HAVING JUST had the good fortune to visit the Falkland Isles where sheep still reign supreme, I thought it might be appropriate to indulge in a bit of nostalgia of a sheep world which some of us ‘old timers’ might just remember.

For me there was a personal connection with the Falklands as my father had visited the islands some time after the end of World War ІІ to make a report on the potential for further sheep production.

So, the urge to visit the island had been with me for some time and, therefore, during one of my infrequent visits to my relations who farm in Argentina, I decided to include a week to the Falklands in my itinerary.

The first point I have to make, however, to any others who may aspire to visit is that it is not an easy place to get to.

There are only two authorised routes to the Falklands. One is a weekly flight by the RAF from Brize Norton to Ascension Island for refuelling and then south to the Falklands.

The other permitted flight is by the Chilean Airline ‘Lan Chile’ which flies once a week on a Saturday from Punta Arenas in Chilean Patagonia and is allowed to overfly Argentina en route to the Falklands – a flight which takes about two hours in a modern jet liner.

The problem of course is to get to Punta Arenas in Chile. Firstly, a three-hour flight from Buenos Aires to Rio Gallegos in Argentinean, Patagonia, followed by six hours on the daily bus service – called the ‘Penguin Bus’ – to Punta Arenas for an overnight stop and thence on to join the Saturday flight to the new British military airport at Mount Pleasant, about one hour from the capital Port Stanley.

A long journey, but well worth the effort!

Let me give you some of the basic facts regarding the Falklands. There are two main islands – East Falklands and West Falklands, which together with all the smaller islands make up an area of nearly 3m acres – about half the size of Wales.

The population is only about 2500, with 2000 of that number resident in Port Stanley, plus another 1100 British military personnel at the new British air base at Mount Pleasant.

On the agricultural side, there are about 600,000 mature sheep – including wedders for wool – plus the annual lamb crop giving a total of just under 1m head as well as over 6000 cattle.

To this day wool remains the main land-based export. The majority of the sheep are Corriedale cross Merino. And what a sheep industry it is! Full of confidence, vibrant, profitable, and supported by the Falkland Islands government in sensible practical ways.

We were able to visit three sheep stations using the excellent Falkland Island air service operated by a seven-seater Islander aircraft landing on the grass strips which exist on all the major sheep stations.

The first visit was to Goose Green which has a stock of 50,000 breeding ewes and 35,000 wedders for wool production. Then we went to the ‘croft’ on Pebble Island which has ‘only’ 50,000 head and finally to Port Howard which also has 50,000 ewes and 25,000 wedders. Port Howard, which is the largest sheep station in the area, also has 500 cattle.

The sheep are outside on the hill pastures all year with no supplementary rations. The shepherding is minimal, with lambing percentage varying from 70% to 80%, depending on the severity of the winters. Gatherings are limited to about two per year and are carried out with motor bikes and dogs – lots of them!

It was summer time when I was there and shearing was in full swing.

How it ‘gladdened the heart’ to see a commercial set up of eight or 10, or even a dozen capable shearers going flat out, with some of them clipping more than 300 sheep per day. A good day’s clipping is anything from 1700 to 2000! And what care they take of the wool.

Two or three people sorting on each of the two or three wool tables, with all the wool being press packed into bales for shipment to the BWMB at Bradford. All quality wool – which earns a quality price of about £4/kg. (The British pound is on a par with the Falklands pound).

The average weight of a fleece is about 4kg (so yes you’ve worked it out correctly) each fleece makes about £16! In addition they have the annual cast ewes and cast wedders (five or six-year-olds) to sell for mutton.

Some of us will no doubt remember keeping older wedders and the quality of the mutton. The Falkland Island government has built an island abattoir and this quality mutton is all exported – mostly to the US.

Re-seeding out on the sheep stations is encouraged by the government – unlike being strictly controlled or prohibited over here! Grants are provided for grass seeds and fencing, with an allocation per hectare re-seeded of island fertiliser – made from local seaweed – being supplied and delivered for free.

I was green with envy – having been dedicated to re-seeding all my life! In addition, all the island roads, which in most cases are also the sheep station roads are maintained by the government – and yes, the appropriate livestock grids on these roads are also constructed by the government.

So I return to my previous description – they do have a vibrant, happy and profitable sheep industry. No individual ID worries – tag for station identification is all that is required – how sensible!

No surprise audits or sheep counts to worry about. I did wonder how our good friends in ‘the Department’ would manage a sheep count up to 85,000 head!

I couldn’t conclude without referring to the islanders’ great heroine – the indefatigable Margaret Thatcher.

Their stories about her are legendary. Space doesn’t allow a recounting of them. That’s for another day!