Woodbridge vegetable farmer says sheep play a vital role

Tim Pratt manages Wantisden Hall Farms near Woodbridge - which is owned by the Kemball family.

He is also chairman of the breed society for Dorset Horn sheep - a breed which he has used to his advantage on the farm for many years.

Tim - who is head steward at the sheep competitions at the Suffolk Show - says he is very much looking forward to this year's event.

He keeps 400 sheep in total on the farm - half of which are the Dorset Horn and half Poll Dorset.

"We originally bought them because we entered into the Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme. The Dorset Horns are a native breed so we actually got a bit of a supplement for having them to graze them on our marshes," he explained.

They lamb them in September to fit the farm's cycles. This has the advantage of keeping them fairly disease free and requiring fewer drugs to treat issues such as worms - a problem in the spring/summer months.

Wantisden Hall is a very large vegetable operation. It covers 1,940 acres (785 ha) - of which 1,350 acres (540ha) is cropped. The rest is mainly a mixture of woodlands and permanent pasture. Overall, with contract farm agreements, it farms 4,000 acres (1618ha).

It grows potatoes, onions, carrots, cereal crops, vining peas, sugar beet, maize, swedes and parsnips - and keeps cattle and pigs as well as sheep.

"Because we are predominantly a vegetable farm we have quite a lot of bare land," explained Tim. 

"It brings costs down when you have a breed that can fit in with and utilise home-grown forage and cover crops – which farmers are increasingly pursuing with a focus on soil health.

"Additionally, there’s further benefit because funding for cover crops reduces the costs of rearing lambs. And, in the case of the Dorset Horn, a native breeds at risk supplement is available through the Countryside Stewardship scheme."

Once the crops are harvested, it helps having the sheep grazing on the cover crops so that they can add fertility to the soils - which are fairly light so don't compact so easily under the sheep's hooves, he explained.

They spend six months on grass marshland over the summer and the other six grazing the cover crops. The lambs are sold in January - by which time the cover crops have been ploughed up.

Tim's vegetable growing operation has got off to a tricky start this year. The onions and potatoes got off well, but after that rain hampered progress during the sowing season.

"Really since then it has been stop-start, stop start because of the rain," he said. "It's taken us longer and longer to plant our crops."

The damp has kept temperatures down - but if the sun does shine the crops will romp ahead, he said.

Cereal prices have come down dramatically this year following last year's record highs. However, the crops are looking "really good" with "a lovely bit of water under them", he said.

Tim - who is chairman of the Dorset Horn and Poll Dorset Sheep Association - said he was pleased to see a huge rise in Dorset Horn entries at this year's Suffolk Show after the event created a separate class for the breed for the first time last year.

The draft Dorset Horn & Poll Dorset entries for this year's event are more than double what they were last year - and nearly match the numbers of Suffolk and Southdown Sheep entered at the show.

Suffolk Show tickets are available at www.suffolkshow.co.uk/buytickets at 2022 prices until Tuesday 9 May and are always cheapest online.