One farm’s experiences of introducing sheep into its arable rotation are illustrated in a new video on AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds’ YouTube channel.

In the video, Jo Franklin of Lower Heath Farming – host of the Royston Monitor Farm – and her partner Rob Hodgkins, speak about grazing stubble turnips with New Zealand Romney sheep.

The short film finishes with some basic technical guidance for arable farmers considering introducing livestock from Nerys Wright, AHDB Beef & Lamb Regional Manager.



Jo Franklin said: “We had been looking for a way to introduce livestock onto the farm, as we’re on some very hungry chalk soils and they need the presence of livestock and manure to keep them alive.”

This is the third year Jo and Rob have been grazing livestock around Lower Heath Farm. For 2015/16 they have a new try-out as part of the AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Monitor Farm project, grazing cover crops on heavy land. They have experience in grazing mustard and stubble turnips as cover crops with both cattle and sheep.

By April 2016 they hope to have 1,100 breeding ewes on the farm, with a plan to increase this number to between 1,200 and 1,500 by the following year.

“We get a fairly tried and tested 0.5 tonne/ha yield advantage for a cereal crop following sheep grazing. What’s not so easy to measure is the life in the soil that it leaves behind.”

“I think the modern way to make mixed farming work is to take two experts – one in arable and one in livestock – and to make a partnership, rather than someone trying to be a master of all trades.”

On the benefits for the livestock side, Nerys Wright said: “Cover crops are a great energy source for sheep and they’re cost effective.”

Rob Hodgkins added: “Arable farmers are fantastic at growing crops and sheep farmers are great at raising sheep. At my family farm we did fine at growing turnips, but we’ve never had turnips that look as good as they do up here, where we have someone who knows about crop nutrition, variable rates and GPS systems.”

Nerys outlined the top four things to consider when introducing livestock into an arable rotation:

1) Will the enterprise be part of your own business or are you looking to contract or rent it out in some form? It’s not always appropriate to invest capital in livestock and manage the sheep yourself.

2) Consider who is going to look after the animals. Do staff like livestock and have they got the required husbandry skills?

3) Practicalities: what’s the fencing like? Is there access to water and shade?

4) What is the most appropriate breed of sheep to invest in, based on what you want to achieve and the markets available to you?

In 2016, AHDB will publish a document that will capture the key points for farmers to consider when including livestock in an arable rotation. This will include management and legislative requirements and will put some values behind the benefits of the organic matter build-up and the advantages of a sheep system, which have not previously been quantified.

The video, and others can be watched at the levy board's youtube channel, here.