The Prince of Wales is the Patron of the Lleyn Sheep Society, and runs a flock of organic Lleyn on his Highgrove Estate, so it was a natural choice for Lleyn Sheep Society 2009 national Open Day. Tuesday 16th June was blessed with fabulous weather, bathing the farm in glorious sunlight as the 120 members of the Lleyn Sheep Society arrived for the highly anticipated occasion.

The day began with a wonderful lunch, provided by a local restaurant, who, in keeping with the ethos of sustainability, source the majority of their ingredients from within a 30 mile radius of their establishment.

John Thorley, Director of National Sheep Association Pastoral Alliance, and long-time supporter of the Lleyn breed, opened the event with an entertaining and informative speech. He highlighted the successful campaign lead by the Prince of Wales, The Mutton Renaissance, which champions the benefits of mutton, and his current project on improving the ‘income’ generated by the annual wool clip. Sustainability within farming was a key theme, focussed on how Lleyn sheep can help farmers achieve this ideal.

A brief introduction and welcome was given by David Wilson, the Duchy Home Farm manager. In 1986, The Prince of Wales decided to convert the Duchy Home Farm to a completely organic system to demonstrate the environmental and commercial benefits. Twenty years later, Home Farm is not only a successful and viable working farm, but is a flagship for the benefits of an organic, sustainable form of agriculture. Highgrove’s 1100 acres are farmed in conjunction with land from five neighbouring farms, bringing the total to 1900 acres. Vegetable production only uses a tiny proportion of the farm, but is considered to be one of the most important activities, having greatly improved customer interaction. The thriving veg-box scheme now supplies 140 local families with fresh organic vegetables and also keep the Veg Shed, a rustic on-farm shop, full of seasonal supplies for three days a week.

The Lleyn Sheep Society members clambered aboard three trailers, which would provide the mode of transport for the tour. The trailers stopped to allow viewing of the clover leys, which are an integral part to the farming system at Highgrove, and also some recent hedge-laying, an activity which Prince Charles likes to partake in when possible, before moving on to the sheep.

The Highgrove flock numbers 450 Lleyn ewes, of which the majority are pedigree and registered with the Lleyn Sheep Society. The ewes are managed on an easier-care, forage-based system, with all the ewes lambing outdoors during April and only needing one tonne of concentrate this year, due to the snow. The lambs are bred pure and finished on carefully managed clover leys, which fatten the lambs better than if they were grazed on the same acreage of intensively grown grass. Fattening on clover is also reported to have an impact on structural fat within the meat, leading to a reduced weight loss during cooking. The pure lambs are sent to a local abattoir, with meat supplied to the Ritz and David Lidgate, a butcher in London. Highgrove has seen an increase in the killing out percentage since switching to pure Lleyn, and the meat has performed very well in several taste trials.

The next stop was to admire the beautiful herd of 180 Ayrshire dairy cows, which provide organic milk for Waitrose and Yeo Valley yoghurts. The cows are managed in a way to promote health and reduce the dependency on antibiotics. The Ayrshire is a more traditional type of dairy cow, which is lower yielding than the Holstein, but requires fewer inputs, a trait which Mr Wilson feels will become important in the future. The cows are usually run with an Aberdeen Angus bull, but the farm are currently using a Beef Shorthorn.

The tour moved on to the 12 month old beef cattle, which were very interested in the trailers! Aberdeen Angus crosses were the mainstay of the beef fattening herd, which also included a few rare breed British White youngsters, one of Britain’s oldest cattle breeds. As ruminants are poor converters of cereals, the cattle are managed on a low-input, forage-based system, grazing on clover leys and permanent pasture for as long as possible, and finished on clover silage when bought indoors.

Cereal production is also an integral part of the Duchy Home Farm cropping, including organic wheat, which forms part of the seven year rotation on the farm; three years of clover leys, followed by winter wheat, spring oats, spring beans and rye or malting barley. The nitrogen fixing nature of the clover, and minimal use of ploughing, mean that no additional nitrogen is required on the farm. The current wheat variety, Maris Widgeon, was traditionally grown because of the quality of its straw which is much prized by thatchers. However, being a traditional variety it is well suited to the organic system of sustainable farming. For every acre, Maris Widgeon yields almost half the amount of wheat of the new modern varieties, but its quality and flavour are considered to be excellent and the grain is favoured by local mills and bakeries.

The trailers made their way back to the farmyard, where the visitors had a wander around the Veg Shed farm shop. Cups of tea and coffee were served and the Society Chairman, John Adams, thanked David Wilson for a very enlightening, and most enjoyable tour of Highgrove. I am sure everyone who attended will have been inspired by the tremendous work that goes on at the Prince of Wales’ estate, and the dedication shown towards encouraging the

agricultural industry to farm in a more sustainable way.