Our stories
Nant-Isa
About us
We are a father and daughter duo that both have a passion for farming and a love for the countryside. We have lived on the Stiperstones for 7.5 years, and owned a small flock of pedigree Jacob and Herdwick sheep for 6.5 years. We fell in love with these breeds as they are hardy hill breeds that are not only beautiful but do so much good for the land they are on.
We use rotation grazing with the sheep to manage the ground and eliminate our use of chemical fertilisers. Both breeds not only graze the grass, but eat plants that take over paddocks such as bracken, nettles, and thistles. The sheep also browse in hedgerows; this wide diet ensures a mixture of seeds are passed back through the sheep and they automatically create a wild flower haven as we rotate them between our paddocks.
What we enjoy seeing on our land
We love seeing the sheep happy and healthy on our land, and we love seeing the flowers come to life once the sheep have done their job in the fields. The flowers attract so much wildlife, we have seen a huge increase in butterflies and bees in the paddocks which is also so lovely to see. The increase in these insects also promotes the pastures to insect-loving animals like hedgehogs and birds, so seeing the impact of simple flock management is amazing.
What we are most proud of
We are so proud of creating our lovely, strong hill flock of sheep. The sheep are bred to get all they need out of the land therefore we have created minimal input flock. We are so proud of the compliments we get about the sheep, especially the Herdwicks, everyone falls in love with them!!
I am also so proud of us for sticking to our plan; when we first bought the Herdwicks only 1 year ago, a lot of local farmers had their own opinions on them (some not all that positive!) but we carried on with our plan and it has really paid off. The same farmers that were certain the Herdwicks would not thrive in Shropshire have complimented their strong build, motherly nature, and ability to just graze the hill and get on with life. I have even managed to sell some Herdwicks to some local farmers that specifically said “I would never buy a Herdwick”.
But these amazing sheep have shown their value to the environment over and over, and personally, I think every farm should have Herdys…but I may be biased!! 😊
What we are hoping to achieve in the future
We have recently taken over 5 acres of ground from a couple who want to get their thick grassland pasture back to wildflower meadows. We are so pleased they have asked us to use the sheep to help and not use machinery and chemicals to reach their goal. We would love to achieve this and document the journey so other people can learn about the amazing relationship sheep have with the land.
Our latest project
We are installing two owl boxes on our land. There are 5 owls in the UK; the barn owl, tawny owl, little owl, long-eared owl and short-eared owl. Although they are not endangered, their loss of habitat in the UK due to industrialisation and some agricultural practices is concerning for these species and they are considered vulnerable.
The habitat of owl prey is also being destroyed, for example hedgerow loss for agriculture. The use of pesticides can be fatal for owls, however owls can be used to reduce and even stop the use of pesticides on farms. We want to conserve these owls and encourage breeding to help the population status.
