In 1965 I went to the Findon Great Fair near Worthing with £118 cash in my pocket to start a Southdown flock. There were 65 Southdown ewe lambs and 320 ewes for sale and I bought 10 shearling ewes at £5.15s each and 8 four tooth ewes at £5.10s each.
I needed a ram and the Upset Price was 15 guineas, so I purchased one at the Upset Price from Mr C Goodger. The ewes came from Lattila Camphill of St Leonards Forest.
I had 15s ( 75p now ) left and I took them home in triumph. I was there it was the start of the Cooden flock.. I joined the Society and my Flock number was 101 The subscription was 3 guineas. Mr Noakes, the then Secretary wrote to me and said, 'Mr Latilla' s flock has been one where they did not register their sheep individually but here again you have good pedigree stock' This is a far cry from what happens in 2003.
At the 1965 Findon Fair the judges were Mr H T Clark and Mr L H Law, the steward was Mr D J Craig and the Inspectors were Mr John Craig and Lt. Col Percy Filkins, MC. I have never paid a high price for any of my purchases.
My best success at showing was at the South of England Show in 1987 when I came first with my Southdown ram and it also was Reserve Supreme Champion.
My Southdowns were kept then on Cooden beach Golf Club for many years and I had over one hundred breeding ewes. I have now given up the land at Cooden and have only twelve ewes left.
PETER BALLARD (Tel. 01424 845721)
Source: Farmers Weekly 27 June 2003
Taking over the local butcher's shop has allowed one Sussex farming family the opportunity to expand their business while also giving them more control over marketing. Tim Relf reports.
IT'S certainly traceability. Richard and Margaret Brown can look out of the window of Downsview butcher's shop and see their cattle grazing on the hill in the distance.
The Browns took over the shop in March, keen to market their own stock and create space on the farm for their son, Henry, who finished at Sparsholt Agricultural College last summer.
Taking the three-year lease on the premises in Willingdon was a big decision and one that they had to move fast on. "It meant some quick thinking," says Richard. "But we decided that branching out sideways was the right move."
It's meant that Henry is now working back on the 230ha (570 acres) Chalk Farm - the ESA downland holding which his father came to as a tenant of Eastbourne Borough Council in 1982. The family also rent an additional 57ha (140 acres).
The shop is in a great location on the "urban fringe" of Eastbourne. And while having so many people nearby can create problems when you're farming, it's a big opportunity as far as retailing is concerned.
"We've been thinking of doing something here for a long time, with so many people on the doorstep," Henry explains.
Farm livery, B&B and letting the farm cottage have all been successful; the family has even discussed the possibility of opening a shop on the farm.
But taking on existing premises removed the need to get planning permission - and meant they could benefit from the services of the shop's skilled full-time butcher, Steve Robertson.
The Browns - who completed the conversion to organic in 2000 - aim to sell all the beef from their 70-head Sussex herd and all the lamb from the 400-ewe Southdown flock through Downsview (along with bought-in meat).
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| Chop and change....Farmer Richard Brown (left) has branched out into retailing, with the help of butcher Steve Robertson |
"They're both breeds which thrive in the area and which, despite their wonderful taste and tenderness, are rarely - if ever - found on supermarket shelves," says Richard. "We've always liked the idea of local meat for local people."
The family already sells meat privately as "Browns Organic Meat" and has recently taken a pitch at a farmers' market.
"We've all got to get more interested in marketing. Livestock markets are still essential, but you can't just dump an animal off at a cattle market and expect to get the best price.
"We've also always been drawn to the idea of being responsible for meat further up the food chain - looking after stock from the beginning to the end. As farmers, we like to think that we can look after the land, the stock and the customer."
Another advantage of moving into retailing is that it gives the Browns control of how their meat is handled - enabling it, for example, to be hung to ensure the optimum taste. "Supermarkets don't always hang meat for long enough," he says. "Sussex cattle are great grass converters which produce a delicious sweet meat."
Having the shop also means waste can be mimimised by turning the forequarter cuts which have traditionally been difficult to sell into something more appealing, such as kebabs for barbecues, and burgers. "It's terrible to see any of an animal wasted after you've looked after it all its life and produced a fine, prime bullock."
Richard is the first to admit he's been on a "steep learning curve" regarding some of the technical aspects of meat handling and retailing. "But I really enjoy meeting and dealing with people," he says.
"I get up in the mornings and am excited by the thought that we can satisfy customers by giving them a good product.
"If someone says they enjoyed a piece of meat I always answer: Tell your friends."
He also likes the idea of supporting local businesses. "There are two other shops nearby which are currently empty; that grieves me."
Margaret, meanwhile, is convinced the "local" issue will become increasingly important to consumers. "People want to know where meat was reared and they like to meet the people who produced it," she says. "It's all about trust. Supermarkets can do their utmost to make shopping interesting, but it's still impersonal."
And back on Chalk Farm, Henry has settled back in and is taking more responsibility. "I hadn't originally planned to come back to the farm so soon, but things changed quickly when the shop came available."
Indeed, how to integrate a son or daughter back into the business is one that has to be properly thought out and discussed, according to Richard. "Henry has got to be patient with me and vice versa. We've got to communicate; we've got to listen. I've got to be prepared to adapt to having Henry here with his new ideas and new slant on things."
As Margaret says: "The new set-up gives everyone a bit of space. Father and son are not under each other's feet."
Supplying native crossbred lambs to a local butcher all year round is helping one Romney Marsh producer tap into a lucrative market and remain optimistic about sheep prospects. Peter Read reports. (Source: Farmer's Weekly, July 11-19, 2003)
Affluent local lamb lovers are keen to buy native Southdown cross Romney lambs from a local butcher who has retailed up to 800 of them a year, says East Sussex producer Frank Langrish.
For 10 years, a Winchelsea butcher has taken up to 800 of his Southdown x Romney lambs a year, supplied for over 40 weeks of the year. "They have small joints and chops, excellent meat to bone ratio and are consistently good quality. The butcher also buys cull ewes because they're ideal for curries," adds Mr. Langrish.
Crossing these two native breeds allows Mr. Langrish to finish lambs under the harsh grazing regime of Romney Marsh.
"Southdown x Romney lambs finish quickly off our pastures, although at lighter weights than many conventional lambs. We start drawing at nine to ten weeks, achieving 16-17 kg carcasses."
But weight is not always in demand and with the Winchelsea butcher prices tend to be fixed. "Last year's lambs were all sold at 240p/kg deadweight net until February, when the price rocketed up to more than 300p/kg deadweight."
But with 5100 Romney ewes, increased from 4300 last year, selling to the butcher is only a small part of his marketing. "The bulk of our lambs are sold at Ashford Market, Kent, with the remainder sold deadweight."
About 1100 of Mr. Langrish's ewes are put to a Southdown tup, with 1500 put to a Texel and 2500 to a Romney. He also runs 40 summer grazed store cattle and works 80 days a year as the British Wool Marketing Board chairman, as well as livestock haulage and sheep contract work.
Traditionally, the Southdown x Romney was bred for its wool, but when prime lamb replaced wool as the main commodity, Southdowns lost popularity. "The Southdown rams were getting smaller, resulting in overfat offspring," he says.
But finding a larger, New Zealand-type Southdown 10 years ago, kept Mr. Langrish with the breed. "We crossed these with a better-shaped French Southdown and then back to the best British ones." He now breeds most of his own Southdown rams. "They're solid muscle, like little bricks."
The Langrish flock is kept on five holdings, a total area of 600 ha (1480 acres), within a six-mile radius of Beckley. The land goes from sloping valleys to flat low-lying marshland.
Romney Marsh is ideal sheep producing country, says Mr. Langrish, whose family have shepherded it for nearly 100 years. "But only for hardy breeds, able to flourish at high densities, with cold winters and hot, dry summers."
Pastures must be grazed tightly to encourage the continuous growth of Kent perennial ryegrass and wild white clover. Spot spraying is the only weed control, due to Site of Special Scientific Interest restrictions.
The wild white clover provides high levels of natural nitrogen of up to 300kg/ha (240 units/acre). Phosphate is the only fertiliser applied, to maintain the levels of clover. A dressing is put on every five years.
But Romney Marsh pastures can be copper deficient. "The ewes that are over-wintered at home receive a copper drench six weeks before lambing to prevent swayback."
Lambing, which is staggered between mid-March and mid-April to keep labour costs down, is an outdoor easy-care system, with concentrate rarely fed. Every 24 hours, unlambed ewes are moved on to the next field, leaving ewes and lambs behind. Lambed ewes are then set stocked at 11-12.5/ha (4.5-5.5/acre).
At 125% to 130% sold to ewes tupped, Mr. Langrish's lambing percentage may not be the highest, but it fits his system. "Little lambing or lamb care is needed."
Low labour costs are the key to profitable sheep, believes Mr. Langrish. "Three inventions have helped: Electric fencing, ATVs and mobile phones." The Langrish family partnership now includes an ex-employee as a sheep business partner, a full-time employee, a secretary who does one or two days a week, a summer helper and two extra staff at lambing.
Most of the sheep are away-wintered ewes from mid-October and lambs from September until mid/end February. "Traditionally, it has been to the west, but increasingly we are sending sheep locally, as there are fewer sheep in Kent and Sussex now. At peak times we have up to 8000 sheep grazing away from home."
The smallest pure Romney wether lambs are shipped out from September and finish in March. "They're slower maturing, but, given time, they grade well. Most of the Southdown crosses are kept at home and finished to suit demand. They respond quickly to better quality forage." Texel crosses and remaining Romneys, put out to keep on dairy farms to graze new leys and silage grass, are sold from December onwards.
Mr. Langrish keeps his own replacement ewe lambs, as well as selling lambs on buyback to local producers who have gone out of sheep. "They keep them for a year, claim ewe premium and we guarantee to buy back the ewe tegs. Normally, they receive about £15 and another ewe lamb. Total sales last year of 4600 lambs averaged £43 gross."
Looking to the future, he has become involved in a Sussex producer group that is investigating marketing local produce through a wholesaler and then to retail outlets. "Farmers' markets take too much time."
Source: Sussex Express, Friday, July 25 2003
They are beautiful, friendly, thrive on relatively poor pasture and produce twin lambs with apparent ease; but the famous sheep which formerly grazed the Downs in their flocks of thousands are now generally only reared by farmers specialising in rare breeds.
James Fermor from Headlong Hall near Buxted has a flock of 36 Southdowns - plus one, Bee, that he keeps as a pet.
When a passer-by recently commented on his 'strange looking sheep' James replied that when he was a boy most sheep around the Weald looked like that.
Within his lifetime numbers of Southdowns have plummeted from the most common breed to be reared on the Downs to near endangered level.
His Southdown interest started 'as a hobby that got out of hand'; he's a technician with a background in the motor industry.
James maintains the principal cause of the Southdowns' decline is their small size and extensive covering of very fine wool.
He says: 'Although they have never been tall they were heavier than they are today.'
The main reason for their declining size is the demand by Americans who bought vast quantities of meat between the wars.
Attempts are being made to get the size back by re-introducing bloodlines from distant cousins in New Zealand and France along with selective breeding in the UK.
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| James and his pet sheep Bee |
James says they were ideally suited to life on the sparse grasslands of the Sussex Downs.
'They are the most efficient converters of grass into meat and do well where other breeds would starve. Next time you are up on the Downs have a look at the vegetation and you will see why.'
'Their thriftiness allows them to be stocked at higher rates than other sheep which is why there were such big flocks in the past - densities now ruled out by the EC.
'Many farmers believe Southdowns' meat is unsurpassed and it's recognised worldwide for its quality and flavour; sheep raised on the Downs are the ultimate as herbs have been put in at the growing stage!'
Their wool is also the finest of the UK breeds and covers the head and legs. James explains: 'It should have the appearance of curdled milk and be so tight it is not possible to get hold of the fleece with your hand.'
In this day and age, he says, commercial pressure and demand for quantity not quality coupled with ridiculously low wool prices mean some shearers refuse to shear the Southdowns as they cannot make any money from it.
So what of the future? James Fermor doesn't see the clock turning back and does not expect the Southdown to reach former levels of popularity but he does see its revival as a 'terminal sire' where the ram is used to give quality and vigour to other breeds.
In the meantime the breed is increasing its popularity for smallholders - strangely enough, more so in counties other than Sussex.
It has certainly left its mark throughout the UK where it was used to produce many other native British breeds, including the Suffolk, which is very much in vogue at the moment.
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| Southdowns - 'smiling, fuzzy-faced, teddy bear sheep |
The Fermor family believe Southdowns are strictly for the connoisseur who is only satisfied with the very best. But James does admit to a sneaking longing to see their return in large numbers; 'essential if the herbiage of the South Downs is to be preserved.'
And he fears if we use other breeds there will be a different type of vegetation which will change the Downland habitat - which in turn will support different wildlife.
A change, but not necessarily for the better.
It was John Ellmann of Glynde who, in the late 18th century, transformed
what was once a thin, scraggy Sussex breed into the famous Southdowns - chunky
animals with thick, close fleece and with exceptionally sweet meat gained from
grazing of the herby turf.
In the 1920s and 1930s Sussex author Barclay Wills made a special study of
Southdowns and the Downland shepherds, and he amassed a substantial collection
of crooks, sheep bells, horn lanterns and other artefacts of the days when
great flocks of Southdowns roamed the hills.
The Barclay Wills collection may now be seen at Worthing Museum (call 01903
239999 for opening hours).
Story by Susan King, Pictures by Peter Cripps. Courtesy of Sussex Express.