Young sheep breeding champion already preparing for Yorkshire's summer show season

Early lambing In January as opposed to more traditional springtime lambing is not just associated with looking good at agricultural shows, there are many who lamb early in order to receive a hopeful good price at market at a time when less young British lamb is about.

“I aim for my lambing around 1 January so that they have a bit more size ready for the show season,” says Jack, who has utilised a method that many are now using to tighten up lambing time into a more controlled period.

“This time I used CIDRs, they go in the ewe for 12 days. They are a way you can synchronise lambing so that hopefully everything should lamb within a few days of each other. I’ve used them this time because I used to get a rush of lambing, then nothing, then on we went again. It was a bit silly having lambing lasting 5-6 weeks for a small flock. If I can get all done in a week that’s great. By the time someone is reading this mine should be done for 2024. We’ll see.

“I have 21 ewes at the minute with 19 of them that were in-lamb. While I enjoy showing my main business-end aim is to sell a few shearling ewes and tups each year. The showing is great as an enjoyable thing to do but it is also about getting my name and the breed out there. I was over the moon to have breed champion at the Great Yorkshire, but I was also really happy with my two shearling ewes that I showed and sold at the breed sale at Worcester where I got a second with one of them.

Jack took on his first Oxford Downs when he was just 12 years old and says that he moved from having a toy farm, that is now in his shed at home, to having real sheep.

“I’d been begging my parents for sheep or animals of some kind and mum finally gave in when I was 12. I put up a notice in a local animal feed store and Richard Hampshire in the next village of Elvington contacted us.

“I got 4 ewe lambs off him in the November. I didn’t have really much of a clue and Richard taught me the basics. In the following Spring I went to Richard’s and got two ewes with single lambs at foot just to get the experience first without the lambing. Then I put them all back to the tup in the autumn. Ever since then every Christmas and birthday I’ve been bought everything from sheep hurdles to weigh crates; and any income I’ve had since has gone on buying more sheep and equipment.

Jack says he felt that he wanted something a little bit different to a more commercial sheep breed like a Mule, Texel or Beltex.

“Oxfords are a decent size of breed with a good frame and finish well off grass. Ewes and tups are fairly easy going and calm. They’re a good breed for crossing a commercial flock, a good terminal sire that bring about some nice lambs with a bit more size. I think they are a bit underestimated.

When Jack started showing around seven years ago he soon found an ally in another unrelated Richardson, Bob, a renowned Oxford Down breeder from East Yorkshire.

“My first show was Masham Sheep Fair and my first few years was a big learning curve. I learned through speaking to people like Bob and others in the breed society. Over the years I’ve learned about sheep, the breed and what I need to look for. I’m now starting to get happier with what I’ve got after a few years of breeding my own and buying stock that I like.

“Last year was my best show season so far. I had three breed champions and they were all with homebred stock. I won with another shearling ewe at Bishop Wilton and with my ram lamb at Driffield Show.

“Winning at the Great Yorkshire Show is my best result so far and I also had other good placings too and a second in the group of three. We took part in eleven shows. I’m hoping to get to the Royal Highland Show this year.

“I’ve my lambs from last year which are growing on well now, and a few of them, if they keep going well, will be potential show sheep again. Then we’ll see how these new lambs look.

Jack studied at Askham Bryan College and started working on a farm apprenticeship at Thorganby for well-known Meatlinc tup breeder George Fell and says that a lot of what he has learned about sheep in general and farming has come from working for him.

“George breeds Meatlinc tups and we sell 100-plus tups a year. George has 500 pedigree ewes, 200 head of beef cattle and we do all our own silage and stubble turnips. Working for George has opened my eyes to a whole other level of sheep farming. I’ve learned a great deal about the larger scale ways of doing stuff. A lot of what I have learned over the last few years has come from George.

While Jack’s parents James and Lisa now run a haulage business they were once farmers too, and Jack says his granddad was once one of the biggest carrot farmers, before others went huge.

“Dad switched to haulage in the mid-90s and my mum and dad now have about 20 wagons. They are always very supportive of what I’m doing with the Oxfords, along with my auntie Kate who helps me show the sheep and will come on a night to help with trimming.

Jack has also brought his best mates into showing.

“Austin and I joined Escrick YFC together five years ago and he comes along and helps, and Billy who is also now with Escrick has just bought some Beltex and has started showing.

Jack says another of his hopes for the future is to own some land for his sheep.

“At the minute all the grassland I have is rented around the village. It would be good to have somewhere where I could also have a lambing shed.