Goodbye 2013, hello 2014! And hands up all those who made New Year’s resolutions? What is it this year? To quit smoking, join a gym, give up chocolate (don’t be stupid!) or stop swearing? I for one don’t have a habit of making resolutions as I rarely keep them, but this year I have decided to make just one.

To have more patience. Now stop choking on your coffee and sniggering, husband! I know this may seem funny to you as I am a “wanted it done yesterday” person but I am serious.

I am from farming “stock” albeit arable/veg. In my experience arable/veg farming is different in one definite way to livestock farming; and no for those smart arses out there going “der yeah of course there is…” I don’t mean the components I mean the timescale. In arable/veg farming the results of your labours are seen quite quickly. The ground is prepared, seed sown and cared for and if the weather is favourable a decent harvest is gathered. With livestock there is the same kind of pattern but it’s never very quick, especially if you are developing your flock or breeding pedigree stock. And that is where my patience fails me!

Thankfully my husband is a patient man, and tolerant to boot, so he gently keeps reminding me that to achieve our dream I have to have patience! Good quality stock is not bred over night but over carefully planned years. With an occasional measure of good luck thrown in to help. So with my resolution made I eagerly step forward into this New Year. But my new year hasn’t quite started yet! For me lambing signals the start of a new year, in terms of the business. We’ve spent the latter part of the previous year analysing what we’ve done, what would we do differently, assessing the progeny of our ewes and tups and making decisions based on what we think is best. Lambing time is when we see the start of all our plans, choices and hope come to fruition.

I say hope because until it all starts that, in a way, is all we can do. We’ve chosen our ewes and selected the tup. The resulting offspring are eagerly awaited. You gain some indication as to whether your choice of parentage are a good combination when the lambs are a few days old (experienced shepherds can probably tell you in a few hours whether the lamb is a winner or not). The top lambs tend to catch your eye for all the right reasons. As they grow you keep assessing these lambs and critiquing them. Our aim is to fine hone the flock so that it is the poorer lambs that stand out rather than the other way round. When the vast majority of lambs are of a ‘stamp’ we are looking for we will know the choices we’ve made have been the right ones. It may seem a simple thing but when you can only make changes year on year and the results only truly show themselves the following year it is a game of patience!

This year we have made some big changes. The biggest one being the introduction of Russell the Roussin. A relatively unknown breed, here in Britain, originating from France. They are known for dealing with difficult grazing conditions, have excellent bone to meat ratio, their progeny are vigorous and they look good! What more can you ask for? So my patience is being tested to breaking point as I wait to see what the Roussin’s produce, not only on the commercial side but also the two pedigree Roussin ewes we have.

It’s all part of sheep farming and one of the reasons being a shepherdess is not only challenging but immensely rewarding. Let’s just hope my patience holds out!