The Fleming family share their South Country Cheviot secrets

The Fleming family – Sandy, April, son William his wife Lisa and their son Jack (7) – run 950 South Country Cheviots, 350 Cheviot Mules and 14 traditional Bluefaced Leicester ewes alongside 64 Aberdeen Angus cow across 1300 acres rising to 850ft above sea level.

South Country Cheviot ewe hoggs are kept as flock replacements Ref: RH180924071 The Flemings started farming at Hislop in 1956, before the late Turner Fleming (Sandy’s father) took on Falnash in 1985. Falnash is split 50/50 with lowland and hill to complement the Hislop Cheviot stamp being run as one unit.

“Cheviots are good, strong, sound sheep and their characteristics have improved over the years,” said Sandy, who is gearing up for this year’s Lockerbie tup sales, which the family have been selling at for 65 years.

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Smart looking Cheviot Mules at Falnash Ref: RH180924064 “They are bigger and better skinned sheep and good mothers. It rains 98% of the time here so we need a breed of sheep that is hardy and able to thrive on the hill.

“It has always been Cheviots here and they are very hard to go by. They have progressed and been passed down several generations. The Cheviot ewe suits the modern ethos of hill farming being a low input breed with a high output.”

Smart looking Cheviot Mules at Falnash Ref: RH180924061 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... This year, the team has nine two-shear rams, all of which have been used as shearlings.

“We did try to sell shearlings one year, but it just didn’t work for us. We find these hill sheep take until they are a two-shear to really show themselves.

“We also find that by using our own shearlings they make our flock very uniformed and level,” said Wullie, whose pen of two-shears are sired by a mixture of stock tup and home-bred shearlings this year.

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There is a small flock Blue Faced Leicester at Falnash Ref: RH180924065 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... Last year’s pen of nine averaged £1809, with top prices of £4000 and £3500 paid for sons of Townfoot Showman, a tup jointly purchased with the Wardens of Skelfhill. “Townfoot Showman has been a great breeding sheep for us, with sons and daughters going into the show circuit and many sons progressing to Lockerbie,” he added.

Another standout purchase was Hindhope Oor Wullie, purchased at Lockerbie from the Elliots which produced some ‘outstanding females’ for the family. One of his daughters secured the inter-breed sheep honours at Holm Show last year.

The South Country Cheviot is well suited to the ground at Falnash Ref: RH180924058 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... With 700 pure South Country Cheviots producing average scanning percentages of 130%, the majority of ewe lambs are retained. Lambing commences the second week in April. Lambs not fit for breeding are sold fat or store through Longtown, Lockerbie or St Boswells. Last year, store Cheviots reached £95 at Longtown.

“South Country Cheviots can be grazing on the high hills which they are expected to live off throughout the year without any supplementary feed, so they really are a low input system,” said Wullie, who added that the ewes are supplemented with four tonnes of blocks and four tonnes of feeding during the winter and the run-up to lambing.

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Falnash Farm is nestled in the picturesque landscape of Teviotdale, located in the heart of the Scottish Borders Ref: RH180924081 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... Some 250 South Country Cheviot ewes go to the traditional Bluefaced Leicester for breeding Cheviot Mules.

There is scope to breed more Cheviot Mules to enable the family to sell any surplus as they believe there is a demand for these females at Longtown.

Home bred batch of South Country Cheviot shearlings Ref: RH180924053 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... To help keep the flock closed, Lisa founded her own traditional Bluefaced Leicester flock three years ago under the Falnash prefix. “I wanted something of my own and they have such character and presence. Jack can join in helping to get them prepared for shows as they are such a lovely natured breed to work with.”

Lisa began her flock by purchasing three in-lamb ewes at the Blue Belle sale at Carlisle in 2021.

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Show girls, the show team has had some success at this years shows Ref: RH180924072 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... One was purchased from Kirkstead in-lamb to Leadburnlea M3 and the resultant progeny went on to win the at Royal Highland Show as a gimmer in 2022 for her first time exhibiting. She won the female championship and reserve breed honours.

“You soon catch the bug when showing, and a big win like that is certainly going to be hard to hold up to,” she added.

A top-quality batch of South Country Cheviot tups are being prepared for the upcoming sale at Lockerbie Ref: RH180924073 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... The team compete at the Royal Highland, Border Union, and local shows to help showcase both the Blue and Cheviot flocks and, more recently, their Aberdeen Angus herd.

Lisa also sold her first consignment of rams at Kelso last year, and this year sold four tups to a top of £2900 to average £2250.

Cheviot Mules go to the Suffolk tup and achieve scanned lambing percentages of 200%. They are lambed inside for ease of management.

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Lockerbie bound for these tups Ref: RH180924078 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... “Suffolk cross lambs do well for us. They are quick to get up and suckle and they’re very versatile,” said Wullie.

These lambs are mainly finished off grass through various markets at 40-44kg liveweight, with 90% of the Suffolk cross ewe lambs sold for breeding. With William and Lisa both at home full time, the business has also taken on two contract shepherding jobs on neighbouring farms, adding an extra 1800 ewes to the workload.

​They also introduced two micro lodges five years ago that have been going full swing, and pedigree Aberdeen Angus cattle two years ago to add to their 50-strong commercial Angus cross herd.

“We are very interested in pedigree breeding,” said Lisa, who added that they’ve also joined the SRUC HiHealth scheme.

Check out more of these photos in our Photo Sales section here

Just a few of the stock ewes running on the ground at Hislop Ref: RH180924060 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer... “Using Angus and Charolais bulls gives us a great selection of good, strong store cattle which are sold at nine to 14 months of age through St Boswells, Stirling and Lockerbie. “Our motto is it costs the same to house a poor animal as it does a good one, so we try to ensure all our stock is the best it can possibly be,” said Wullie.

Wullie concluded: “There is such a small pool of genetics in both the Bluefaced Leicesters and South Country Cheviot breeds, making it more difficult to select stock tups. Cheviots are also being hit hard by the amount of hill ground that has been lost to forestry which is not good for the industry.

“However, sheep are in a strong place at the minute and if we keep going the way we are, I think they’ll have a good future.”

Farm facts

Involvement: Sandy and April Fleming, son William and his wife Lisa, and their son Jack (7).

History: The family started off at Hislop farm in 1956 and took on Falnash in 1985.

Acreage: 1300 acres, rising to 850ft above sea level.

Livestock: 950 pure South Country Cheviots, of which 250 go to the Bluefaced Leicester to produce Cheviot Mules which run at 350 breeding females, alongside a small flock of 14 traditional Bluefaced Leicesters. There are also 50 commercial Angus cattle and 14 pedigree Aberdeen Angus.

On the spot questions

Best advice: You only live once, go hard at it while you can and always have a laugh in the process.

Best tool for sheep work: Ritchie Combi Clamp. Great bit of kit.

Best thing about the tup sales: The hope of getting a good trade and a beer after!

Where do you see yourself in 2034: Still farming to the best of our ability and hopefully with Jack alongside us.