NIGEL AKEHURST VISITS: FLETCHER'S FLOCK
IMPROVING THE GENETICS OF SHEEP Nigel Akehurst meets Stuart Fletcher of Fletcher's Flock to find out what it takes to be a first-generation sheep farmer in the High Weald.
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I met Stuart Fletcher and his son Fred at The Deer Park Café in Eridge, a short journey from one of his small flocks (or families as he calls them) of 50 Lleyn ewes and one of his Signetrecorded Lleyn rams. Stuart is passionate about regenerative farming and improving the genetics of his sheep, spending much of his time performance recording his two flocks: 450 Lleyn ewes and 20 pedigree Texels. He works with a network of landowners in the High Weald, including Eridge Park, using his sheep to facilitate mid-tier and high-level Countryside Stewardship (CS) agreements. In return, he gets mainly rent-free grazing on short term licences; he does farm one block of land on a Farm Business Tenancy agreement.
With little Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) or environment payments, Stuart’s business model relies on making enough money from selling sheep. A former naval architect, Stuart spent ten years performing statistical analyses on ship structures before doing the same with sheep when he quit his job to become a farmer at the end of 2012. His aim is to develop a breed of super sheep that produces a high value carcass from low quality pasture with zero inputs. “That’s why we went for the Lleyn; they had the hardiness and tended to do well off poor grass, but they also had a decent carcass,” he said. Direct sales are another key part of his business, linking the consumer directly with the produce. Last year he sold over 300 lamb boxes to customers. He
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hopes to expand this in the future by adding beef and poultry, but is hesitant without an investment in infrastructure.
GETTING INTO SHEEP
Stuart grew up in a town and had no connection to farming whatsoever. He says he always enjoyed being outdoors, spending much of his childhood towing a golf trolley around after his parents. After university he went into naval architecture at Lloyd’s Register. “I used to design structural repairs to oil rigs and aircraft carriers and lots of interesting stuff. It was a good job, with nice people, but I’d spend months and months designing one bracket or girder. Sitting behind a desk I felt a bit like a duck out of water,” he said. “The highlight of the day was
