Sheep



The Ryeland is one of the oldest British breeds of sheep, and until recently, was classified as a rare breed. It is now recognised as a minority breed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. An associate breed of coloured Ryelands also exists, with its own pedigree flock book. These sheep come in all shades of browns, blacks and greys. At Dove Farm, we keep the traditional white variety.

Ryeland sheep have a docile, placid temperament and are a real pleasure to keep. They are friendly, as a general rule, they stick close to home, and seem to enjoy being around people. We would highly recommend them to anyone wishing to keep a few sheep.

The breed originated in Herefordshire, an area where land was used extensively for growing rye and rye grass – hence the name. One of the earliest references to Ryeland sheep, date back to the twelfth century when the monks of Hereford were trading in Ryeland wool. This wool traded from Leominster, was known as ‘Lemster ore’ due to the amount of gold it earned. Things have changed a bit since then! Nevertheless, it remains true to say that the Ryeland fleece is of superior quality, being soft, springy and dense.

Wool in general, and what to do with it, is a big issue for farmers today. Sometimes it can cost more to shear a flock of sheep, than what is earned from the fleece produced. Reasons for this are complex and extend beyond the UK farming industry, but it is a worldwide familiar tale of low prices offered to producers of raw products, which appear shockingly out of balance with the inflated retail prices marketed to consumers.

The modern Ryeland also produces excellent meat lambs with fantastic flavour. The problem is they are smaller and slower growing than popular commercial breeds.

In the same way that beef has been produced for the mass market, with quick finishing, large animals, so have sheep - with big, cheap and uniform cuts of meat, taking priority over flavour, quality and welfare. Supermarkets are our current consumer Super Power, and their influence on choice and price should never be under-estimated. Nevertheless, there is a growing minority of people who care about what they eat, where their food has come from and how it has been produced.

It is a small window of opportunity, that is offering farmers a niche market, and a way to differentiate themselves from the intensive food production units with their huge economies of scale. It is a chance to re-introduce native, minority breeds, and return to traditional ways of farming them - with an emphasis on quality, environmental responsibility and premium product.

Establishing the Dove Farm flock of Ryeland sheep has been a new move for us, and one that we are delighted to make. We look forward to building up our numbers and finishing some top quality lamb, on the excellent grazing we have here. It is still ‘early days’ for us and we have a long way to go yet, before we can say we have a profitable lamb meat or wool enterprise. Ask us how we are doing when you visit!

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