Rollo Deutsch 22 Gloucestershire
Nothing can stop Rollo from making the most of the opportunities that come his way. Having been approached to take on a shepherding role, he instead negotiated buying the sheep and renting the land to establish his own 620-ewe flock. Keen to find his next big break, he has kept up his work as a contract shearer and freelance shepherd, and continues to make new partnerships with landowners and farmers. Rollo believes his best chance at succeeding, without being eligible for the BPS, is chasing efficiencies and establishing himself as a top 25% producer – showing people on the way just what can be achieved. He says: “I started with two sheep and worked my way up. I really want to show the older generation that it can be done and what they can do to encourage people like me. Young people want to come in, but they need support from the industry and government.” Top fact: Rollo competed at the NSA Marches Region Next Generation Shepherds’ Day in the summer, qualifying for the national final in July 2018.
Rollo completed NSA Q&As throughout 2018
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 contract shearing at the moment but there are a hundred and one jobs that need doing at home, such as spraying those damn thistles and nettles!
- How is your 2018 lamb crop performing so far? My April-born lambs are performing the best, as my March-born lambs have only just recovered from that terrible weather they had to deal with. I lost a lot of March-born lambs from hyperthermia in the first two or three weeks and then, when the weather did suddenly warm up, a few suffered from pasteurella. I’m sure a lot of farmers would agree we are still feeling the effects from the bad winter we had.
- 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? Just recently I attended a sustainable food and farming conference where Michael Gove and Minette Batters were speakers. Mr Gove was quite adamant, explaining why he had named it 'health and harmony' and the main subject word was sustainability. There was not too much focus on the actual future Brexit path for the working farmers sitting in the conference! I’m sure Defra does understand the importance of food production in this country, however there is a fine line between the environment and food production. Most farmers understand that if you do not work with the environment then the land won’t work for you. The main trouble is that food production in the UK is a tiny industry compared to any other.
- What were you doing on the hottest Bank Holiday Monday on record? Trying to find a shady tree to shear under!
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? Throughout the whole summer I think and plan the winter fodder for my flock of sheep. This year I have made the best quality meadow hay ever, of which I will keep 200 round bales for the ewes and sell 150 square bales. Just recently I have also bought some bales of pea harm, which I will try and finish some lambs on, as there is not a lot of grass coming. The rest of the pea harm I will feed alongside fodder beat closer to lambing, to help cut out the concentrates. I have been ringing every arable farmer possible to try and get some stubble turnips in, as my usual grower is not keen to grow any this year. It's very hard to persuade any farmer to do so and the ground type and field situation is also very important to keep them going through the wet months. Time is ticking on as every week the turnips aren’t drilled in August is half the crop they could be. It’s important my ewes are off the grass for six to eight weeks before lambing to help rest the permanent pasture. The turnips allow me to do this, otherwise it could be a long winter!
- 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? In a normal year I don’t struggle to achieve a decent lambing percentage at tupping, even when tupping on permanent pasture, as I lamb outside and am not looking for a high percentage. Around 180-190% would please me. With my breed of sheep and the Dallas Keith buckets I use during tupping, I should achieve this in November ... I hope!
- What do you consider the best way to unwind after a long day with the sheep? To go to the pub with your mates and discuss all the sheep problems you’ve had that day with all of the other sheep farmers in there!
- What is your favourite lamb dish? Leg of lamb or lamb cutlets. Maybe not during lambing though!
- What do you do on your farm for the environment? Every lamb is reared as naturally as possible off grass in a natural environment. They are Cotswold born and bred, forage fed and only have to travel four miles down the road to Stratford Market afterwards! Most of them drink spring water too.
September
- Now the nights are drawing in and temperatures are dropping, what (if anything!) are you looking forward to this autumn/winter? Getting into bed earlier and getting more sleep. Plus being able to take time off to go hunting and shooting.
- How many ewes are you putting / have you put to the tup this autumn? This year I am putting 550 ewes to the tup, which is 100 less than last year. I am gradually changing my flock from Texel Mules to North Country Mules. Sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward.
- If you weren't a sheep farmer, what would you be and why? I would be huntsman, but it is illegal.
- What is your favourite breed of sheep and why? I don’t have a favourite breed of sheep because you will never get the perfect one. Every farm is different and needs a different breed to suit the ground.
- Never throw away baler twine! What is your best use for this farm essential? Baler twine is in every one of my coat pockets as I use it everyday, whether it's to tie a gate, make a prolapse harness, or even hold up my trousers!
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 either Marc Jones or Mark Steele, because I think they both have great business minds and would keep you on track. The farm where I would like to work with them would be the farm we visited in South Wiltshire / Dorset on the Downs where Martyn Fletcher showed us round. This would be because the landowner would be willing to support you and it’s the farming style in which I think sheep should be farmed, in the most natural way.
- 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 learnt to focus on my costs more and question what I’m doing. This is due to Marc Jones helping me look in more detail at my figures. Frank Lloyd showed that anything is possible if you are determined. Lesley Stubbings helped outline sheep vaccines and wormers and has encouraged me to use my vet more.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and plan to implement in the next year or two. To make a five-year plan and to work with my vet more to keep my sheep as healthy as possible, mainly by managing worm burdens.
- Select an ambassador from team 2018! Where do you see them in 10 years’ time? I think Sion will be farming in his own right and will have a lot to do within the sheep industry trying to help increase consumption of lamb.
- 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? I will be speaking with my vet to see if they will offer a service to monitor my worm burden in the spring while I’m away shearing.
- 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? In the long run I think leaving will be a very good thing and will allow us as a country to put our own unique branding on our product. However, short term the market could go one way or the other when we hit March/ April.
Nothing can stop Rollo from making the most of the opportunities that come his way. Having been approached to take on a shepherding role, he instead negotiated buying the sheep and renting the land to establish his own 620-ewe flock. Keen to find his next big break, he has kept up his work as a contract shearer and freelance shepherd, and continues to make new partnerships with landowners and farmers. Rollo believes his best chance at succeeding, without being eligible for the BPS, is chasing efficiencies and establishing himself as a top 25% producer – showing people on the way just what can be achieved. He says: “I started with two sheep and worked my way up. I really want to show the older generation that it can be done and what they can do to encourage people like me. Young people want to come in, but they need support from the industry and government.” Top fact: Rollo competed at the NSA Marches Region Next Generation Shepherds’ Day in the summer, qualifying for the national final in July 2018.
Rollo completed NSA Q&As throughout 2018
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 contract shearing at the moment but there are a hundred and one jobs that need doing at home, such as spraying those damn thistles and nettles!
- How is your 2018 lamb crop performing so far? My April-born lambs are performing the best, as my March-born lambs have only just recovered from that terrible weather they had to deal with. I lost a lot of March-born lambs from hyperthermia in the first two or three weeks and then, when the weather did suddenly warm up, a few suffered from pasteurella. I’m sure a lot of farmers would agree we are still feeling the effects from the bad winter we had.
- 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? Just recently I attended a sustainable food and farming conference where Michael Gove and Minette Batters were speakers. Mr Gove was quite adamant, explaining why he had named it 'health and harmony' and the main subject word was sustainability. There was not too much focus on the actual future Brexit path for the working farmers sitting in the conference! I’m sure Defra does understand the importance of food production in this country, however there is a fine line between the environment and food production. Most farmers understand that if you do not work with the environment then the land won’t work for you. The main trouble is that food production in the UK is a tiny industry compared to any other.
- What were you doing on the hottest Bank Holiday Monday on record? Trying to find a shady tree to shear under!
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? Throughout the whole summer I think and plan the winter fodder for my flock of sheep. This year I have made the best quality meadow hay ever, of which I will keep 200 round bales for the ewes and sell 150 square bales. Just recently I have also bought some bales of pea harm, which I will try and finish some lambs on, as there is not a lot of grass coming. The rest of the pea harm I will feed alongside fodder beat closer to lambing, to help cut out the concentrates. I have been ringing every arable farmer possible to try and get some stubble turnips in, as my usual grower is not keen to grow any this year. It's very hard to persuade any farmer to do so and the ground type and field situation is also very important to keep them going through the wet months. Time is ticking on as every week the turnips aren’t drilled in August is half the crop they could be. It’s important my ewes are off the grass for six to eight weeks before lambing to help rest the permanent pasture. The turnips allow me to do this, otherwise it could be a long winter!
- 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? In a normal year I don’t struggle to achieve a decent lambing percentage at tupping, even when tupping on permanent pasture, as I lamb outside and am not looking for a high percentage. Around 180-190% would please me. With my breed of sheep and the Dallas Keith buckets I use during tupping, I should achieve this in November ... I hope!
- What do you consider the best way to unwind after a long day with the sheep? To go to the pub with your mates and discuss all the sheep problems you’ve had that day with all of the other sheep farmers in there!
- What is your favourite lamb dish? Leg of lamb or lamb cutlets. Maybe not during lambing though!
- What do you do on your farm for the environment? Every lamb is reared as naturally as possible off grass in a natural environment. They are Cotswold born and bred, forage fed and only have to travel four miles down the road to Stratford Market afterwards! Most of them drink spring water too.
September
- Now the nights are drawing in and temperatures are dropping, what (if anything!) are you looking forward to this autumn/winter? Getting into bed earlier and getting more sleep. Plus being able to take time off to go hunting and shooting.
- How many ewes are you putting / have you put to the tup this autumn? This year I am putting 550 ewes to the tup, which is 100 less than last year. I am gradually changing my flock from Texel Mules to North Country Mules. Sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward.
- If you weren't a sheep farmer, what would you be and why? I would be huntsman, but it is illegal.
- What is your favourite breed of sheep and why? I don’t have a favourite breed of sheep because you will never get the perfect one. Every farm is different and needs a different breed to suit the ground.
- Never throw away baler twine! What is your best use for this farm essential? Baler twine is in every one of my coat pockets as I use it everyday, whether it's to tie a gate, make a prolapse harness, or even hold up my trousers!
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 either Marc Jones or Mark Steele, because I think they both have great business minds and would keep you on track. The farm where I would like to work with them would be the farm we visited in South Wiltshire / Dorset on the Downs where Martyn Fletcher showed us round. This would be because the landowner would be willing to support you and it’s the farming style in which I think sheep should be farmed, in the most natural way.
- 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 learnt to focus on my costs more and question what I’m doing. This is due to Marc Jones helping me look in more detail at my figures. Frank Lloyd showed that anything is possible if you are determined. Lesley Stubbings helped outline sheep vaccines and wormers and has encouraged me to use my vet more.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and plan to implement in the next year or two. To make a five-year plan and to work with my vet more to keep my sheep as healthy as possible, mainly by managing worm burdens.
- Select an ambassador from team 2018! Where do you see them in 10 years’ time? I think Sion will be farming in his own right and will have a lot to do within the sheep industry trying to help increase consumption of lamb.
- 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? I will be speaking with my vet to see if they will offer a service to monitor my worm burden in the spring while I’m away shearing.
- 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? In the long run I think leaving will be a very good thing and will allow us as a country to put our own unique branding on our product. However, short term the market could go one way or the other when we hit March/ April.
