Farming on the Shetland Islands is undoubtedly a challenge, but for one farmer it is a challenge he has successfully faced for decades.
Laurence Odie farms with his son on Yell, one of the north isles of Shetland, where they have 650 breeding ewes and a small herd of pedigree Shetland cattle on their 150-hectare farm.
Odie also works at the livestock mart at Lerwick which regularly fills with sheep and cattle from the island’s crofts and hills, where he helps during busy periods, penning up sheep and cattle, loading livestock onto trucks and helping the business to run smoothly.
“I like working with livestock and meeting people, so when the mart is busy, and I have time, I enjoy helping out,” Odie said.
Shetland sheep farming
Odie believes that the ever-changing conditions on the Shetlands create the right environment to breed hardy livestock.
“Sheep do well here, outwintering on the hill, with in-bye grazing for commercial and lambing ewes. Buyers know they are getting healthy, hardy livestock when they buy from Shetland,” he said.
The Shetland Island farmer founded the Laurence Odie knitwear factory, but since transferring ownership to its employees in 2019, he has been able to concentrate on farming at home and helping rural neighbours with their livestock.
On Odies farm, the wool produced by the sheep is used to make knitwear, and maximising wool quality for the knitwear is achieved through supplementary nutrition.
The remote location can make this challenging, but it has been made simple by way of a joint order, with multiple farmers grouping together to purchase a 28-tonne artic load of feed, from a supplier on the mainland, East Coast Viners.
Odie has sourced feed with the company for over 20 years which he says has offered consistency in feed quality and quantity and has even developed a Shetland formula to suit the island’s unique terrain.
East Coast Viners grains are largely grown on the east coast of Scotland, within a 40-mile radius of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, where the business operates from.
Odie said: “One farmer buys the bulk feed order, with smaller farming businesses adding to it, filling up a 28-tonne artic load to minimise transports costs.
“I then collect what we need and know exactly what we are getting and how it will support our flock.
The feed used on the island has also benefitted the conception rates on Odies flock, as he said that when they lamb from mid-April, the lambing percentage has gone from 130% to 170%.
Sheep breeding
On his farm, Odie crosses 90 of the 110 Shetland ewes with a Cheviot, which adds ewe lambs to the commercial breeding flock.
He then uses a Shetland tup for over 20 Shetland ewes, which provides pedigree breeding stock for replacements and for sale.
Suffolk tups are used across the commercial Shetland x Cheviot ewe flock, producing store lambs for sale at the mart.
Most of the Shetland ewes winter and lamb on the hill and are only taken off the hill a few times each year.
Shetland breeding lambs are selected based on their wool quality and hardiness, as he explained there is a “strong wool trade here in Shetland” that sells products to Japan and the USA as well as domestic markets.
Odie keeps a closed flock and only occasionally buys in tups.
“Shetland has a disease-free status, animals entering the island are blood tested and dipped on arrival, and then isolated until all tests are clear, they are then re-tested in six months’ time,” he explained.
Now at 70 years old and having lived all his life on Shetland, Odie credits his health to a strong sense of community, getting outside every day and enjoying the positive mart environment.
“We all work together to keep things going, helping each other out,” he said.
