Young farmer Elaine Read has 62 sheep on a 123-acre croft in Gilsta, just outside Lerwick. She crosses Shetland ewes with hill Cheviots, which suits the colder climate and land type in the Shetlands.

“We have a heathery hill that we put the ewes on after they’ve been tupped, so they are clean and dry for the winter,” she said. “We buy in hay in case there is any frost or snow. We’ve stopped feeding them silage. Personally, I think silage is for cattle, not for sheep.”

The ewes start lambing in the first week of May, they are supplemented with an 18% protein ration for the month prior to lambing. This is complemented by high-energy licks and a lower amount concentrates after lambing, to help the lactation.

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“The lambs don’t go out on the heather because there are too many bogs and you would just lose them. So we have a hill park and they go there after lambing.”

Elaine works the croft with her partner, Hazel, and her father is on hand to help out if needed, as both of them work off-farm too. Elaine is the operations co-ordinator with Shetland Livestock Marketing Group, which is a farmer-owned co-operative based in Lerwick, that operates the mart and abattoir for Shetland.

“It’s five days a week, in the quieter season (from January to July) I work 9am to 3pm. It’s really just maintaining the office and the paperwork that comes up from the abattoir, as well as the bits and pieces that come up from the mart. At the moment I’m organising the sales, taking bookings and answering questions. This is my first year organising the on-farm sheep sales in Shetland.”

Some farmers send their lambs straight to Thainstone mart in Aberdeenshire rather than selling them through Lerwick, something Elaine wants to change.

“I was told the other day that I should not take it personally when people book into Thainstone. I can’t understand why they do it, they just look at the top price of £80/lamb and not the transport costs. I would rather show people and be proud of what I’m putting through the ring. People need to support the mart, it is there for them. They always go on about how there are not many buyers at the mart in Lerwick. But all the people that stand around that ring have several orders. I have started to get orders from people. ”

Elaine started working with the mart after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2016, something she is learning to manage.

“It’s tough, I suffered from fatigue for a long long time. Touch wood, this is the best I’ve felt for a long while. I’m managing it, but I do have to be careful.”

As a young farmer, Brexit is a concern going forward in Shetland, given the fact that the sheep industry relies on exports to European countries. Elaine believes that farming is needed in Shetland to maintain the environment, but that supports are needed as it will die out if the return is not there for the work involved in crofting.

While Elaine receives a Single Farm Payment and LFASS money, she has opted to stay out of environmental schemes so that she retains the flexibility of being able to move her sheep when needed.

“It’s great to be in all these environmental schemes. But if you set aside land, yes you’re going to get loads of money for it, but it’s not really doing the land any good because by the time the sheep go onto it it’s too long,” she said. “I find moving the sheep where I want to suits them far better. We got great prices for our lambs out of Shetland ewes, compared with what people got with second-cross lambs.”