On the farm we breed pedigree suffolk sheep. We have keep several breeds of sheep over the years but Tom has always loved the Suffolk and being so close to where the breed was first created it was a no brainer really to expand and continue this wonderful breed.
The Suffolk evolved from the mating of Norfolk Horn ewes with Southdown rams in the Bury St Edmunds area, these sheep were known as Southdown Norfolks, or locally, as “Black faces.” The first recording is in 1797 when in his “General view of agriculture in the county of Suffolk” Arthur Young stated: “These ought to be called the Suffolk breed, the mutton has superior texture, flavour, quantity and colour of gravy.”
Suffolks developed around the rotational system of farming in East Anglia, grazing on grass or clover in the summer and after weaning the ewes could be put on salt marshes or stubbles. Swedes, turnips or mangels were grazed in the winter. From the earliest days sheep were exported around the world, to Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, North and South America and the colonies. The Suffolk has developed over the years to match consumer demands, they are now found throughout the world’s sheep producing countries and are still the flag-ship breed in the British Isles and recognised as the leading terminal sire on a variety of ewes to produce top quality prime lamb.
