RUNNING a profitable sheep enterprise on one of Scotland's most northerly farms on the mainland is no easy feat, but with a trusty flock of North Country Cheviots and some strict management policies, Joyce Campbell is certainly up to the task.

And by harnessing the powers of social media, Joyce has been able to pass on her passion for her flock and the Sutherland ground to her thousands of followers and, last November, was announced as AgriScot's inaugural Sheep Farmer of the Year.

But it's been a long process for Joyce who took on the running of the 5600-acre Armadale Farm when she returned from studying at Auchincruive in 1990, and now runs an 800-strong flock of North Country Cheviots as well as 25 Salers cross Simmental cattle.

Admittedly, not much has changed in the 25 years since she took over, but by making subtle adaptations to suit the ever-changing weather and constraints through distance to both market and consumer, Joyce makes the most of the challenging conditions and her sheep are proof of that.

"The Cheviot is really suited to the climate here - they love the ground they're on and thrive on it," Joyce began before explaining that the Cheviot was first introduced to the region by a previous owner of Armadale, William Honeyman, in 1790.

"With four Sites of Scientific Interest on the hill to protect the peatland habitats, the grazing is limited during the winter months but they're great converters of poor quality grazing to very sellable lambs," she added.

"We run a closed flock bar a couple stock tups, but anything brought on site is preferably tick bitten as we have a real problem with ticks in the area. We're part of the Highlands and Islands Sheep Health Association so we're strict on our testing for enzootic abortion, and have, so far, remained clear," said husband, Ian Macleay, an auctioneer and fieldsman with Aberdeen and Northern Marts.

The flock has achieved its fair share of success over the years, with a top price of £7500 paid at Lairg, last year, for a Keppoch Jack the Lad-sired two-shear which sold to the Cheviot Farming Company. The sale produced a cracking average of £1390 for a pen of 20 two-shear tups. In addition, the Armadale duo set a centre record of £172 for a pen of 102 five-year-old cast ewes.

"Because Joyce is so hard on the flock, by the time they get to that age and sold on to some easier lowland ground, they're no bother for their new owners and are capable of carrying on for another few years. We're finding it's the same buyers returning year on year for females which is testament to both Joyce and the flock," pointed out Ian.

But in order to achieve these results, you need a positive lambing period and, at Armadale, the process begins in August when the flock is gathered from the hill and put through a turning crate for an annual MOT to check feet, udders, teeth and general body condition.

Thereafter, the leaner ewes are kept on better ground to up their body condition ahead of tupping while the remainder are turned out on the hill.

Joyce continued: "At the end of October, they're brought back in to parks near the house when they receive a trace element bolus of copper, cobalt and selenium, and are dosed for fluke and worms too.

"At this stage, the ewe portion is shown a lot of grass, as much as we can find, to help bring them in to oestrus on a rising plane of nutrition ahead of tupping."

This season, the tups went on with the ewes on November 22 at a rate of 1 tup to 70 ewes for bought-in tups with one home-bred shearling tup to every 40 ewes, and stayed with them for two complete cycles.

"We scan in mid-February and last year's crop saw the ewes can at 157% and the gimmers at 120%, giving an overall average of 146% which is about the norm we can expect here. The good back-end of the year helped the gimmers' plane of nutrition, but it contributed to the fertility of the entire flock as from the 792 ewes scanned only 14 were empty," commented Ian.

The ewes are then split into groups due with singles, triplets and twins, and are fed accordingly - those carrying triplets are fed 0.75lb of 18% ewe rolls twice a day with those carrying a pair fed 1lb of the same cake once a day for the six weeks before lambing.

"The gimmer flock is managed rather differently as they're offered 0.25-0.5lb of cake from mid-January until scanning, and following that the twins move on to a pound a day," said Joyce, adding that all females have ad-lib access to home-grown haylage and Crystalyx mineral tubs.

Come lambing time, the singles lamb down in nearby parks and drift out to the hill every day while twins and triplets are brought inside at the start of lambing to offer some protection from the harsh weather.

"They're put out to grass and back to the hill within 24 hours, once they've suckled and had some tick repellent applied as joint-ill due to ticks can be a real problem in the lambs," said Ian, adding that navels are dipped in a strong iodine solution and a specially formulated powder from the local vet helps eliminate watery mouth.

Joyce is admittedly OCD about cleanliness, but that doesn't stop at the house as every visitor has to pass through a footbath and each pen is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected between ewes. Likewise, her foot trimming is kept bang up to date as a pet hate is to see lame ewes out on the hill.

"And because I'm hard on the ewes, we very seldom see prolapses here, but I watch their forage intake carefully and make sure they're allowed to rake for their food which makes a difference," Joyce commented.

"Likewise, for mastitis, we always make sure we've clean hands when checking teats and those with problems have their cards marked!"

"We work hard to keep lambs going from birth through to sale time, and the average drop from scanning to weaning rate is a healthy 9-12%, resulting in more than 700 lambs sold at the first sale at Lairg in 2015 to average £63.92. It's important to get as many lambs as possible to the first August sale at Lairg as they've still got that milk bloom and sell well.

"But a North Country Cheviot ewe needs to be a good mum. End of. So I cull hard on performing ewes and keep 255 ewe lambs each year to winter in Easter Ross before seeing if they'll make the grade at Armadale."

All wedder lambs are weighed at speaning too so that these records together with the carcase grades the rejected tup lambs achieve when sold through Scotbeef, Inverurie, can be linked back to the sire to see how the tups are breeding.

While the flock speaks for itself, it's Joyce's passion for the industry and crofting way of life that speaks volumes, and with no children herself, she's more than keen to encourage her niece and nephew, 15-year-old twins Frances and Mure, to help out when they can.

"As an industry, we really need to take the time to encourage the younger generation so I never say no when a youngster wants to lend a hand - whether it be pupils from school through the rural skills programme or my niece and nephew and their friends - it's all about having something sustainable for the future, and it's something I'm very passionate about," she explained.

But it doesn't end there. Through her Facebook and twitter pages, Joyce has posted videos taken by drones of the day-to-day life as a sheep farmer which have amassed several million views. And while it's a bit of light-hearted fun seeing the 'likes' build up, there's a serious message behind it too.

"Since I've taken to social media, I always like to put sales online to allow people to follow the year as everything I work towards boils down to this pay day and you have to weather the storm regardless, although Frances and Mure do act as my moral compass on some posts!

"But if one of my pictures or posts makes someone pick up a pack of Scottish lamb instead of New Zealand lamb then I'm chuffed as even though I'm never going to be a millionaire, I love my sheep and way of life and I believe it's vital that we get the message across of what we, as an industry, are doing."



 

Morning feed rounds at Armadale. Filmed and edited by Frances Grant and Mure Grant. Music by very kind permission of Session A9 and is a song called One For The Road.

Posted by Joyce Campbell on Thursday, 31 March 2016