Lauren Bird 27 Oxfordshire
Since returning home from seven years working on sheep stations in Australia and picking up what she calls her ‘really bad Aussie accent’ Lauren has thrown herself back into shepherding in the UK. She believes that the move home will allow her to lease some land, in addition to her employed work, providing a home for a Charollais stud she hopes to restart from her time in Australia. Lauren also hopes to have opportunity to tender for a sheep share-farming lease or share farming agreement in the future. Ambassador goal: Lauren would like to use her experiences working at home and overseas, as well as being an NSA Ambassador, to one day offer an apprenticeship or college training opportunity to a young person coming into the sector.
Lauren completed NSA Q&As throughout 2018
March
- Are you planning anything different for this lambing season? This is my first lambing at Highclere so it’s all a little different for me, but much as much. For the farm we have changed a lot in terms of how we have set up the shed and trying to make better use of the limited space we have. We’ve moved away from blanket spectam treatments and only treating anything we think has the potential to be at risk due to low colostrum or weak.
- What was the biggest surprise for you attending the first NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I don’t know that I was very surprised by anything ... but I was pleased to meet such a great bunch of likeminded people and learnt a lot.
- What will be your favourite thing about the clock’s changing on 25th March? Longer evenings to get back into training some young dogs!
- If you were Prime Minister for a day, what single thing sheep-related thing would you change, and what single non-sheep thing would you change? Tough one, I'd like to write an essay... but I won’t. Sheep related - lots of things I’d like to change but definitely get rid of the stand still rule. Non sheep related - the NHS is so badly run!
- 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? Sion. I think it’s a fantastic management system and would love to learn more!
April
- What was the highlight of lambing this year? Despite being a tough season everyone’s been in the same boat and supported each other. Made some great new friends this year!
- How are you getting on with meeting the targets you’ve set yourself as an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? Not too bad, getting there slowly. Trying to work towards getting my Charolais flock started and also attending an event in June.
- If you could give the general public one fact about sheep farming, what would it be and why? Tricky one! I’m not sure there’s one fact. I think probably just to realise how much work goes into producing meat and how often the odds are stacked against us.
- 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 grass growth - no point having lambs if you haven’t got grass for ewes to milk off.
- 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? Short distance sprint - get good at that when your catching lambs!
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? I’m currently contract shepherding. At the moment I’m busy with shearing, wool handling and tailing lambs for various farmers.
- How is your 2018 lamb crop performing so far? From what I’ve seen of everyone’s lambs this year so far I think they are performing well. A lot of people are feeling a bit pinched with grass but it will come.
- 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? I am hoping it’s a phase, but worryingly I suspect that it’s going to be the new reality. As an industry we need to be promoting the realities of agriculture.
- What were you doing on the hottest Bank Holiday Monday on record? I've been farm sitting for a friend up north this holiday so I was working but playing too! Had plenty of time to fit in some dog training and cold beers.
- What (sheep related) wedding gift would you give Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and why? I think they should be seen out and about in some matching outfits professing their love for UK produced food - particularly lamb.
June
- What did you learn from the second NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I really enjoyed spending a bit of time with Will Evans and learning about how he is promoting agriculture and the various topical issues affecting the industry with his podcast 'Rock & Roll Farming'.
- 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)?! Well I’m about to start my new job so yet to find out if there’s any problems to hide, but I think we all want to hide lame sheep. Having been contracting down south this last few months it’s definitely been on the forefront of everyone’s minds down there.
- 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? To engage in consultations with those on the ground who are actually going to be affected by this (ie farmers, import/export agents, the vets who manage the system etc) and who understand the system because it’s their day job, not just what they’ve learnt from a university degree.
- What is your favourite sheep farming task and your worst task? Weirdly I love dagging/crutching dirty bums! Nothing better than watching them walk away with a clean bum, and I’m sure they appreciate it too. The worst job is pulling rotten lambs. You can’t get rid of the smell for a few days!
- 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? The magic of going round the sheep with your dogs on the quad ,perhaps at first light or in the evening. Also like to talk to the general public about agriculture and what we face in our industry.
July
- How are you and your flock coping in the drought conditions? Having spent so long in Australia, and being very aware of the conditions in some parts over there at the moment I wouldn’t say I would consider the situation we’re in too serious. For me the biggest problem at this point is flys spreading mastitis. I’m quite lucky that we have quite a lot of top cover here in our pastures which is really helping retain the little moisture we have. Also we’re definitely not as dry here where I am than in some areas down South.
- 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? I can’t say I’m very optimistic about getting a deal to be honest. Unfortunately I think there’s too many politicians playing politics instead of just getting on with what’s in front of them. I think the short term will be tough, building new deals and finding our feet - change is never easy! But I am optimistic that there is potential for positivity in the future to come from Brexit for agriculture.
- What was the best take home message from your day at NSA Sheep 2018? For me being part of the discussion on the current potential lack for a skills shortage of employed shepherds. I’ve been self employed, and I’ve been in situations where I haven’t enjoyed working for my employer at all. I’m lucky now to have found a job that I enjoy and an employer I enjoy working for and with - I think that’s the key. As a shepherd there has to be a sense of ownership to fuel the drive to do the job!
- What summer agricultural shows are you going to / have you gone to? Which is your favourite and why? I loved the Royal Highland show!! It was my first time there this year and that will definitely be a regular.
- Tell us about your sheepdogs. I currently have seven, all at different ages and stages. Skye is my main bitch and she’s just brilliant! Lyn came back from Australia with me. She’s a real character and a great work bitch. Peggy is my back-up dog. Sweep is now 16 months and his training is progressing very well. I'm waiting to get the lambs off the ewes so I can really put some work into him in the autumn. Gwen and Fern are pups I bred out of Skye, now six months old. Fern is off to Australia and Gwen is shaping up very nicely indeed. Laddie is just a tiddler at the moment at 10 weeks, but if his breeding shines through he should be a topper!
August
- How are you going to feed your stock this winter? Will you have to feed a higher number of concentrates due to the lack of roughage? Will you use fodder crops? All the ewes here are overwintered outdoors, feeding a little bit of beet cake. I expect they’ll require a bit more than last year, but I don’t expect it to be significant. All lambs should be sold as stores over August/early-September and ewes onto fresh grazing allowing time for the rest of the grass to freshen up.
- How have you, or will you be preparing for tupping. How will you flush your ewes with so little grass available? Are your tups in yet? We don’t lamb here till May, so a little time left yet to see how autumn progresses. I'll put some fields aside to flush on.
- What do you consider the best way to unwind after a long day with the sheep? Most evening I spend training dogs.
- What is your favourite lamb dish? I like to bone out a shoulder and stuff it with pinenuts and mint then roll it up and roast it - delicious hot or cold!! Also I love crumbed lamb chops.
- What do you do on your farm for the environment? On our hill and moor grazing we are undertaking a managed tree planting program to encourage black grouse leks on the moorlands.
September
- Now the nights are drawing in and temperatures are dropping, what (if anything!) are you looking forward to this autumn/winter? I can’t say I really look forward to shorter days and cold weather, but it will be my first Scottish winter and I’m sure that will be an experience. I suppose it signifies the cycle starting again, with a lot of people’s tups going out soon (mine aren’t out till the 5th Dec). And before we know it, it’ll be lambing.
- How many ewes are you putting / have you put to the tup this autumn? We’re tupping from 1,500-1,800 ewes to lamb this year. Last year was the first year of having this place so carrying capacity was a bit of a guess but we feel that we can definitely carry more stock, especially selling out lambs as stores as we have been.
- If you weren’t a sheep farmer what would you be and why? Tough question! Perhaps a large animal vet. I’ve always been keen on animals and I am interested in the animal health side of my job anyway.
- What is your favourite breed of sheep and why? I’ve always had a soft spot for the Charollais and even started my own stud in Australia. They are just so easy lambing and easy to finish with lovely confirmation. However, since I’ve been in my new job I’ve had quite a bit to do with the Cheviot, and I have to say they're a splendid sheep that produce cracking lambs in the tough winter that they had last year.
- Never throw away baler twine! What is your best use for this farm essential? It is brilliant for tying up a sheep once you’ve caught it for treatment, especially at lambing time. The old favourite, of course, is tying up gates.
October
- Who is your farming hero? My old and very first boss, James Fuggle of Wadhurst, Kent. He gave me a lot of time and support over the years. He’s an extremely good business man, who’s diversified in a lot of different ways and is prepared to try something a little different to market his product.
- The Government is looking to replace areas based farm support payments with payments for ‘public goods’. As a sheep farmer, which public good to you think you deliver the most on, how and why? And why is this important to the tax payer? I don’t see how you can select just one public good because we deliver on so many. The clear choice is producing nutritious food, but inadvertadly many of us are also delivering on grazing for biodiversity, food security etc.
- 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? I’m a big wool Fan. I wear wool a lot and buy wool products where I can, because I think it’s a brilliant fibre. absolutely loved going to the wool mill and watching the process from start to finish where they produce the yarn. I was amazed at how much blending goes on and the quality (or lack of quality) that sometimes blends into the carpet wools for instance.
- If sheep were not your passion, what other farming enterprise would appeal to you the most? I enjoy working with cattle so I’d probably head down that route, most likely beef. But I would also consider chickens.
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? Martyn Fletcher. I found his commercial focus passion and innovative ideas very interesting and have often thought back to things we saw and discussed on that visit. But that’s a tough question, as I have taken something from every farm visit.
- 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’ve been more conscious of my use of antibiotics.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and plan to implement in the next year or two. I always knew the importance of colostrum but Philippa Page's talk in the first session really highlighted some key facts, and this lambing I intend to make a greater effort to ensure every lamb gets its quota and hopefully reduce joint ill.
- Select an ambassador from team 2018! Where do you see them in 10 years’ time? I am sure Catherine will end up as a Minister for Agriculture or environment or the like!
- 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? New Year's resolutions aren’t really my thing, but being part of the NSA has given me more motivation to get involved within the sheep industry to have an impact on the future.
- 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? What will be will be. I think long term it will all work out but short term will be tricky; change is always hard.
Since returning home from seven years working on sheep stations in Australia and picking up what she calls her ‘really bad Aussie accent’ Lauren has thrown herself back into shepherding in the UK. She believes that the move home will allow her to lease some land, in addition to her employed work, providing a home for a Charollais stud she hopes to restart from her time in Australia. Lauren also hopes to have opportunity to tender for a sheep share-farming lease or share farming agreement in the future. Ambassador goal: Lauren would like to use her experiences working at home and overseas, as well as being an NSA Ambassador, to one day offer an apprenticeship or college training opportunity to a young person coming into the sector.
Lauren completed NSA Q&As throughout 2018
March
- Are you planning anything different for this lambing season? This is my first lambing at Highclere so it’s all a little different for me, but much as much. For the farm we have changed a lot in terms of how we have set up the shed and trying to make better use of the limited space we have. We’ve moved away from blanket spectam treatments and only treating anything we think has the potential to be at risk due to low colostrum or weak.
- What was the biggest surprise for you attending the first NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I don’t know that I was very surprised by anything ... but I was pleased to meet such a great bunch of likeminded people and learnt a lot.
- What will be your favourite thing about the clock’s changing on 25th March? Longer evenings to get back into training some young dogs!
- If you were Prime Minister for a day, what single thing sheep-related thing would you change, and what single non-sheep thing would you change? Tough one, I'd like to write an essay... but I won’t. Sheep related - lots of things I’d like to change but definitely get rid of the stand still rule. Non sheep related - the NHS is so badly run!
- 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? Sion. I think it’s a fantastic management system and would love to learn more!
April
- What was the highlight of lambing this year? Despite being a tough season everyone’s been in the same boat and supported each other. Made some great new friends this year!
- How are you getting on with meeting the targets you’ve set yourself as an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? Not too bad, getting there slowly. Trying to work towards getting my Charolais flock started and also attending an event in June.
- If you could give the general public one fact about sheep farming, what would it be and why? Tricky one! I’m not sure there’s one fact. I think probably just to realise how much work goes into producing meat and how often the odds are stacked against us.
- 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 grass growth - no point having lambs if you haven’t got grass for ewes to milk off.
- 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? Short distance sprint - get good at that when your catching lambs!
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? I’m currently contract shepherding. At the moment I’m busy with shearing, wool handling and tailing lambs for various farmers.
- How is your 2018 lamb crop performing so far? From what I’ve seen of everyone’s lambs this year so far I think they are performing well. A lot of people are feeling a bit pinched with grass but it will come.
- 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? I am hoping it’s a phase, but worryingly I suspect that it’s going to be the new reality. As an industry we need to be promoting the realities of agriculture.
- What were you doing on the hottest Bank Holiday Monday on record? I've been farm sitting for a friend up north this holiday so I was working but playing too! Had plenty of time to fit in some dog training and cold beers.
- What (sheep related) wedding gift would you give Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and why? I think they should be seen out and about in some matching outfits professing their love for UK produced food - particularly lamb.
June
- What did you learn from the second NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I really enjoyed spending a bit of time with Will Evans and learning about how he is promoting agriculture and the various topical issues affecting the industry with his podcast 'Rock & Roll Farming'.
- 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)?! Well I’m about to start my new job so yet to find out if there’s any problems to hide, but I think we all want to hide lame sheep. Having been contracting down south this last few months it’s definitely been on the forefront of everyone’s minds down there.
- 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? To engage in consultations with those on the ground who are actually going to be affected by this (ie farmers, import/export agents, the vets who manage the system etc) and who understand the system because it’s their day job, not just what they’ve learnt from a university degree.
- What is your favourite sheep farming task and your worst task? Weirdly I love dagging/crutching dirty bums! Nothing better than watching them walk away with a clean bum, and I’m sure they appreciate it too. The worst job is pulling rotten lambs. You can’t get rid of the smell for a few days!
- 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? The magic of going round the sheep with your dogs on the quad ,perhaps at first light or in the evening. Also like to talk to the general public about agriculture and what we face in our industry.
July
- How are you and your flock coping in the drought conditions? Having spent so long in Australia, and being very aware of the conditions in some parts over there at the moment I wouldn’t say I would consider the situation we’re in too serious. For me the biggest problem at this point is flys spreading mastitis. I’m quite lucky that we have quite a lot of top cover here in our pastures which is really helping retain the little moisture we have. Also we’re definitely not as dry here where I am than in some areas down South.
- 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? I can’t say I’m very optimistic about getting a deal to be honest. Unfortunately I think there’s too many politicians playing politics instead of just getting on with what’s in front of them. I think the short term will be tough, building new deals and finding our feet - change is never easy! But I am optimistic that there is potential for positivity in the future to come from Brexit for agriculture.
- What was the best take home message from your day at NSA Sheep 2018? For me being part of the discussion on the current potential lack for a skills shortage of employed shepherds. I’ve been self employed, and I’ve been in situations where I haven’t enjoyed working for my employer at all. I’m lucky now to have found a job that I enjoy and an employer I enjoy working for and with - I think that’s the key. As a shepherd there has to be a sense of ownership to fuel the drive to do the job!
- What summer agricultural shows are you going to / have you gone to? Which is your favourite and why? I loved the Royal Highland show!! It was my first time there this year and that will definitely be a regular.
- Tell us about your sheepdogs. I currently have seven, all at different ages and stages. Skye is my main bitch and she’s just brilliant! Lyn came back from Australia with me. She’s a real character and a great work bitch. Peggy is my back-up dog. Sweep is now 16 months and his training is progressing very well. I'm waiting to get the lambs off the ewes so I can really put some work into him in the autumn. Gwen and Fern are pups I bred out of Skye, now six months old. Fern is off to Australia and Gwen is shaping up very nicely indeed. Laddie is just a tiddler at the moment at 10 weeks, but if his breeding shines through he should be a topper!
August
- How are you going to feed your stock this winter? Will you have to feed a higher number of concentrates due to the lack of roughage? Will you use fodder crops? All the ewes here are overwintered outdoors, feeding a little bit of beet cake. I expect they’ll require a bit more than last year, but I don’t expect it to be significant. All lambs should be sold as stores over August/early-September and ewes onto fresh grazing allowing time for the rest of the grass to freshen up.
- How have you, or will you be preparing for tupping. How will you flush your ewes with so little grass available? Are your tups in yet? We don’t lamb here till May, so a little time left yet to see how autumn progresses. I'll put some fields aside to flush on.
- What do you consider the best way to unwind after a long day with the sheep? Most evening I spend training dogs.
- What is your favourite lamb dish? I like to bone out a shoulder and stuff it with pinenuts and mint then roll it up and roast it - delicious hot or cold!! Also I love crumbed lamb chops.
- What do you do on your farm for the environment? On our hill and moor grazing we are undertaking a managed tree planting program to encourage black grouse leks on the moorlands.
September
- Now the nights are drawing in and temperatures are dropping, what (if anything!) are you looking forward to this autumn/winter? I can’t say I really look forward to shorter days and cold weather, but it will be my first Scottish winter and I’m sure that will be an experience. I suppose it signifies the cycle starting again, with a lot of people’s tups going out soon (mine aren’t out till the 5th Dec). And before we know it, it’ll be lambing.
- How many ewes are you putting / have you put to the tup this autumn? We’re tupping from 1,500-1,800 ewes to lamb this year. Last year was the first year of having this place so carrying capacity was a bit of a guess but we feel that we can definitely carry more stock, especially selling out lambs as stores as we have been.
- If you weren’t a sheep farmer what would you be and why? Tough question! Perhaps a large animal vet. I’ve always been keen on animals and I am interested in the animal health side of my job anyway.
- What is your favourite breed of sheep and why? I’ve always had a soft spot for the Charollais and even started my own stud in Australia. They are just so easy lambing and easy to finish with lovely confirmation. However, since I’ve been in my new job I’ve had quite a bit to do with the Cheviot, and I have to say they're a splendid sheep that produce cracking lambs in the tough winter that they had last year.
- Never throw away baler twine! What is your best use for this farm essential? It is brilliant for tying up a sheep once you’ve caught it for treatment, especially at lambing time. The old favourite, of course, is tying up gates.
October
- Who is your farming hero? My old and very first boss, James Fuggle of Wadhurst, Kent. He gave me a lot of time and support over the years. He’s an extremely good business man, who’s diversified in a lot of different ways and is prepared to try something a little different to market his product.
- The Government is looking to replace areas based farm support payments with payments for ‘public goods’. As a sheep farmer, which public good to you think you deliver the most on, how and why? And why is this important to the tax payer? I don’t see how you can select just one public good because we deliver on so many. The clear choice is producing nutritious food, but inadvertadly many of us are also delivering on grazing for biodiversity, food security etc.
- 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? I’m a big wool Fan. I wear wool a lot and buy wool products where I can, because I think it’s a brilliant fibre. absolutely loved going to the wool mill and watching the process from start to finish where they produce the yarn. I was amazed at how much blending goes on and the quality (or lack of quality) that sometimes blends into the carpet wools for instance.
- If sheep were not your passion, what other farming enterprise would appeal to you the most? I enjoy working with cattle so I’d probably head down that route, most likely beef. But I would also consider chickens.
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? Martyn Fletcher. I found his commercial focus passion and innovative ideas very interesting and have often thought back to things we saw and discussed on that visit. But that’s a tough question, as I have taken something from every farm visit.
- 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’ve been more conscious of my use of antibiotics.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and plan to implement in the next year or two. I always knew the importance of colostrum but Philippa Page's talk in the first session really highlighted some key facts, and this lambing I intend to make a greater effort to ensure every lamb gets its quota and hopefully reduce joint ill.
- Select an ambassador from team 2018! Where do you see them in 10 years’ time? I am sure Catherine will end up as a Minister for Agriculture or environment or the like!
- 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? New Year's resolutions aren’t really my thing, but being part of the NSA has given me more motivation to get involved within the sheep industry to have an impact on the future.
- 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? What will be will be. I think long term it will all work out but short term will be tricky; change is always hard.
