High Country Romneys – Hay-on-Wye, Hereford

Hill Farm is the home of High Country Romneys, a family upland farm situated near Hay-on-Wye in the Black Mountains in Wales.

Run in partnership by Penny Chantler and her sons, Sam and Will Sawday, the farm is split into a mixture of owned and rented land, almost all of which classified as Less Favourable Area (or LFA).

The team at High Country Romneys manage Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World (AGW) sheep, running 600 recorded stud Romneys and RomTex ewes and 1,000 commercial Romneys all on a forage only system. The philosophy of the farm is to convert as the maximum amount of grass into lamb at the lowest cost.

The sheep are raised outdoors on pasture using rotational management, grazing one section of pasture before being moved to fresh fields. This type of management allows grass to recover before the animals return to graze again; it also minimises the build-up of internal parasites, thereby avoiding reliance on chemical treatments.

The sheep at High Country Romneys are also Certified Grassfed by AGW. The team grow a small amount of forage crops like stubble turnips, mainly for feeding ewes in the second half of pregnancy, but otherwise the sheep are fed a grass-only diet.

In addition to being Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW and Certified Grassfed by AGW, the sheep at High Country Romneys are also Certified Non-GMO by AGW, proving the livestock are managed without genetically engineered/modified feed, supplements or ingredients.

High Country Romneys has been at the forefront of importing top quality New Zealand Romney breeding stock and genetics to the UK for over 30 years, helping clients to build profitable and sustainable farm businesses through enhanced flock genetics that can increase profit per acre and reduce resource demand. The team has been selecting for worm resistance longer than any other flock in the UK, as well as selecting for fly strike resistance—a key welfare concern and costly ailment to both prevent and treat.

For more information about High Country Romneys breeding programme and sheep for sale, call 01497 820 304 or email info@highcountryromneys.com. Visit www.highcountryromneys.com and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.