When Joe & Rachel Henry arrived back in the country after working in New Zealand, the idea was to have a smallholding and be self sufficient in food. Being first generation farmers, 16 acres and a house were purchased in Northumberland during 2003. Over a few years they got the farming bug and started renting other acres and taken on grazing licences. There being no farm buildings or single farm payment, the Henry’s knew they would have to run a very efficient system, optimizing what they had and native breeds were definitely at the forefront of their thinking.

350 acres are farmed in total, now 150 acres are owned after the purchase of Westhills Farm five years ago, as well as Joe being a farm vet working four days a week and Rachel being a teacher, so ease of management is a must.

Westhills Farm is home to 50 sucklers and about 120 ewes. The sucklers cows are Luings and are AI’d to Angus and Luing bulls and swept up with a Hereford bull. Nothing is housed and no concentrates used, cows are kept on deferred grazing and bale grazing in the winter. The calves are weaned onto kale, swedes and crimson clover while bale grazing lucerne silage.  Most of the heifers going for breeding and the steers sold fat at 18 months or as forward stores. A fat stirk is sold as beef through a pop up shop at their farm every couple of months.

40 pedigree Hampshire ewes are kept along with some Cheviot x Easycare, NZ Romneys and a few Merino ewes. Hampshire tups are used with most lambs going deadweight. Hampshires were chosen due to the high numbers of Hampshire sheep being recorded within the breed meaning there is plenty of data available, the taste and quality of the meat and of course the ability to finish off a grass based system. Originally, some New Zealand genetics were used along with some from notable flocks in the UK.  ‘A lot of local farmers were negative at how the Hampshire would survive in Northumberland but it has thrived’ said Mr Henry.

The ewes are lambed outside from the 20^th April when the fresh grass is coming for the pre lambing nutrition as no concentrate has been used for years  and the grass grows with the lambs after they are born. The sheep are recorded to allow Joe & Rachel to keep the most productive sheep and it is important to pick a ram that will fit in and work well within a grass based system so rams are purchased from farmers with sympathetic systems. The lambs are ultrasound scanned at 18 weeks and then the lambs are drawn to sell fat.

‘The Hampshires have no trouble getting to weight on our grass only system and they are a perfect terminal sire for outdoor lambing being lively at birth’ commented Mr Henry  ‘ With working off the farm it is vital that we have a breed that can look after itself and they seem a lot less work than some other breeds’

15-18 pedigree Hampshire ram lambs are kept to sell as shearlings at an on farm sale held each Autumn. All these are sold to commercial farmers that lamb outside and want something that is hardy, easy to manage with good growth and many of the buyers are repeat customers who are pleased with the results.

The Raburn Flock is MV accredited but showing and society sales are not something the Henrys are aiming for as they feel sometimes showing can be contradictory to the fundamental selling points of the breed. For Joe & Rachel, the low maintenance Hampshire fits well into their low input system doing exactly what they say they do, finishing quickly off grass and a terminal sire that is #fitforthefuture