27 May 2025
A family farm’s transition from intensive sheep production to a grass-based outdoor lambing flock and its mission to create a sustainable and successful system have progressed further thanks to a Farming Connect initiative.
Tom and Danielle Hill have been farming 48-acre Old Farm, a Powys County Council upland holding near Sarn, Newtown, for a decade, taking on the tenancy as new entrants.
Initially their sheep system was intensive - indoor lambing in early February with ewes and lambs supplemented with concentrate feed.
But with off-farm jobs and the arrival of their three children, their mindset changed.
They transitioned to a simpler sheep system and in so doing freed up their sheds to enable the introduction of another enterprise, rearing Wagyu beef calves.
With the flock lambing outside, the sheds could be utilised throughout the year instead of just for two or three months around lambing time.
They no longer relied on purchased feed for the sheep and they have stopped applying synthetic fertiliser.
The initial flock of 250 Welsh Coloured Mules has gradually been replaced with Lleyn, tupped to a Romney; ewe numbers are currently 115 but steadily increasing by drawing in the maternal traits bred into the flock.
The Hills describe the transition of their system as a “massive positive change’’.
It is their sixth season of outdoor lambing and the year leading up to that enabled further positive change after they secured funding from the Farming Connect Try Out Fund to trial a new iodine supplement for sheep.
While the results of the trial have been valuable, Tom says it is the support and guidance received during the year-long study that has really helped shape their thinking around the future direction of the business.
It provided one-to-one support with vet Oliver Hodgkinson, of Trefaldwyn Vets, and farm business consultant, Edward Calcott, of The Anderson Centre.
“This approach isn’t something we had previously utilised but spending time with a vet and financial advisor, sitting around the kitchen table and really digging down into the detail, is one of the most valuable things we took from the trial,’’ says Tom, who was born and brought up in Southampton and came to farming with no background in agriculture.
“It is something every farm should consider; it would have made such a difference when we first started farming as would have taken a very different path from the very start.’’
Monitoring sheep throughout the Farming Connect trial, with a combination of blood testing and faecal egg counts (FECs), provided valuable data.
The flock was performance recorded, and lambs regularly weighed in a new mobile yard and digital weigh crate linked to an electronic identification system. This equipment was part-funded by the Small Grants – Efficiency scheme.
“It allowed us to analyse, to look at things differently, we have learned so much from monitoring the flock,’’ says Tom.
As well as sheep, the Hills rear 350 Wagyu calves a year and 50,000 partridges for a local shoot.
Tom works on a local farming estate one day a week and Danielle has a full-time job as a bovine TB auditor so their farming system needs to be simple.
With a low cost of production, they captured £77/lamb profit in 2024 from an average sale price of £133 a lamb.
Lambs are sold through Bishops Castle market at an average liveweight of 42-44kg or direct to slaughter at 19-20kg.
Tom says the system change has secured the long-term future of the business.
“Farming on the whole needs to adapt, a lot of farmers like ourselves are embracing change but many aren’t.
“We are grateful that Farming Connect has enabled us to access advice and support that has helped us to see things in a different way.’’
The Try Out Fund trial
With a flock’s trace element status integral to performance and productivity, the Hills wanted to trial a new iodine supplement, applying to the Try Out Fund for funding to support their study.
The Try Out Fund funds individuals and groups of farmers and growers to experiment with ideas and bring them to life.
In January 2024 blood samples were taken from ewes at Old Farm to establish their trace element and liver fluke status.
Faecal egg counts (FECs) were used to guide drenching need; if counts were high, ewes were treated and FECs then repeated to test for resistance.
At least eight weeks before lambing, half the ewes in the flock were given the injectable iodine supplement. Fifty per cent of lambs were also given the product, half of those from the treated ewes and the remainder from those that hadn’t received it.
Throughout the trial blood sampling was carried out and lambs weighed.
There was no statistical difference in daily liveweight gain (DLWG) between the treated and untreated lamb groups therefore the product was not seen as beneficial in that year.
But at the end of the trial, scanning percentage in the treated ewes was 182% and the rearing percentage 165%.
Menna Williams, Specialist Manager at Farming Connect, who oversaw the trial, says these exceeded industry averages.
“The average scanning percentage we would expect for an upland farm would be 150 – 175% and for a good farm we would expect between 155-170% rearing percentage.’’
Tom and Danielle’s aim was to maximise liveweight gain off grass-only.
They admit that the average DLWG of 68g was disappointing but with no supplementary feed or fertiliser used and the flock sharing the farm with other enterprises, the flock still yielded a healthy profit margin of £77/lamb, Tom points out.
“We might not be realising golden figures in terms of growth but the profit has really shone through,’’ he says.
“The project has really helped to concentrate our minds; we are very grateful to Farming Connect and the Try Out Fund for the opportunity.’’
Improving flock efficiency is also likely to reduce its carbon footprint.
Dr Non Williams, Farming Connect’s Carbon Specialist Officer, says improving scanning and rearing percentages can lead to environmental gains.
“Higher scanning, and specifically rearing percentages, result in a greater number of lambs reared per ewe and kilogrammes of meat yield and that leads to a reduction in the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced per kilogramme of lamb,’’ she explains.
“Subsequently, it may be feasible to increase the volume of lamb produced with fewer ewes, leading to less overall emissions associated with the ewe.’’
Increasing lamb DLWG reduces the number of days to slaughter, Dr Williams adds, and that means they spend fewer days on the farm producing GHG emissions.