Lambs forage on sea samphire, sea thrift and fescue, salt tolerant herbs that give their meat a distinctive flavour and a price premium.
When a tide is predicted to rise to 7.4 metres, it is time for Dan and his family to round their sheep off the marsh land and move them to other farmland until the water level subsides.
Fortunately, the table is highly accurate so there have been very few occasions when poor weather conditions have forced an unpredicted and speedy departure.
“We have to keep one eye on the weather, sometimes it can be a bit of a panic to bring the sheep in but we have a track that runs down to the marsh and we can get out there in ten minutes,’’ says Dan, who farms with his father, Rowland, and younger brother, Will, at Weobley Castle on the northern shores of the Gower Peninsular.
The waxing and waning of the tides also dictate the timing of other flock management jobs – for instance if the tide table confirmed a high tide on June 4th, that’s when the shearers would be booked to get the sheep’s fleeces removed.
The Pritchards share grazing on Llanrhidian Marsh with six other farmers, the number of sheep they run on this stretch of common land is dictated by the historic scale of their holdings.
This large salt marsh covers around 4,000 acres of land within the Burry Estuary and grazing is made possible because there are fresh water sources that run through the marshland providing drinking water.
The number of sheep permitted to graze on the marsh is dictated by the size of the holdings of the farmers who have common rights – this is five sheep per acre so the Pritchards, who farm just over 250 acres can graze 1,300 ewes.
The farm came with its own castle
Lambs graze the marsh for a minimum of 50% of their lives to give their meat a unique and sought after flavour.
“We try to keep the lambs on the marsh for as long as possible,’’ says Dan. “We worked out that our last crop spent 66% of their lives on the marsh.’’
Dan’s grandfather bought Weobley Castle Farm in the 1960s, a farm which, as the name might suggest, came with its own castle.
The family own the castle but it is managed by the Welsh historic monuments body, Cadw, and is a popular visitor attraction.
Weobly Castle Farm is a grassland farm which extends to 250 acres and incorporates 20 acres of woodland.
The Pritchards use this land for grazing when the marsh is flooded and also from November, when conditions on the marshland get too challenging for the flock.
The flock of 1,000 Welsh Mules lamb outside and are turned into the lambing fields a month before lambing in April and May.
The ewes and bought-in yearlings are sired to Primera rams – three are mostly bought annually from Innovis.
“We have used Suffolks before but we like the Primera because they are easy lambing, it makes spring a bit less stressful!’’ Dan admits.
The first of the ewes with April-born singles are turned out onto the marsh at the beginning of May followed by the twins two or three weeks later.
If they are healthy when they go out there they are healthy coming back in
Similar to hill and mountain flocks, the sheep are hefted so they don’t venture far from the grazing areas of their maternal lines.
The farmers sharing the common round the sheep up collectively although not all the marsh floods to the same extent with each tide.
Daily liveweight gains are dictated by the health of the lambs when they are turned out onto the marsh. “If they are healthy when they go out there they are healthy coming back in,’’ says Dan.
Extra care is needed with flock health management jobs such as fly dressing and foot care because once the sheep are turned onto the marsh they might not be seen again for two weeks.
The first draw of lambs is taken at the beginning of July. Lambs are slaughtered at a small abattoir at Crofty, five miles from the farm. “We could almost walk the sheep there if we had enough people to block the gateways,’’ Dan points out.
He aims for a 19kg carcass but, because the lamb is marketed through the farm’s own shop this is only a guide.
“It is not like selling to a supermarket where everything has to be uniform, it doesn’t matter if the sizes aren’t consistent. We can have R3Ls, R3Hs, it varies,’’ says Dan.
The farm and Gower Salt Marsh Lamb are run as two separate businesses with the meat enterprise buying the lambs from the farm business.
Around 30 lambs a week are sold through the shop and internet deliveries – a business which Rowland launched 15 years ago to add value to the lamb.
The carcasses are butchered on the farm; cuts also sold to restaurants and, through a distribution company, to retail outlets like Wholefoods in London.
Customers who order through the internet get next day delivery; the meat is boxed and kept cool with Woolcool, a natural cooling product made from wool.
“We use the general market price as a base price for pricing our lamb then add a premium, if the base price dropped we would have to reduce our prices,’’ he says.