TASTY home-made Scottish meals and idyllic rural views are just two of the benefits that Kiwi youngster, Libby Dawson, is experiencing as she embarked on a four-month lambing season up in Tain, in Ross-shire.

Libby is just one of the lambing squad working at Fearn Farm, which is located on the Tarbat Peninsula, run by John and Fiona Scott.

It was quite a journey for Libby to even get to Scotland, starting off with an evacuation helicopter airlift out of her home farm in Hawkes Bay when it was cut off by Cyclone Gabrielle.

Tain may be a long way from Libby’s home on New Zealand’s North Island, but she and her fellow lambers have settled into Scottish life rather well and she even celebrated her 23rd birthday in the lambing shed.

Libby said: “My family owns a dairy farm in a small rural area called Patoka, and we also lease a sheep and beef farm next door that my brother manages.

“I had to get a helicopter airlift out of Patoka to catch my flight to the UK due to the cyclone that hit Hawkes Bay recently, when it wiped out a main bridge and left our farm isolated.”

This is the first chance Libby has had to start her travels since Covid-19 put a halt to all such activity three years ago. “After graduating, Covid put a stop to travel plans for many of us, so now I felt it was the right time to experience an overseas working holiday,” said Libby.

“I hadn’t quite decided what job to get, but my cousin, Kate, who I am travelling with, had a friend in Inverness working on a farm that needed seasonal workers for the lambing season and here we are.”

Libby graduated from Victoria University, in Wellington, two years ago with a degree in commerce and marketing. She left a marketing position at Parkers Beverage Company to start travelling Europe, starting in Scotland.

She said: “I’ve grown up on a farm and have had experience with lambing and calving as well as other farming jobs. Now we are based in Tain, about 40 minutes north of Inverness, living in the Old School House on the farm, which is just a one minute walk to the lambing sheds.

“I am working with Kate and another Kiwi girl called Beth, as well as four others working in a shift rotation. Kate and I work the 8am to 7pm shift. Everyone is super helpful and knowledgeable.

“Living on the farm is awesome – we go for meals at John and Fiona’s house as we are flat out lambing. It is nice to not have to think about cooking after a busy day.

“Scottish food has been great so far. Fiona has made us delicious meals, including roast lamb and snacks like muffins. We also had some black pudding on our pizzas, which was delish.”

Libby and her mates have more than 2000 ewes to lamb in two separate flocks, which is giving them good opportunity to learn more about breeds that are new to them.

She said: “We have two flocks, the first flock are studs predominantly made up of Texels, New Zealand Suffolks and Aberfields. The second one is a commercial flock of 1200 of mainly Aberfield crosses and Texel crosses. There is also a small flock of Beltex sheep.

“My brother, Ben, also has a Sufftex and Beltex cross Suffolk stud called Waihau Terminal Sires, back in New Zealand, so I am familiar with some of these breeds. In fact, he has carried out AI on his ewes using genetics from the Callacraig flock, in Scotland and the Rathbone flock, in England.

“The most difficult part of the job is when you need to be in a lot of different places at once. It is learning about what to prioritise first, such as sick lambs. It is pretty disheartening when you get a sick lamb.

“I'm enjoying being with the sheep and the people. It is fun having a good bunch of young people around you and it is also rewarding to see the lambs develop and grow into strong healthy animals.

“I would compare the lambing here to rearing 400 calves on our dairy farm back home. We bring all our calves inside to rear and hand feed them making sure they have enough water, concentrates and hay.

“Being in a shed, we need to be extra careful with hygiene so that bugs aren’t spread around. When the sheep can get outside, it makes it so much easier. In New Zealand, we lamb all our sheep outside so it is the complete opposite.”

Libby arrived in Scotland on March 10 and once the lambing stint is over, the Kiwi girls will hit the road again.

Libby said: “We will stay until June and then travel the North Coast 500 around the Highlands to discover more about Scotland before travelling around Europe in the summer. We have a convertible VW Beetle and have already ventured out around the Tarbat area, including a visit to the lighthouse.”