Northern Farmer Awards 2023: Sheep Farmer of the Year finalists

The winners will be announced at a spectacular awards ceremony at Pavilions of Harrogate, the Great Yorkshire Showground, on Thursday, February 23, and ahead of that sparkling event, we are publishing mini-profiles of all our finalists.

Also to be revealed on the night will be the overall 2023 Northern Farmer of the Year, chosen by the panel of judges from the winners of the ten categories.

Finalists in Sheep Farmer of the Year, sponsored by G Youll & Son Fencing:

G Youll & Son sponsors Sheep Farmer of the Year

Henry Jewitt farms with his parents on 325 acres of grassland in Teesdale, County Durham, where his main interest is in the breeding of pedigree sheep.

The farm has a core flock of 150 stock ewes, pedigree Blue Texels, Badger Faced Texels and Dutch Spotted. There are also pedigree tups of the same breed. Henry, 26, has just invested in a new breed, the Dorper, buying four ewes and a tup, the first lambs will be born in the spring. There are also 650 commercial ewes that are used as recipients to receive embryos from the pedigree flock.

Working closely with Dan Fawcett Sheep Breeding Services of Penrith, eggs and semen harvested from the pedigree flock and tups are inseminated into the recipient ewes, bringing about a higher number of full pedigree lambs.

Henry Jewitt

Each year, extensive flushing work is done with the flock when a top draw of the breeding ewes and shearling gimmers are flushed with their embryos implanted into recipients with the aim to maximise their annual crop of lambs.

The quality and consistency of the animals being produced are reflected in some of the sale prices. In August one of his Blue Texel shearling tups sold for 30,000 gns, while on the showing front Henry took reserve champion at the Great Yorkshire, Royal Welsh and Royal Highland with a Blue Texel, also reserve champion at the Great Yorkshire with a Dutch Spotted. He won the championship at the Great Yorkshire in the Any Other Continental class with a Badger Faced sheep.

Henry also supplies the showing world with products and accessories through his ShowWinners brand.

Northern Farmer Awards 2023, sponsored by Mole Country Stores

Sam Hutchinson, of Bridge Farm House, Fell End, Kirkby Stephen, is still only 19 but has a well-developed understanding of both farming and social media.

He farms alongside his grandfather on the Howe Hills, where he looks after the flock of 350 pure Swaledale ewes plus a few Texel crosses. They are split into four hefted flocks running across two fells.

With lambing from around April 10, they usually lamb at around 140 per cent, mainly outdoors but with older ewes and those scanned with twins being brought inside.

Some of the best Swaledales are kept as replacements with some of the "lesser" type gimmers and draft ewes of two to three years being sold through Kirkby Stephen.

The farm has few of its own tups, usually buying in one or two new quality animals from Hawes sales each year. “I am picky when I choose a new tup,” Sam says. “I know what I am looking for and what I need to improve my flock. I want the best I can afford but I won’t pay silly money.”

Looking to the future, Sam is keen to increase the number of Texel crosses and Mules, and to continue to grow his online following. In 2014 he launched his own YouTube channel showing a school boy at home on the farm, and year later followed a Facebook page and blogs from The Swaley Man. He now has 11,000 You Tube followers and 3,500 on Facebook.

“If I can turn some of the negative feelings about farming and animal welfare in the UK into positives and make people more understanding of the hard work farmers do and the good things we achieve, then I have helped the agricultural cause,” he says.

Sam Hutchinson

Searchlight Farm at Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough was built from scratch six years ago.

Ian Wilson and his family had for many years been tenants of a council farm when the authority gave them notice to quit. The family were able to buy the land but not the buildings, and eventually got permission to build a house and start again.

The Wilsons now have 575 Texel and Texel cross Mule ewes on 350 acres, with Ian saying the quality of grass feed for the sheep is paramount.

Ian Wilson

He breeds some of his own Texel tups and Texel crosses, but also brings in some Beltex blood, and always has a NZ Texel or two on the farm.

Ian has an ambition to run a closed flock. “In the past I have experimented with several changes of ewe breed, but I haven’t found anything that can equal the performance and the ease of management that is a feature of the Mule ewe,” says Ian. “Nevertheless, we cannot run a closed flock and continue with the Mule, which is why the New Zealand Texel has been brought in. The hope is that it will bring in a better maternal line.”

Ian and dad Ray keep meticulous records, while Ian's son Joseph, though only nine, is showing great interest in the farm.

Ian is keen to share what he has learned and to learn even more, so in 2017 became a Challenge Farmer focusing on replacement females. An AHDB trial seemed ideal, a project to develop best practice for managing replacement ewes as well as a better understanding of how a ewe's first productive year can affect lifetime performance.