How to start a smallholding

In this article from My Countryside magazine, Camilla Swift finds out how one woman fared when she became an accidental small-scale farmer.

When Lisa Alekna moved to her eight-acre plot on the outskirts of Redditch, in Worcestershire, she had no intention of keeping any animals, let alone livestock. But her border collie pup had different ideas. While she had always admired sheepdog trials – in fact watching trials had first sparked her interest in the breed – she had no plans to try it herself. That is, until one day he saw some sheep in the distance, escaped, and herded up the sheep himself. "He actually herded them beautifully for 20 minutes and then held them there while I panicked about what to do," explains Lisa. "Thankfully, the farmer was incredibly understanding about it. But it put me into panic mode; we saw his instinct become ignited, and all my obedience and recall training went out the window overnight."

This wouldn't be a recommended route into sheep ownership. But after this incident, Lisa took her collie to a lady nearby who offered sheepdog training, using her own flock of sheep. "Before I knew it my neighbour, who's a farmer, said 'you should get some of your own'." So she did, starting off with eight sheep, "just as lawnmowers really, to help with the field maintenance, and for me and the dog to practise at home."

This was in 2018, and what started off as 'just eight sheep' quickly turned into something a lot bigger. Lisa put her sheep to a tup and had lambs from her initial eight, but realised that in order to cover her costs, she would need more lambs than she was producing. Now, her flock numbers 30 sheep which are all due to lamb shortly – but she doesn't regret starting out small. "If you look online, they'll give you a recommended number of sheep for each acre of grazing. I'm glad I didn't just read that and buy the exact amount that my land could cope with 'on paper', because while I've got that acreage, it wasn't all great grazing."

While Lisa was learning along the way, it was her own experiences that led her to start sharing posts on her TikTok account, 'Laughing stock of livestock' during lockdown. "I found it quite tough at the beginning, trying to find people who could answer my questions," she explains. "There's a lot of farming jargon out there; even going into a farming supply shop you're sometimes looked at deadpan when you're trying to explain what it is you need." So when people started asking questions on her TikTok account about how to get into having their own smallholding or how certain things worked, she embraced the opportunity.

For those wanting to get into smallholding, her top tip is to start small, and get as much experience as you can. "The lady who I used for sheepdog training was hugely helpful. I used to go and spend the day with her and get hands-on experience. I now work for the farmer next door all through lambing, and that's brilliant. With my own sheep, in the first year I only experienced eight births because I only had eight ewes. At his I'm handling a thousand odd sheep, so that's over a thousand lambings that I'm helping with. So suddenly you're confident, and you've got so many experiences under your belt which might be valuable one day with your own."

At the beginning Lisa relied a lot on blogs and forums, such as The Accidental Smallholder, because they spoke the same language as her. "They answered a lot of my questions because people would be asking things in the same way that I would, rather than using the specific terminology that a farmer would use. Blogs like that were a godsend." As well as her farming neighbours, who were lifesavers at various times, another hugely helpful source of knowledge was her vet. Every time the vet came out, "I would ask them to show me how they were handling the animals; asking questions like 'how did you draw up that medicine so quickly from the bottle' or 'what's the trick of getting under the skin'; just trying to learn from them whenever I needed the vets out." Another valuable source of information were the evening classes that her vets put on, where they discuss common diseases and issues that livestock owners might encounter. "A lot of vets do things like that; it's just about keeping your eyes and ears open for any opportunities that might be in your area."

While the practicalities of keeping her own livestock have proved a sharp learning curve, keeping a smallholding has also opened her eyes to where the meat in our shops comes from. The first year, feeling squeamish about eating the animals she had lovingly raised, she simply sent her lambs to the abattoir where they were packaged up and then sent on. What she hadn't realised was that a lot was going to Europe. "I couldn't get my head around it; I would go to the supermarket and a lot of what they're selling is from New Zealand: why am I buying New Zealand lamb chops when I've got really well raised lambs of my own in the fields?" When she did eat her own meat, she noticed "the incredible difference" in the quality and taste.

The next year, she had all the meat back and sold it on privately to friends and family: "I ended up with a list longer than the number of animals I had!" Now her friends only want her lamb or, failing that, source their meat from local farms and butchers, "because they appreciate the difference. That's a massive thing I've learnt; I now use my social media to encourage people to buy local, buy seasonal, or produce your own. It's really changed my mindset."

Lisa does have an allotment on her land, and although it isn't her number one priority, she has managed to grow enough for a few meals. "One day we had a Sunday dinner where everything had been produced here: vegetables, potatoes, lamb, rosemary. It was honestly the best meal ever, and it just makes you appreciate everything so much more. That's why another thing I talk about on my TikTok is supporting farmers, because it has opened my eyes so much to what's involved. You just appreciate and respect everything so much more."

As well as the sheep, Lisa also has chickens and is just getting to grips with her first pair of pigs. These are her "trial pigs" and, if all goes well, she hopes to get some female pigs and breed her own for meat, as she does with the lambs.

"My hope one day is to become a sort of care farm. Given the amount of enjoyment I get from this and the reward I get in return, as well as the mental health benefits, I would love it to actually be used for other people in that way as well. But that's a whole other minefield!"

LISA'S TOP TIPS FOR SMALLHOLDERS

Start off small and don't just jump into it all guns blazing
The most important piece of advice I can give is to start off small and build up from there, learning about your land and your livestock along the way. And do get support and advice. My neighbour and my sheepdog trainer were invaluable to me; you need someone who knows what they're doing as your guide. There will be times when you will really rely on them – sometimes you can't find an answer online, but a farmer or someone who has been looking after livestock their whole life will probably know what's wrong in an instant.

Choose breeds that are right for you and your land
You might have your favourite livestock breeds – ones that you like the look of – but that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work well on your land or with what you want to do. If you want your smallholding to cover itself cost-wise, it's vital you find out what animal is best suited to your land, and what animal is going to give you the most efficient return. I have Texel cross North Country Mules simply because that's what my neighbour gave me initially; but they suit the land and environment round here, and they're good mums with good milk and produce a good crop of lambs.

Get experience if you can
If it's at all possible, go and get some experience before you get your own livestock. You might think you know how to handle animals, but it's a whole new world when you've got a 90kg skittish wrecking ball that you have to catch on your own – it can be very daunting! I have a great relationship with my neighbouring farmer where I can go and help on shearing days, or if he's dagging, for example. With most things you want to have a little bit of practical experience beforehand, and many farmers would gladly have some help, even just for a day or two.

Make sure you know the legal requirements of what you are doing
I didn't know anything about the legal requirements and the paperwork involved – but you can't suddenly decide to buy some sheep and just pick them up. You'll need a CPH number, and to register your flock number as well as keeping on top of the registration of your animals and making sure they're tagged correctly. It's easy once you've got the first year out of the way, but at the beginning it felt like another enormous thing to overcome. I gave Defra a call and spoke to someone who was really helpful and told me exactly what I needed to do; from then I knew what hoops I needed to jump through.

Image: Glenn Dearing