Richard Rossiter 26 Devon
Developing commercial breeding animals is Richard’s passion, with interesting work already afoot with the family’s 600 Poll Dorsets, 200 Suffolk/Aber Blacks and 400 Exlanas. Richard’s involvement in the Poll Dorset Centurion Group, promoting high performance sheep to pedigree and commercial customers, has led to an interest in prolifically, carcase quality and lambing ease. With the Exlanas, Richard is likewise involved in the SIG group and uses the low-input ewes in his own business to utilise coastal and stewardship land that’s not wanted by local arable and dairy farmers. Innovis’ Aber Blacks, marketed as a finer-boned easier-lambing derivative of the Suffolk breed, is the newest addition to the farm at Kingsbridge. Richard would like to do more performance recording with these, hoping to add CT scanning to the mix. One to watch: Richard says that the confidence he hopes to gain as an NSA Ambassador will encourage him to exploit his location in a popular holiday area to engage with the public, and integrate him into the NSA network of communicating farmer priorities to those in power.
Rich completed NSA Q&As throughout 2018
March
- Are you planning anything different for this lambing season? It has gone and is going well! We are lambing Exlana ewe lambs for the first time and are impressed by how they are doing.
- What was the biggest surprise for you attending the first NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I was surprised with the amount of variations between the 12 Ambassadors in the sheep farms we are on.
- What will be your favourite thing about the clock’s changing on 25th March? The lighter evenings and that summer isn’t far away.
- 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? Sheep related thing – to make it easier to import and export sheep and semen so we can get genetics from around the world, and sell them too. Non-sheep related – bring agriculture into the curriculum at school to teach children where the things they eat come from.
- 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? I would swap with Kirree Kermode on the Isle of Man, as it is close enough to the mainland but they don’t have any vermin and it would be interesting to see the challenges they have as well.
April
- What was the highlight of lambing this year? That it is over! It's been a hard lambing with the weather.
- How are you getting on with meeting the targets you’ve set yourself as an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? They are going well and I’m making progress with some of the long term ones.
- If you could give the general public one fact about sheep farming, what would it be and why? That sheep help to create the open spaces and look after the countryside and keep it the way it looks today – because they don’t realise the work farmers do to look after moorland and hills.
- 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? I’d wish for a 48-hour day to catch up on all the jobs that haven’t been done in the 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? A marathon runner, as I’m always on the go with sheep work and general farming.
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? Getting things ready for sheep export – but not having chance to catch up with paperwork.
- How is your 2018 lamb crop performing so far? They are growing well after the cold spring.
- 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 feel that Defra is more worried about how the environment looks than feeding the nation. I think there should be more emphasis for food production, as the world needs food to eat.
- What were you doing on the hottest Bank Holiday Monday on record? I was in Blackpool for the YFC AGM.
June
- What did you learn from the second NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? More on worming and about resistance and how long immunity against worms takes to develop.
- 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)?! Everything we have on the farm, as I’m proud of what we do here. But I wouldn’t show them the Dorpers, as I’m not happy with them and wouldn’t want to show them off.
- 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? That animals travel in luxury when travelling with the spec. of the lorries today, having climate control and drinkers and plenty of space compared to how people are crammed on trains and the London tubes.
- What is your favourite sheep farming task and your worst task? My favourite task is lambing – seeing what comes out of the pedigree rams that have been used for the different breeds and seeing the potential ram lambs to sell in the future and seeing ewe lamb replacements. I don’t really have a worst task.
July
- How are you and your flock coping in the drought conditions? They are coping quite well. The Dorsets are in good condition, coming up towards lambing in six weeks’ time. The priority is grazing for weaned lambs and rams that are for sale, and this is difficult with very little grass.
- 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? Being optimistic, I do think we will get a deal before the departure date and it will be positive for agriculture. Even though there has been a lot of people resigning, I think their hearts weren’t totally in it and the people stepping into those roles are more determined to get the job done.
- What was the best take home message from your day at NSA Sheep 2018? To not have your eggs all in one basket so you can spread the risk and reinvest money when possible.
- What summer agricultural shows are you going to / have you gone to? Which is your favourite and why? I have been to Devon County Show, the Royal Cornwall and the Royal Welsh Show. Achievement wise, the Devon County was best as we won interbreed pairs, but in general I like the Royal Welsh, as there is plenty to see and do.
- Tell us about your sheepdogs. I have three sheepdogs, one retired and two working. They are no trialling dogs but they save me running around. The youngest is the best, as she is very strong but has a bit of style with it.
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? Thankfully we got the chance to make hay early on with the grass that grew between April and June. We will have to use more concentrate on the finishing lambs as, with no grass for the last few months, we haven’t been able to get them with the right finish on them. We will be using forage crops for running on rams and ewe for shearlings for the following year to sell.
- 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? Preparing ewes has been difficult. We have put tupping buckets out earlier than usual. Thankfully with the rain we have lately the grass has started to grow and hopefully will be enough to flush the ewes. Poll Dorsets were put to ram in the end of April for five weeks. The January-lambing flock of Suffolk/Aberblacks and Poll Dorset rams will be going in this week for three weeks.
- What do you consider the best way to unwind after a long day with the sheep? Having a nice cold beer chilling out on the sofa in front of the TV.
- What is your favourite lamb dish? Nice succulent and tender roast leg of lamb with mint sauce. Delightful!
- What do you do on your farm for the environment? We have six-metre buffer strips for the insects to thrive in. We also have low-input grazing ground where very little fertiliser can be used on the grass leys. That’s not to mention that the sheep are managing cliff land and rough grazing to help keep the environment looking like it does for everyone to enjoy.
September
- Now the nights are drawing in and temperatures are dropping, what (if anything!) are you looking forward to this autumn/winter? We will be lambing our Poll Dorset ewes and seeing what the rams we have used are producing for next year’s ram sales.
- How many ewes are you putting / have you put to the tup this autumn? 450 Exlanas plus whatever empties from the January lambing flocks. It is a slight drop in numbers, as we haven’t retained as many replacements, as we sold 100 to Switzerland. The Poll Dorset flock is running about the same, still increasing to 600 ewes, and the Suffolk are down to 180 from culling out problems. Some of the issues would be weather related, with the way the seasons have been.
- If you weren’t a sheep farmer what would you be and why? Something else in the farming sector, as I love just being outside and working with livestock and arable work. I’m just very passionate about farming and enjoy doing it.
- What is your favourite breed of sheep and why? The Poll Dorset because it has the ability to lamb any time of the year so can get lambs away early. And they are quite docile sheep too.
- Never throw away baler twine! What is your best use for this farm essential? Using it to patch up stock fencing.
October
- Who is your farming hero? My dad because of the business he has built up. He is always positive even when times are hard and respects and let me makes decisions within the business.
- The Government is looking to replace area-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? The public good we do is producing a quality nutritious food with all the good vitamins and minerals and great source of protein that are required to have a good stable diet. Also, by contributing to public health and well being through countryside access and enjoyment. This is important to taxpayers because, if it wasn’t for the farmers in this country it would not look the way it does, and if it wasn’t cared and managed correctly it would be overgrown and mess, which wouldn’t be able to be accessed for everyone to enjoy.
- 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 interesting seeing how it was sold in the auction. And also going to the scouring plant and seeing how it is processed, ready to make products.
- If sheep were not your passion, what other farming enterprise would appeal to you the most? A dairy enterprise, as we used to have one in the past, or an arable enterprise, as I enjoy doing that alongside the sheep at the moment.
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 would like to work with Frank Lloyd. I feel he had the same passion as me with breeding stock and also feel he would give you responsibility within the work.
- 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 taken away the need to do more faecal egg counts to reducing drenching – and am already seeing cost savings.
- Select an ambassador from team 2018! Where do you see them in 10 years’ time? Sion be back home on his farm training and breeding dogs, while also being a trialling world champion.
- 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 make better use of my time.
- 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 don’t know how it will end up and I don’t think the government does either! They cannot seem to agree and come up with final decisions. Whether a deal will be done or not will come down to the final hours.
Developing commercial breeding animals is Richard’s passion, with interesting work already afoot with the family’s 600 Poll Dorsets, 200 Suffolk/Aber Blacks and 400 Exlanas. Richard’s involvement in the Poll Dorset Centurion Group, promoting high performance sheep to pedigree and commercial customers, has led to an interest in prolifically, carcase quality and lambing ease. With the Exlanas, Richard is likewise involved in the SIG group and uses the low-input ewes in his own business to utilise coastal and stewardship land that’s not wanted by local arable and dairy farmers. Innovis’ Aber Blacks, marketed as a finer-boned easier-lambing derivative of the Suffolk breed, is the newest addition to the farm at Kingsbridge. Richard would like to do more performance recording with these, hoping to add CT scanning to the mix. One to watch: Richard says that the confidence he hopes to gain as an NSA Ambassador will encourage him to exploit his location in a popular holiday area to engage with the public, and integrate him into the NSA network of communicating farmer priorities to those in power.
Rich completed NSA Q&As throughout 2018
March
- Are you planning anything different for this lambing season? It has gone and is going well! We are lambing Exlana ewe lambs for the first time and are impressed by how they are doing.
- What was the biggest surprise for you attending the first NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I was surprised with the amount of variations between the 12 Ambassadors in the sheep farms we are on.
- What will be your favourite thing about the clock’s changing on 25th March? The lighter evenings and that summer isn’t far away.
- 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? Sheep related thing – to make it easier to import and export sheep and semen so we can get genetics from around the world, and sell them too. Non-sheep related – bring agriculture into the curriculum at school to teach children where the things they eat come from.
- 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? I would swap with Kirree Kermode on the Isle of Man, as it is close enough to the mainland but they don’t have any vermin and it would be interesting to see the challenges they have as well.
April
- What was the highlight of lambing this year? That it is over! It's been a hard lambing with the weather.
- How are you getting on with meeting the targets you’ve set yourself as an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? They are going well and I’m making progress with some of the long term ones.
- If you could give the general public one fact about sheep farming, what would it be and why? That sheep help to create the open spaces and look after the countryside and keep it the way it looks today – because they don’t realise the work farmers do to look after moorland and hills.
- 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? I’d wish for a 48-hour day to catch up on all the jobs that haven’t been done in the 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? A marathon runner, as I’m always on the go with sheep work and general farming.
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? Getting things ready for sheep export – but not having chance to catch up with paperwork.
- How is your 2018 lamb crop performing so far? They are growing well after the cold spring.
- 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 feel that Defra is more worried about how the environment looks than feeding the nation. I think there should be more emphasis for food production, as the world needs food to eat.
- What were you doing on the hottest Bank Holiday Monday on record? I was in Blackpool for the YFC AGM.
June
- What did you learn from the second NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? More on worming and about resistance and how long immunity against worms takes to develop.
- 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)?! Everything we have on the farm, as I’m proud of what we do here. But I wouldn’t show them the Dorpers, as I’m not happy with them and wouldn’t want to show them off.
- 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? That animals travel in luxury when travelling with the spec. of the lorries today, having climate control and drinkers and plenty of space compared to how people are crammed on trains and the London tubes.
- What is your favourite sheep farming task and your worst task? My favourite task is lambing – seeing what comes out of the pedigree rams that have been used for the different breeds and seeing the potential ram lambs to sell in the future and seeing ewe lamb replacements. I don’t really have a worst task.
July
- How are you and your flock coping in the drought conditions? They are coping quite well. The Dorsets are in good condition, coming up towards lambing in six weeks’ time. The priority is grazing for weaned lambs and rams that are for sale, and this is difficult with very little grass.
- 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? Being optimistic, I do think we will get a deal before the departure date and it will be positive for agriculture. Even though there has been a lot of people resigning, I think their hearts weren’t totally in it and the people stepping into those roles are more determined to get the job done.
- What was the best take home message from your day at NSA Sheep 2018? To not have your eggs all in one basket so you can spread the risk and reinvest money when possible.
- What summer agricultural shows are you going to / have you gone to? Which is your favourite and why? I have been to Devon County Show, the Royal Cornwall and the Royal Welsh Show. Achievement wise, the Devon County was best as we won interbreed pairs, but in general I like the Royal Welsh, as there is plenty to see and do.
- Tell us about your sheepdogs. I have three sheepdogs, one retired and two working. They are no trialling dogs but they save me running around. The youngest is the best, as she is very strong but has a bit of style with it.
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? Thankfully we got the chance to make hay early on with the grass that grew between April and June. We will have to use more concentrate on the finishing lambs as, with no grass for the last few months, we haven’t been able to get them with the right finish on them. We will be using forage crops for running on rams and ewe for shearlings for the following year to sell.
- 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? Preparing ewes has been difficult. We have put tupping buckets out earlier than usual. Thankfully with the rain we have lately the grass has started to grow and hopefully will be enough to flush the ewes. Poll Dorsets were put to ram in the end of April for five weeks. The January-lambing flock of Suffolk/Aberblacks and Poll Dorset rams will be going in this week for three weeks.
- What do you consider the best way to unwind after a long day with the sheep? Having a nice cold beer chilling out on the sofa in front of the TV.
- What is your favourite lamb dish? Nice succulent and tender roast leg of lamb with mint sauce. Delightful!
- What do you do on your farm for the environment? We have six-metre buffer strips for the insects to thrive in. We also have low-input grazing ground where very little fertiliser can be used on the grass leys. That’s not to mention that the sheep are managing cliff land and rough grazing to help keep the environment looking like it does for everyone to enjoy.
September
- Now the nights are drawing in and temperatures are dropping, what (if anything!) are you looking forward to this autumn/winter? We will be lambing our Poll Dorset ewes and seeing what the rams we have used are producing for next year’s ram sales.
- How many ewes are you putting / have you put to the tup this autumn? 450 Exlanas plus whatever empties from the January lambing flocks. It is a slight drop in numbers, as we haven’t retained as many replacements, as we sold 100 to Switzerland. The Poll Dorset flock is running about the same, still increasing to 600 ewes, and the Suffolk are down to 180 from culling out problems. Some of the issues would be weather related, with the way the seasons have been.
- If you weren’t a sheep farmer what would you be and why? Something else in the farming sector, as I love just being outside and working with livestock and arable work. I’m just very passionate about farming and enjoy doing it.
- What is your favourite breed of sheep and why? The Poll Dorset because it has the ability to lamb any time of the year so can get lambs away early. And they are quite docile sheep too.
- Never throw away baler twine! What is your best use for this farm essential? Using it to patch up stock fencing.
October
- Who is your farming hero? My dad because of the business he has built up. He is always positive even when times are hard and respects and let me makes decisions within the business.
- The Government is looking to replace area-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? The public good we do is producing a quality nutritious food with all the good vitamins and minerals and great source of protein that are required to have a good stable diet. Also, by contributing to public health and well being through countryside access and enjoyment. This is important to taxpayers because, if it wasn’t for the farmers in this country it would not look the way it does, and if it wasn’t cared and managed correctly it would be overgrown and mess, which wouldn’t be able to be accessed for everyone to enjoy.
- 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 interesting seeing how it was sold in the auction. And also going to the scouring plant and seeing how it is processed, ready to make products.
- If sheep were not your passion, what other farming enterprise would appeal to you the most? A dairy enterprise, as we used to have one in the past, or an arable enterprise, as I enjoy doing that alongside the sheep at the moment.
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 would like to work with Frank Lloyd. I feel he had the same passion as me with breeding stock and also feel he would give you responsibility within the work.
- 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 taken away the need to do more faecal egg counts to reducing drenching – and am already seeing cost savings.
- Select an ambassador from team 2018! Where do you see them in 10 years’ time? Sion be back home on his farm training and breeding dogs, while also being a trialling world champion.
- 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 make better use of my time.
- 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 don’t know how it will end up and I don’t think the government does either! They cannot seem to agree and come up with final decisions. Whether a deal will be done or not will come down to the final hours.
