Our Shropshire Sheep

In November 2012 we delved into a new foray of Christmas tree management with the purchase of 13 fantastic Shropshire sheep. This clever breed of sheep is particularly suitable for Christmas tree growers as the sheep are brilliant 'lawn mowers' in plantations with the ability to eat weeds and grass but not nibble on the trees!

They have become renowned for their reliable grazing amongst conifers without damaging the trees and many plantations in this country and throughout Europe now feature the Shropshires as part of their management system. So far, we've been really pleased with how the sheep are managing the weeds in all our trees. We regularly move them around the plantations so they don't get bored and have plenty of fresh, new weeds to enjoy nibbling! In fact the great news is that the Shropshire Sheep breed is no longer on the 'rare breeds' list but is now a 'traditional breed' due to its increasing popularity with tree and orchard growers. Even Prince Charles now owns Shropshire Sheep in one of his orchards! We lamb the Sheep every Spring in order to increase our numbers and now have a small flock of over 60 sheep which help us to control weeds across all our xmas tree plantations.

More information on Shropshires can be found on the Shropshire Sheep Breeder's Association website at www.shropshire-sheep.co.uk.