Thomas Chapman 27 Staffordshire
One of the lucky few to have a county council farm, Thomas is ambitious about using his tenancy at Eccleshall as a springboard to bigger and better things. His five-year target is to increase from his current 400 head of Mules to a closed flock of 800 homebred composites. Thomas runs a contract shepherding business alongside the farm, as well as grading lambs and scanning tags at Market Drayton and Ludlow markets. This motivates him to be ‘picky’ about the ewes he breeds from and the lambs he finishes. “I plan to continue using data collected via EID to aid decision-making and only select ewes with the correct traits to produce replacements,” he says. Thomas adds that he would like to take on an apprentice one day, to give them the opportunities he has been fortunate enough to have. Top fact: Thomas breeds and trains sheepdogs. He says this is invaluable for running his flock, but also a useful income stream when he sells some on.
Thomas completed NSA Q&As throughout 2018
March
- Are you planning anything different for this lambing season? Lambing has gone slow but well this year. I’ve lambed just over 300 of my 430 ewes so far, with only a handful left of my first lambing group. This year I have tried to not blanket treat all lambs at birth and only treat the lambs at higher risk of problems - i.e. triplets.
- What was the biggest surprise for you attending the first NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I was surprised at the diversity of the farm systems everybody on the course works with and also how well everyone got on even on the very first day. It was great to meet a group of likeminded people.
- What will be your favourite thing about the clock’s changing on 25th March? Having more daylight hours, of course! And more time in the sun - though that might be wishful thinking!
- 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? For a sheep related change, I would make the collection of fallen stock a free service for farmers. For non sheep related matters, I would add another subject to the high school curriculum that would encompass the whole farm to fork process, including agriculture, animal health and welfare, food manufacturing and human nutrition - to educate students on what food and farming opportunities there are after school and help tackle the obesity crisis.
- 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 pick Kirree's farm on the Isle of Man, as she has great show-potential stock, which is something I aspire to have. Also, living on a smaller island appeals to me, and it would be cool to have a boat!
April
- What was the highlight of lambing this year? (Or highlight so far?) My highlight was how well my ewe lambs have lambed. We scanned at 127% and they’ve all lambed easily and mothered up well. It’s great to see my next generation of sheep performing well.
- How are you getting on with meeting the targets you’ve set yourself as an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? So far I have stuck to my pledge of using social media more to promote the industry. There was some great feedback from the posts I had made for the 'Take the Lead' sheep worrying by dogs campaign.
- If you could give the general public one fact about sheep farming, what would it be and why? That a massive 60% of the UK is only suitable to grow grass. Some people think we can grow crops anywhere and everywhere.
- 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 would accept this year's bad conditions and wish instead for a better year next year!
- 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? Hockey, as its my favourite game to play. Maybe it's because the stick resembles a crook!
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? Keeping me busy at home now is shearing sheep, with this sudden continued hot weather means the phone has not stopped ringing for people looking to shear their sheep as soon as possible, despite it only being mid-May. It seems to be the only job that has been brought forward after this late spring. I’d love to be able to get time to do some urgent fencing.
- How is your 2018 lamb crop performing so far? My 2018 lamb crop is starting to really push on after being a bit stunted at the start of spring, as I feel many have this year.
- 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 think the future of farming is going to have to be one of perfect balance between helping the environment and maximising food production. I think they must look after each other, as they used to do in the past but with new technology making it more efficient and resulting in greater yields.
- What (sheep related) wedding gift would you give Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and why? A golden fleece for their living room, as we have seen before that a royal setting a trend can lead to a massive growth in sales - and that is just what our wool industry needs.
June
- What did you learn from the second NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I learnt a lot from the second NSA session, including a lot about worming issues and how we can start to combat them as well as how grass rotation can help improve worm burdens in conjunction with improving grass yields and, therefore, profits.
- 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 want to show of my ewe lambs, as my breeding programme means they are getting better every year. I would probably try and hide all the thistles that have popped up this year, but that might be a hard task.
- 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 would try to explain how the animals are cared for the short time they are in transport and that we are the best in the world for long distance transport.
- What is your favourite sheep farming task and your worst task? My favourite is shearing. Although its also the hardest on the body its probably the most rewarding. However, my least favourite job is dagging sheep I can’t say I’m a fan of the poo-coloured nail polish!
- 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? I would set up a unique sheepdog trial course to really show off the skills of our talented best friends.
July
- How are you and your flock coping in the drought conditions? My flock isn't loving the lack of feed that has come from the persistent dry weather. They are, however, doing better on their feet and lambs are cooking lovely in the field. As they say, lamb needs to be cooked twice - once in the field and once in the oven.
- 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'm not very optimistic at the moment but, like so many things in life, deadlines get missed and moved so who knows. Whether it will be good for agriculture is another matter, as it's not the largest part of our economy. Hopefully it will be only short term effects and I will be hoping for trade deals around the world.
- What was the best take home message from your day at NSA Sheep 2018? Not too drink too much at the NSA Dinner, as that leaves you feeling a little bit poorly!
- What summer agricultural shows are you going to / have you gone to? Which is your favourite and why? So far I have only been to Newport Show in Shropshire, which was really good. I was asked to do some stewarding for the Suffolk sheep where a Suffolk ewe lamb from one of my classes won the supreme champion of the show, so that was nice to see.
- Tell us about your sheepdogs. I have quite a few sheepdogs, as I try to train a few to sell on to other shepherds. I would definitely be lost with out my four legged best friends, especially Quill as he is amazing at knowing what I want. Whether its a sick ewe to catch or to split a mob or how many sheep to put into the race, he is a serious work horse.
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? Luckily I was able to get some good early haylage in for the winter. However, I did buy in extra hay for feeding through this summer. I was very proactive very early on in the dry spell. The use of extra concentrates will depend on what sort of winter we have, but I think (hopefully) I won't need to use much more than normal.
- 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? I usually use mineral buckets at tupping time anyway, and I think the grass might just come back in time for a good tupping. I am planning on lambing a few weeks later this time to hopefully get better use out of the grass. So moving from a late Feb start to a late March lambing will help me to do this.
- What do you consider the best way to unwind after a long day with the sheep? By telling my fiancee all about my day while having a beer or two.
- What is your favourite lamb dish? Lamb steaks with mash, peas, carrots and gravy. Oh, and mint sauce!
- What do you do on your farm for the environment? All the water courses are fenced off to protect any problems of water contamination. And ditches are maintained to help with any flooding problems.
September
- Now the nights are drawing in and temperatures are dropping, what (if anything!) are you looking forward to this autumn/winter? Autumn is my favourite time of year, and especially this year because I've no only got my birthday and another fantastic NSA delivery session coming up, I've also got my first baby due in November. I have also had the privilege of being nominated and shortlisted for the British Farming Awards as 'new entrant of the year' so I'm looking forward to that.
- How many ewes are you putting / have you put to the tup this autumn? I'm tupping 300 ewes this year and 160 ewe lambs. Tis is fairly similar to last year. Hopefully will be able to expand a bit more rapidly now, as all the ewes are under four years old so I'm running a young flock.
- What is your favourite breed of sheep and why? Tough question, as I'm a sheep nut with many favourites. If I have to choose, it would be a North Country Cheviot. I just love those ears! Also they are such a well built type of sheep and very hardy.
- Never throw away baler twine! What is your best use for this farm essential? I only ever use baler twine to tie the odd gate up. I'm more of a cable tie kind of guy!
October
- Who is your farming? My oldest brother, James, as he had a life changing accident that he didn't let beat him. He has found ways to overcome the mental and physical challenges he has faced to pursue his passions in life and help change the farming safety stigma we seem to have in this country.
- What would be your one, best piece of advice for someone looking to enter the world of sheep farming? You will definitely have very difficult times when everything seems to be going wrong, but you can't let it beat you; keep your head up and looking forward. Don't be afraid to talk about your problems. It doesn't matter who it is. It's important to share your problems (and not just with the dog!)
- 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? As a sheep farmer I feel I contribute most to the protection of natural capital. All my watercourses are well fenced off and I'm not grazing too hard, as not overstocking avoids land poaching. I feel the carbon footprint in traditional farming methods (dog and stick farming) must be fairly low. This is important to the tax payer, as we all share the atmosphere and water supplies so looking after these environmental attributes provides everyone with the chance of better life quality.
- 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 came away from British Wool feeling very excited for the future. I felt especially encouraged about their work on a marketing campaign for gold and platinum British Wool products, especially in the carpet industry. I think this kind of branding is just the start and definitely the right way forward.
- If sheep were not your passion, what other farming enterprise would appeal to you the most? I think I would of been interested in being a poultry farmer, in particular focusing on quail eggs. I used to have a few quails as kid and thought they were brilliant little birds.
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 most like to work with Frank Lloyd on his breeding of Aberfield rams. The way he farms is similar to what I aspire and I was impressed with the quality of his stock.
- 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? Regular weighing of lambs and using daily liveweight infomration to see when I need to look into worming lambs. This tool has been helpful since implementing.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and plan to implement in the next year or two. I'm looking to sell lambs from farm, using social media and branding to help promote it.
- Select an ambassador from team 2018! Where do you see them in 10 years’ time? Sion Morgan. I can see him in 10 years running his own small hill farm, producing top quality working dogs and having a successful trailing career.
- 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 don't really do new year's resolutions but if I had to pick one that would apply to myself and my farm it would be to be better and not bitter in my approach to life.
- 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 wish I could know where the negotiations will end up. I would like to think the sheep industry will be ok, because our lamb is sought after at home and abroad and is of top quality. We might have to ride a wave or two but, however it ends up ,I have faith we still have a bright future.
One of the lucky few to have a county council farm, Thomas is ambitious about using his tenancy at Eccleshall as a springboard to bigger and better things. His five-year target is to increase from his current 400 head of Mules to a closed flock of 800 homebred composites. Thomas runs a contract shepherding business alongside the farm, as well as grading lambs and scanning tags at Market Drayton and Ludlow markets. This motivates him to be ‘picky’ about the ewes he breeds from and the lambs he finishes. “I plan to continue using data collected via EID to aid decision-making and only select ewes with the correct traits to produce replacements,” he says. Thomas adds that he would like to take on an apprentice one day, to give them the opportunities he has been fortunate enough to have. Top fact: Thomas breeds and trains sheepdogs. He says this is invaluable for running his flock, but also a useful income stream when he sells some on.
Thomas completed NSA Q&As throughout 2018
March
- Are you planning anything different for this lambing season? Lambing has gone slow but well this year. I’ve lambed just over 300 of my 430 ewes so far, with only a handful left of my first lambing group. This year I have tried to not blanket treat all lambs at birth and only treat the lambs at higher risk of problems - i.e. triplets.
- What was the biggest surprise for you attending the first NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I was surprised at the diversity of the farm systems everybody on the course works with and also how well everyone got on even on the very first day. It was great to meet a group of likeminded people.
- What will be your favourite thing about the clock’s changing on 25th March? Having more daylight hours, of course! And more time in the sun - though that might be wishful thinking!
- 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? For a sheep related change, I would make the collection of fallen stock a free service for farmers. For non sheep related matters, I would add another subject to the high school curriculum that would encompass the whole farm to fork process, including agriculture, animal health and welfare, food manufacturing and human nutrition - to educate students on what food and farming opportunities there are after school and help tackle the obesity crisis.
- 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 pick Kirree's farm on the Isle of Man, as she has great show-potential stock, which is something I aspire to have. Also, living on a smaller island appeals to me, and it would be cool to have a boat!
April
- What was the highlight of lambing this year? (Or highlight so far?) My highlight was how well my ewe lambs have lambed. We scanned at 127% and they’ve all lambed easily and mothered up well. It’s great to see my next generation of sheep performing well.
- How are you getting on with meeting the targets you’ve set yourself as an NSA Next Generation Ambassador? So far I have stuck to my pledge of using social media more to promote the industry. There was some great feedback from the posts I had made for the 'Take the Lead' sheep worrying by dogs campaign.
- If you could give the general public one fact about sheep farming, what would it be and why? That a massive 60% of the UK is only suitable to grow grass. Some people think we can grow crops anywhere and everywhere.
- 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 would accept this year's bad conditions and wish instead for a better year next year!
- 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? Hockey, as its my favourite game to play. Maybe it's because the stick resembles a crook!
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? Keeping me busy at home now is shearing sheep, with this sudden continued hot weather means the phone has not stopped ringing for people looking to shear their sheep as soon as possible, despite it only being mid-May. It seems to be the only job that has been brought forward after this late spring. I’d love to be able to get time to do some urgent fencing.
- How is your 2018 lamb crop performing so far? My 2018 lamb crop is starting to really push on after being a bit stunted at the start of spring, as I feel many have this year.
- 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 think the future of farming is going to have to be one of perfect balance between helping the environment and maximising food production. I think they must look after each other, as they used to do in the past but with new technology making it more efficient and resulting in greater yields.
- What (sheep related) wedding gift would you give Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and why? A golden fleece for their living room, as we have seen before that a royal setting a trend can lead to a massive growth in sales - and that is just what our wool industry needs.
June
- What did you learn from the second NSA Next Generation Ambassador session? I learnt a lot from the second NSA session, including a lot about worming issues and how we can start to combat them as well as how grass rotation can help improve worm burdens in conjunction with improving grass yields and, therefore, profits.
- 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 want to show of my ewe lambs, as my breeding programme means they are getting better every year. I would probably try and hide all the thistles that have popped up this year, but that might be a hard task.
- 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 would try to explain how the animals are cared for the short time they are in transport and that we are the best in the world for long distance transport.
- What is your favourite sheep farming task and your worst task? My favourite is shearing. Although its also the hardest on the body its probably the most rewarding. However, my least favourite job is dagging sheep I can’t say I’m a fan of the poo-coloured nail polish!
- 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? I would set up a unique sheepdog trial course to really show off the skills of our talented best friends.
July
- How are you and your flock coping in the drought conditions? My flock isn't loving the lack of feed that has come from the persistent dry weather. They are, however, doing better on their feet and lambs are cooking lovely in the field. As they say, lamb needs to be cooked twice - once in the field and once in the oven.
- 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'm not very optimistic at the moment but, like so many things in life, deadlines get missed and moved so who knows. Whether it will be good for agriculture is another matter, as it's not the largest part of our economy. Hopefully it will be only short term effects and I will be hoping for trade deals around the world.
- What was the best take home message from your day at NSA Sheep 2018? Not too drink too much at the NSA Dinner, as that leaves you feeling a little bit poorly!
- What summer agricultural shows are you going to / have you gone to? Which is your favourite and why? So far I have only been to Newport Show in Shropshire, which was really good. I was asked to do some stewarding for the Suffolk sheep where a Suffolk ewe lamb from one of my classes won the supreme champion of the show, so that was nice to see.
- Tell us about your sheepdogs. I have quite a few sheepdogs, as I try to train a few to sell on to other shepherds. I would definitely be lost with out my four legged best friends, especially Quill as he is amazing at knowing what I want. Whether its a sick ewe to catch or to split a mob or how many sheep to put into the race, he is a serious work horse.
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? Luckily I was able to get some good early haylage in for the winter. However, I did buy in extra hay for feeding through this summer. I was very proactive very early on in the dry spell. The use of extra concentrates will depend on what sort of winter we have, but I think (hopefully) I won't need to use much more than normal.
- 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? I usually use mineral buckets at tupping time anyway, and I think the grass might just come back in time for a good tupping. I am planning on lambing a few weeks later this time to hopefully get better use out of the grass. So moving from a late Feb start to a late March lambing will help me to do this.
- What do you consider the best way to unwind after a long day with the sheep? By telling my fiancee all about my day while having a beer or two.
- What is your favourite lamb dish? Lamb steaks with mash, peas, carrots and gravy. Oh, and mint sauce!
- What do you do on your farm for the environment? All the water courses are fenced off to protect any problems of water contamination. And ditches are maintained to help with any flooding problems.
September
- Now the nights are drawing in and temperatures are dropping, what (if anything!) are you looking forward to this autumn/winter? Autumn is my favourite time of year, and especially this year because I've no only got my birthday and another fantastic NSA delivery session coming up, I've also got my first baby due in November. I have also had the privilege of being nominated and shortlisted for the British Farming Awards as 'new entrant of the year' so I'm looking forward to that.
- How many ewes are you putting / have you put to the tup this autumn? I'm tupping 300 ewes this year and 160 ewe lambs. Tis is fairly similar to last year. Hopefully will be able to expand a bit more rapidly now, as all the ewes are under four years old so I'm running a young flock.
- What is your favourite breed of sheep and why? Tough question, as I'm a sheep nut with many favourites. If I have to choose, it would be a North Country Cheviot. I just love those ears! Also they are such a well built type of sheep and very hardy.
- Never throw away baler twine! What is your best use for this farm essential? I only ever use baler twine to tie the odd gate up. I'm more of a cable tie kind of guy!
October
- Who is your farming? My oldest brother, James, as he had a life changing accident that he didn't let beat him. He has found ways to overcome the mental and physical challenges he has faced to pursue his passions in life and help change the farming safety stigma we seem to have in this country.
- What would be your one, best piece of advice for someone looking to enter the world of sheep farming? You will definitely have very difficult times when everything seems to be going wrong, but you can't let it beat you; keep your head up and looking forward. Don't be afraid to talk about your problems. It doesn't matter who it is. It's important to share your problems (and not just with the dog!)
- 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? As a sheep farmer I feel I contribute most to the protection of natural capital. All my watercourses are well fenced off and I'm not grazing too hard, as not overstocking avoids land poaching. I feel the carbon footprint in traditional farming methods (dog and stick farming) must be fairly low. This is important to the tax payer, as we all share the atmosphere and water supplies so looking after these environmental attributes provides everyone with the chance of better life quality.
- 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 came away from British Wool feeling very excited for the future. I felt especially encouraged about their work on a marketing campaign for gold and platinum British Wool products, especially in the carpet industry. I think this kind of branding is just the start and definitely the right way forward.
- If sheep were not your passion, what other farming enterprise would appeal to you the most? I think I would of been interested in being a poultry farmer, in particular focusing on quail eggs. I used to have a few quails as kid and thought they were brilliant little birds.
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 most like to work with Frank Lloyd on his breeding of Aberfield rams. The way he farms is similar to what I aspire and I was impressed with the quality of his stock.
- 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? Regular weighing of lambs and using daily liveweight infomration to see when I need to look into worming lambs. This tool has been helpful since implementing.
- What useful piece of advice have you taken away and plan to implement in the next year or two. I'm looking to sell lambs from farm, using social media and branding to help promote it.
- Select an ambassador from team 2018! Where do you see them in 10 years’ time? Sion Morgan. I can see him in 10 years running his own small hill farm, producing top quality working dogs and having a successful trailing career.
- 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 don't really do new year's resolutions but if I had to pick one that would apply to myself and my farm it would be to be better and not bitter in my approach to life.
- 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 wish I could know where the negotiations will end up. I would like to think the sheep industry will be ok, because our lamb is sought after at home and abroad and is of top quality. We might have to ride a wave or two but, however it ends up ,I have faith we still have a bright future.
