Spring is my favourite time of year. Especially late spring, when the grass is growing tall and everything feels very green all of a sudden. We are in one of driest parts of the country though and, spring growth has been hit hard in many of the past few years by hot, dry weather. Our heavy clay soil soon turns to rock and roots find it hard to penetrate it.

This is where our new herbal leys seem to be coming into their own, We began to include them in our rotation as a source of nectar for pollinators, but they also include deep rooting species that help to break up our clay and reach the water beneath. With any luck, a drought proof crop that lasts into the autumn.

Shetlands do well on rougher grazing, but when the ewes need a pick me up after lambing, the variety, and drought resistance that the leys provide has been invaluable. The crop is a mix of grasses, herbs and legumes. The grasses for energy, the legumes for protein and the herbs for micronutrients and minerals. The mix also contains anthelmintics such as Chicory and Birdsfoot trefoil which are helping to keep our worm burden down without drugs and drenches.

As part of our Countryside Stewardship agreement we need to make sure that the mix of plants remains varied throughout the life of the crop. Leys can last for many years if looked after. We use a rotation system to balance the need for grazing with our agreement to provide a source of nectar throughout the summer. This way there are always sections in flower from May through to the end of July. Moving the Shetlands on regularly avoids them eating out their particular favourites, like Sainfoin. The sheep love browsing through the growth and always know when it is time to move on. Electric fencing has been the key to sectioning off fields and most of the sheep follow the rules.

We are still working out the timings and sometimes the growth of the herbal ley gets away from us, or the sheep stay in a particular section for a bit longer than they should. My father constantly reminds me that sheep should only hear the church bells once between moves and he is generally right. I will admit it is not the simplest system, and until we get it right we will be putting up and taking down a lot of fencing. However, the sheep are really enjoying the variety and the lambs are growing on well. The ewes are also recovering from lambing quickly. We do need to make sure that sheep are not going straight onto the rich growth from poor ground but so far haven’t found this to cause a problem. Putting the ewes onto the ley earlier in the year will also help the transition. Lambing rates don’t seem to have been affected by the clover included in the mix, but often the ewes have moved on to rougher grazing by tupping in November. It might take a bit longer to tell whether the leys have had a direct impact on the quality of our fleeces but we are happy with the last few year’s shear.

Next year we will aim to lamb in the herbal ley fields rather than by the farmhouse. I am almost confident enough to do that now! This will give the ewes a head start before the lambs arrive and they can move around the fields until the autumn when we will give the leys a break.

Kath Shearer — Lings Shetlands, Hepworth, Suffolk

[A version of this article originally appeared in the magazine of the Shetland Sheep Society]