Meet the young Yorkshire sheep breeder seeking the biggest showground prizes

Four and a half years ago, James announced himself on the summer agricultural show scene when attending his local Tockwith Show with entries from his fledgling Lodgehill Charollais flock. His first pedigree lambs had only been registered in 2016 and he had reserve breed champion that day in 2017.

James said he’s never looked back since that moment and that’s why this time of year is now so important to him.

“That was it. I’d got the showing bug that everyone talks about. You have a lot of times when things go wrong at home on the farm, days when you just have to say you’ve done your best even if things haven’t worked out. It’s often lots of hard work, blood, sweat and tears, but showing is for me the reward for all that.

“All Charollais breeders that show in the summer will generally lamb some of their flock in December because the lambs will be that much bigger than they would if they are born later.

“I lamb all of my top breeding ewes and all of my recips that have embryo lambs in them during the middle of December. The best of those born from them will then make up my show lambs for the season to come which we start with Otley at the end of May.”

Lodgehill Vanessa is the best Charollais James has bred so far, after starting with Lleyns in 2014 and swiftly adding Charollais the same year.

James said Vanessa is his ideal sheep. He had reserve female champion with her on his debut at the Great Yorkshire Show in 2021 and she went on to take the breed and interbreed championships at Masham Sheep Fair in September and won an online show competition through a national farming newspaper too.

“I like my Lleyns and I have found that their main purpose for me is putting Charollais embryos into them because they are very good at rearing and have great maternal instincts.

“They are very underrated and are phenomenal at their job and being smaller take up less space too.

“Vanessa was one of my first embryo lambs. She is the ideal sheep, structurally correct. She has style and personality. It’s hard to breed something that has the perfect balance in everything you’re looking for and I’m not saying she’s perfect but she’s definitely my best to date.”

While James looks forward to the show season he said he is fully aware that it is not just winning that is important.

“I want to breed an animal that has class, style and personality but correctness in carcase quality, tight skin, length, width and good depth for jigots are just as important. At the end of the day the Charollais is a terminal sire breed that has to do its job and rear quality lambs. That’s its purpose.

“We sell a good deal of our females into pedigree flocks either privately or in the society sales with others going into commercial flocks and getting crossed with a Beltex.”

James’s flock currently runs to 35 Charollais ewes with a further 35 gimmer lambs that will be shearlings this year. He also has 20 Lleyn ewes. The flock lambs in two stints in December and February.

James said it was he who brought sheep on to the farm that also has 100 Holsteins and 70 Ayrshires making up the dairy herd and a beef cattle operation producing black and white bulls out of a Limousin sire destined for ABP at York at around 16 months.

“Myself and Dad are mainly responsible for the dairy and beef cattle. Ben specialises in the arable side and we all generally muck in together, but the sheep are just down to me.

“I felt there was an opportunity for sheep to follow the dairy cows as they are very good at cleaning up the pastures and making the sward dense. That’s what they have done.”

James said his passion for showing comes from his grandad Ron, on his mum Joanne’s side.

“He was a herdsman for Frank Abbey who was a very well-known showman. I show our Ayrshires when I can but Charollais are now my main thing.

“I receive great support from my dad, mum, my grandma Shirley and Ben. I’ll only show if I have something that’s spot on. Looking at these new lambs we might just have something. I certainly hope so.

“I’d love to have something good enough to go to the Royal Welsh Show. That’s my aim.”