
Katie kept a blog in 2022
March. We have just finished the main lambing here at Stonehouse Farm. Everything is lambed extensively apart from the triplets, which we lamb inside. The Lleyns lamb in small blocks for ease of performance recording. Every lamb is tagged and weighed at birth. This year we have paid extra attention to colostrum management and hygiene, using a refractometer to assess colostrum quality. Lambing has gone well and I’m currently enjoying a quieter couple of weeks before the ewe lambs and Hebrideans start lambing in April.
May has been a busy month with Lleyn eight-week weights and tagging and tailing all the crossbred and Hebridean lambs. A couple of weeks ago I attended a British Wool shearing course, which was a great experience and I’m looking forward to putting the training into practice. We also had our second NSA ambassador meeting, which was a great opportunity to catch up with the other ambassadors post-lambing and learn more about the UK sheep supply chain. Particular highlights of the trip for me were the tour of Marc Jones’ sheep and beef farm and the visit to Farmers Fresh. I look forward to the next meeting in July.
June. This season’s Lleyn lambs are performing very well considering how dry it is here. Frequent weights on our system allow us to make judgements based on daily liveweight gain. Daily liveweight gain combined with mob FEC samples gives an indication of worm burden allowing us to use anthelmintics in a targeted and sustainable way. The majority of the male lambs are on target to be finished straight off their mothers in time for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. High EBV ram lambs have been marked up to retain for breeding. I recently attended Groundswell, which is an amazing show that I would highly recommend it if you have never been. I also attended an NSA farm tour of the Sandringham Estate, which is an impressive set up with a lot of history.
August. It won’t come as a surprise that the first thing that came to mind when I started writing this is how dry it is! It’s been a difficult summer but the sheep and cattle look surprisingly well. After a late June draw, we weaned the rest of the male lambs onto creep. We weaned the ewe lambs at the beginning of August. We have selected our replacements for the Lleyn flock based mainly on EBVs and selected crossbred replacements on condition and extent of shedding. I’m excited to be writing this update in Canada! My sister and I are out here for a month travelling around British Colombia and Alberta in a campervan. We’re planning to get on some farms/ranches later in the trip so I look forward to seeing how it’s done over here.
End of the year comment: The Next Generation Ambassador programme has been an amazing experience. I’ve come away from every session with new knowledge and ideas. It has also been a great way to learn more about farming in other areas of the UK. Some highlights for me included the visit to Marc Jones’ farm in Wales. His livestock system and grassland management were both interesting and impressive. I really enjoyed our sheep health discussions, in particular about actions to take at lambing time. It was a great session for gaining tips and new ideas. Having seen the results from colostrum quality studies, I went home and purchased a refractometer and a colostrum milker, which are two great pieces of kit for improving colostrum management. Although I am sad the programme has come to an end, I am excited to see what the future brings and look forward to staying involved with NSA.
