Wresting a living from a way of farming that is as old as the hills sees traditional shepherding combined with more modern thinking and, as one mother and daughter team told Gaina Morgan, it is about finding the balance.
Erinna Rogers and her mother, Tanya, are as hefted to the Cambrian Mountains as the 1,200 sheep they run across hundreds of acres rising to 564 metres (1,850 feet) above sea level.
Their tenanted farm is high above the Elan Valley, the reservoirs of which supply water to Birmingham. Weather conditions can be ferocious and fearsome, yet the pair relish their lifestyle.
They are self-reliant, resilient and well equipped to face everyday challenges. They love that they and their neighbours still work together, gather on foot, pony and quad and generally look out for one another.
The pair farm hardy Elan Valley Welsh Mountain ewes as well as a small flock of Texel and Suffolk sheep, with the farm's traditional hefted flock grazing on the open hills where their ground stretches for miles.
It is sustainable farming but, as Tanya explains, they do worry.
The political landscape and the multi-layered changes and challenges that come with Brexit are a concern.
Then there is increasing UK legislation and the constraints of the Cambrian Mountains Environmentally Sensitive Area among other schemes.
The Elan Trust website still bears the message ‘The economics of farming on the Elan Estate, and the uplands in general, is entirely dependent upon financial support from the EU through the Common Agricultural Policy' and Tanya fears a return to the ‘dirt poor' days of the 1980s when, as a girl with her parents, she first settled here.
She says: "The biggest fear for me right now is not only Brexit-associated funding changes, but also changing tenancy legislation and massive expectations on social media about what we are supposed to do in the countryside.
"There are many levels of change that we're facing right now. Some of it might be for the better, but we just feel left out of the debate. We've replied to several consultations about farm policy changes, but none of our feedback seems to get through."
"There are many levels of change that we're facing right now. Some of it might be for the better, but we just feel left out of the debate"
Tanya Rogers
Diversifying
On their own farm, Erinna is diversifying and setting up a meat business, producing and selling burgers, kebabs and meatballs.
She is also an National Sheep Association (NSA) Next Generation Ambassador 2020, an opportunity and organisation she describes as ‘fabulous', although all but one event had to be cancelled last year because of the pandemic and she misses seeing other young people at the NSA events and local shows.
Erinna is passionate about improving and promoting Welsh native breeds of sheep and is proud of their positive impact on the conservation of their natural habitat.
It is this back story and the ‘phenomenal taste' of what she is producing which Erinna believes will give her meat business the point of difference.
Although shows, cafes and restaurants are closed, the farm has invested in a butchery unit.
"I was really hoping to start last year, but the pandemic meant I couldn't be confident about how I could get it out to my customers as restaurants and cafes in the local area were shut," says Erinna.
"I was a bit unsure about how to start off, but we're ready to go now. The business is called Wild Shepherd, which is what we're about really, me and Mum."
And wild it is. Some 90 per cent of the farm is unfenced, off grid and has limited satellite internet and mobile phone signal. Erinna and Tanya supply their own electricity by batteries charged with a generator, inverter and solar panels.
"Renewable energy is challenging," says Erinna. "Solar is great when the sun shines, which isn't often enough for optimum performance. We're at the top of the hill, so hydro isn't an option and high wind force destroyed a wind turbine."
Their farm is on the Elan Valley Trust Estate, which has a remit to promote conservation and environmentally friendly farming to protect water quality, meaning total sheep numbers on the farm have reduced by 70 per cent in the last 20 years.
Wintered
Regulations mean their sheep are wintered away on tack grazing, rented from several landowners across Mid Wales, some they have wintered sheep with for many years.
They regularly travel to check on the general welfare of the sheep, which are scanned while on tack.
Erinna says: "We need to know whether ewes are carrying singles or twins. We get the singles straight out onto the hill as soon as possible. We prefer singles as they grow better on the rough hill terrain.
"We've got such a small number of acres under fence and to comply with legislation, we're not allowed to fertilise, plough or reseed so we have to buy-in feed and hay."
The 1,200 ewes are brought back about a month before they lamb in April, along with about 400 hoggs. The yearling ewes lamb indoors and those with single lambs out in less than 24 hours. After a week old they're marked and returned to the hill.
Erinna says: "Once on the hill they begin the hefting process. There are about five hefts; where the sheep stay on their own part of the hills. The ewe lambs learn their heft from their mothers, so when we turn them back out as hoggs, they will return to the same hill. Then we'll go round the hills shepherding to settle the returned sheep and just keeping an eye on things."
The sheep stay on the hill until gathering in for shearing, when the wether lambs are weaned and sold as stores in local Devil's Bridge and Rhayader markets.
The ewes and theave lambs are then gathered again in autumn for drafting. Erinna is hoping that this year she will be able to use some store lambs in her meat business, slaughtering them locally at about 35kg.
The pair also keep ponies for gathering and a few Angora goats bred for mohair. Although the British Mohair Marketing Board pays a better price than they get for the sheep's wool, the pair say the goats are still more of
a hobby.
The pair farm hardy Elan Valley Welsh Mountain ewes as well as a small flock of Texel and Suffolk sheep.
Schemes
Tanya says: "We have quite a large farm here, but with the environmental schemes we have to rent elsewhere five or six months of the year as well.
"We have a closed flock, but because we have to winter away most of the sheep, we can never be sure what other livestock have been on the land before us. So, you have to keep up to date with the latest research for flock management.
"We would like to do a lot more, but it's not easy to gather in sheep regularly for measuring projects such as monitoring weight gain, with more than 90 per cent of the farm rough hill ground. It can take you miles just to get to a point with your dogs to start gathering.
"We could not do it without our neighbours and friends. They are skilled and experienced on this terrain and help us with the hill gathering and other jobs such as shearing."
Showing was an important part of life in pre-Covid days and Erinna and Tanya are looking forward to the day when they can once again take part in this, with their sheep, ponies and Angora goats having all won prizes at local shows and the Royal Welsh Show.
In all, it is a fragile hold on a unique lifestyle. It relies on tenacity, ingenuity, endurance and above all resilience.
But the rewards are infinite and, even on the most difficult days, the pair are thankful for the part they play in the ecology and continual evolution of the Elan Valley.
Farm facts
- Several hundred acres farmed; 90 per cent is open hill
- Ground rises to 564 metres (1,850ft) above sea level
- 1,830mm annual rainfall
- 1,200 Elan Valley Welsh Mountain ewes, along with some Texels and Welsh Mountains
- Some Welsh ponies kept for gathering and Angora goats bred for mohair
