Hardy Wiltshire Horns prove savvy choice at Hallston

After years of research, starting at the Seymour Expo, this sheep-obsessed couple have built an enviable lamb and stud operation with Wiltshire Horns.

Successful strategy: Jill Noble with her Wiltshire Horn sheep. Picture: Zoe Phillips

JILL Noble and Gary Tie have built a Wiltshire Horn sheep operation from the ground up in four years.

Running about 200 Wiltshire Horns, with 80 breeding ewes, on a 62ha former dairy property at Hallston, in the Strzelecki Ranges, the couple chose the breed for its hardy nature.

They market lamb directly to consumers, sell joined ewes and also grow fruit and vegies for roadside sales.

“Ironically, it all started off with Seymour,” said Jill, explaining they attended their first expo 16 years ago, just to browse the stalls and enjoy the country atmosphere.

Jill grew up in Ireland, from a family of sheep farmers; Gary is from Mansfield, in Victoria’s North East. They both have successful off-farm careers — Jill in human resources and Gary in sales. But they hankered for their own farm ever since they met.

Jill Noble and Gary Tie run Hallston Valley Farm in the Strzelecki Ranges. Picture: Zoe Phillips

“There is nothing like getting your own land and your own animals,” said Jill, 44. “Probably about 10 years ago, we started to look for land quite seriously.

“Seymour is where we cut our teeth, sitting in lectures, learning, and trying to make decisions about what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it.

“We have gone quite chemical free with our farm, so we don’t use any synthetic fertilisers or sprays and we are minimal chemical intervention with our animals.”

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The couple see themselves as weekend warriors, both continuing to work off the farm, but have made huge progress with their flock, land and small business.

Their direct-to-consumer lamb brand continues to grow, as do ewe sales, boosted by their after-sale service, which includes vaccines and animal handling advice. Their Wiltshire rams took out multiple ribbons in show rings last year, including at the Royal Melbourne Show.

Jill and Gary will give three presentations at Seymour, one about business skills and two about sheep management. Picture: Zoe Phillips

The chemical-free approach and minimal-intervention animal management serves them well, with the shedding Wiltshire breed proving true to its reputation for high fertility, lean meat and good mothering.

Business skills from their off-farm careers helped Jill and Gary grow their enterprise quickly. The couple will share this knowledge in this year’s Farm Lecture series, where they will talk about sheep essentials and business skills for farming success.

“It will cover things like how to send out a tax-compliant invoice,” Jill said. “Learning what you have to record, that you have to record every single stock that you have bought, sold and that has died. If someone doesn’t tell you you have to do that at the beginning of the year, it is pretty stressful.”

The couple will also touch on marketing, business strategy, technology and legal requirements.

See the pair on Friday at 10.30am, Saturday at 2.30pm and Sunday at 10.30am.

The Seymour Alternative Farming Expo runs February 14-16.