Among the rolling hills of Lanarkshire, not far from Crawford, lies Normangill Farm. There, the Craig family can be found farming 1,200 ewes over 1,750 acres of the surrounding valley their farm is nestled in. Jennifer Craig runs the farm along with her father, Andrew, and support from his wife, Heather.

“I would describe us as a traditional hill farm,” says Jen. Of the 1,200 ewes, 1,000 of them are pure Scottish Blackface ewes, with the other 200 ewes a Blackface-Charollais cross that graze the lower parts of the farm.

“We’re not doing anything extraordinary on the farm, we’re just trying to get our basics right,” says Jen. This year has been a particularly tough one for grass growth on the farm and the same weather has impacted lamb growth too.

Knowing your native

“While we had a great start to the year and lambing went very well, as the year has progressed it’s just gotten so wet and our lambs aren’t thriving like they should. Usually we sell a large amount of lambs as fat lambs, but this year we’ve had to move them on as stores to the guys that do have the grass to finish them. If you don’t protect your grass here, it isn’t long disappearing,” Jen says.

It is with this in mind that the farm has begun to make subtle changes to its breeding program. The lowland flock is crossed to a Beltex tup to produce a terminal lamb and this will continue to be the case. However, the Charollais genetics will be phased out over time, in a move to have all ewes sourced from native breeds.

“We’ve purchased North Country Cheviots to replace the Charollais, and breed ewes that are genetically designed to thrive in our local environment. It’s not that the cross we have at the moment doesn’t produce a good lamb, it’s more that they take too long to bring to finish. By going to the native breeds, we’ll be able to maximise the four or five months of good growth conditions that we get here,” Jen points out.

The move is modelled on a growing trend in the beef sector, Jen says, to get native breeds back on the hills around the country where they might find the conditions less adverse than continental breeds. It is not only the sheep on the farm that are going native, Jen also has plans to purchase Luing cattle for the coming year to graze the hill.

“The move is as much from an environmental point of view as it is a production one. We plan to run them on the hill to tidy up the scrub and increase the grazing quality for the sheep,” says Jen.

Strong role-models, strong ambitions

For Jen, average daily life has always been intertwined with farm life.

“I guess I always had a notion to work at home on the farm,” she says. After leaving school she completed a four-year HND (Higher National Diploma) in agriculture at her local college and took on off-farm employment for a year and a half.

“Once my contract with the local windfarm finished up, dad came to me and said: ‘I dare say we could employ you now’’, Jen laughs. “And here I am, eight years on. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

For many women farming may seem like an unusual career choice, but it something that Jen was always exposed to: “I’m lucky that dad doesn’t have any concerns about me being female, because it was actually his mum that ran the farm when my granddad passed away quite young.

“Being raised in an environment where she pitched in every bit as much as the men probably had a big influence on me and was one of my biggest inspirations. A formidable woman, my nana, and a brilliant role model too.”

Another major factor in Jen’s passion for farming and continued presence on her home farm is her father’s openness to change, which is huge for any young farmer.

“If I make a mistake he won’t hold it over me and he will listen to my ideas. He might laugh at some of the things I say, but he will never refuse me point blank. Our table has seen its fair share of heated debates,” she laughs.

Effecting change

Jen has found herself, maybe unwittingly, involved in a big way in agri-politics. Her father was a former local branch chair of the NFUS during the foot and mouth crisis of the early noughties.

“With Brexit and all that’s coming down the line we have major challenges, but I think it’s important to remember everything our parents went through in the past, like BSE. So now our generation needs to step up and actively participate in the debate around Brexit and the future of farming in this country.”

Jen is a huge believer in young people’s participation in their wider farming community and to not be afraid to have their opinions heard in addition to those of the older generation, that have a wealth of experience to offer.

“It is us that will have to work within the things that are decided today and that is why we need to have our voives heard in this debate. I know, for me personally, I never intended to become so involved, but I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Jen’s first steps into the agri-politics sphere came in 2014, when she was approached to apply for the NSA’s NextGeneration ambassador programme. Following a successful application and interview, she was offered a place on it.

“That absolutely floored me if I’m perfectly honest, because three years ago I wouldn’t have said boo to a goose,” she laughs. “The mere idea of it would have terrified me. It was a yearlong course and it was a mixture between talks, workshops and trips away. We had classes on time management, dealing with the media and, of course, the age-old farming talent of bargaining.”

“Afterwards I was like a different person. I’m no longer afraid to have my opinions heard and I’ve also made friends for life, which is all part of farming.”

Ultimately, Jen has a key piece of advice for any young person thinking of getting involved in things off-farm: “I guess this applies mainly to women, but it’s not to see yourself as anything different to the people already involved. At the end of the day, when I enter a room I don’t see men and women, I just see farmers and we all have the same concerns. Beyond that, the opportunities are there and if you don’t let your age hold you back, then you’ll never look back.”