SMOKO STORIES - Hannah Jacob

"They trusted me with my broom to help them achieve their record. To be part of that team was an incredible feeling".

A trip of a lifetime to the other side of the world in 2016 put Hannah Jacob on a career path she never initially intended to travel. Here, in her own words, Hannah shares her stories from both the inside, and outside, of the wool sheds of the UK and New Zealand.

FF. Where did your farming story begin?

HJ. I grew up on my family farm just outside Neath, South Wales. However, becoming a farmer was never my initial career choice. For a long time I wanted to become a vet however, school was not my forte and I found the education system quite hard. I spent some time volunteering at one of the local veterinary practices and was always in and around different animals which made me think about the option of becoming a veterinary nurse instead. However, college was still the challenging aspect for me. Nevertheless, I went to college and studied forensics of all subjects, and it was whilst I was there that I met my now husband, Colin. Colin was from a farming family also therefore, I began spending more and more time helping out with different jobs on the farms. After roughly a year of dating Colin, and as my college course was coming to an end, I was still really struggling with completing the course. I had realised I was enjoying the farming work more. I decided the best thing for me to do was to take a year out and not rush into the decision of going to university like a lot of my friends, as I was unsure if that would be the best route for me. I had also become very attached to Colin's working Kelpie dogs and had started to learn and enjoy training them for the farm work. In the winter of 2016, both Colin and I decided to go and work in the shearing sheds of New Zealand. It was the first time both of us had ever flown and worked overseas so we were pretty green but learnt a lot and had to grow up pretty fast. It was in New Zealand that I had my eyes opened about the farming industry. New Zealand farms are on a greater scale than what I was used to at home in Wales. Running in a mob of 3000 ewes to the shearing shed took some time for me to get my head around. They were livestock numbers I wasn't used to. After a month of sticking it out, as I was unsure if I could stick with it at the time due to the New Zealand rousies (wool handlers) being extremely old school and not taking any prisoners, I learnt that as long as you respect them and try your best, they will respect and appreciate you also. It was on my return from that New Zealand shearing season that I made the decision I wanted to be working full time at home on the family farm. On my return I had just enough money to buy my own kelpie dog, called Cam and had got myself a full time farming job at home. I was away to go.

FF. What is the farming system you run at home on the family farm?

HJ. We are a hill farm with roughly 1200 Welsh mountain ewes and 50 Welsh black suckler cows. We've changed the breeding with the cattle in recent years and crossed with the Angus breed due to the premium with the Angus sire. All ewes lamb out on the hill and we have a small flock of Dorset sheep which we lamb indoors in February. A breed I both love and hate at the same time. Lambing however is the job I really enjoy the most at home due to the shepherding work I get to do with the dogs. You are out on the quad bike most days working them in some amazing views. In the past we have always sold the lambs as finished however with the store lamb prices being so good recently we have sold a lot more store lambs to take advantage of the price. We breed all our own ewe replacements and then for the cattle we have started to buy in some of the black Baldie heifers from Scotland. We're finding the Welsh Black cattle and Angus can be a little fiery, therefore introducing the Baldie's which are Hereford and Angus cross, their temperament is a lot nicer. 

FF. Shearing and wool handling take up a lot of your summer work now alongside the farming. How did you gain your wool handling experience? And what made you want to compete in the summer show circuit competitions?

HJ. I had done a season rolling wool with Colin in south Wales before we went out to New Zealand in 2016. I had always watched the girls competing in the wool handling competitions at the Royal Welsh show in amazement at how they could throw, prepare and roll the fleeces so quickly. However, it was the initial 2016 season in New Zealand that I learnt a lot of the skills on how to throw a fleece to start with. I thought to myself at the time that I could have a go at the competition and my goal was to compete at the Royal Welsh show. I remember being so nervous entering my first competition, I was really anxious and a complete nervous mess. I'm not sure if it was just beginner's luck but in the first year of competing in the novice section I came away with second place at the Royal Welsh show. It was winning that second prize that kick started my idea to gain more experience in the wool handling industry both in the wool sheds and also at other competitions. I went back out to New Zealand just before the Covid pandemic hit in January 2020, this time down in the South island and I absolutely loved it. The rolling hills and landscape along with the climate were very similar to home. The people were really lovely in the South Island too and both Colin and I worked down there for seven weeks in total. I was also out there after Christmas 2022 for three weeks, this time back up in the North Island. Colin had travelled out a few weeks before me to work with Roland Smith covering the Hawkes Bay area. I hadn't done full wool in New Zealand for nearly 5 years and it took me a little while to remember how the New Zealanders process and pack their wool compared to what I was now used to in Wales and the UK.

It was from doing that first show and meeting the other girls that were competing on the circuit that I realised shearing is like a very close knit community. Its a family of people that encourage each other to try new shows and competitions as well as improve your skills. I really enjoy the competing aspect now. It can take up a lot of time travelling to the different shows but it is definitely worth it. Summer 2022 is probably my best year of competing so far in the intermediate wool handling category. You have to win a certain amount of competitions before you can go up to the next level. I'm now in the open class, so up against the big guns basically, so its a lot more pressure and every little thing you do with throwing and rolling the fleece matters. It's enjoyable but its definitely a lot harder.

I was fortunate to have helped out with Stuart Connors world record shearing attempt in July 2021 where I got to meet Gwenan Paewai. Gwenan was so lovely and invited me down to her and Alan's farm in Devon where Colin helped with shearing and I got to learn from Gwenan any skills that would help me with the show competitions. They had the tables and buckets all set up and Gwenan talked through each section of the process and gave me any tips I needed. Alan is also a judge in the wool handling competitions, so he then judged my fleeces and again provided me with any helpful tips I would benefit from for future competitions.

FF. What's your goal within the Wool handling competition circuit?

HJ. The ultimate goal would be to make the Welsh wool handling team. I would love to make the team one day however, I think it's going to take a good few seasons to settle into the open category first just to gain the experience needed to compete against the top performing competitors. But yeah, to make the team one day would be amazing but also very surreal. I have competed at a number of different shows including Bath and West, Devon and Stafford, but yea, the Royal Welsh show has a great set up and the atmosphere is just something else. It's incredible. That's the hard thing with being shearing contractors, I would love to spend most of my summer in the shows but it's difficult when you have to balance the time away competing alongside farming and carrying out the actual shearing contracting work for other businesses. It's definitely a balancing act to try and manage it all.

FF. Who has been your biggest inspiration through your farming journey so far?

HJ. My father would be the top inspiration. What my father has done and achieved with the home farm and what he has made it today is a credit to him. A lot of forward thinking and planning. In the wool handling world it would have to be Gwenan. She is definitely one of the biggest influences to me.

FF. You've already mentioned you struggled within the educational system, therefore if you were to give some advice to a young person now leaving school who was considering going into the agricultural industry, what advice would you give them?

HJ. Get a visa. Go to New Zealand (Quickest answer by Hannah whilst laughing). Yea, honestly, while you have the chance to travel, just go. Just go and do it because you never know when things might change at home and you are unable to consider travelling anymore. New Zealand is such an amazing country to open your eyes, showcasing the different systems and you can learn a lot. You definitely learn a lot more whilst being out of your comfort zone. As good as working at home can be, and as much as you can learn from your own parents and family, going somewhere else, it pushes you and it's invaluable really. I've only ever worked in New Zealand but I would love to go to Australia to see the Kelpie dogs working in their natural environments on a station. However, the fear of snakes puts me off. But the one thing I would love to do is work on a cattle ranch in America. It's something that would be completely different, and I'm not the most confident working with cattle actually. I like cattle \,but I prefer working with sheep. The idea of going to a ranch and riding a horse whilst rounding up cattle would be amazing.

FF. As you know mental health is a big subject within the agricultural industry. What do you do to look after your mental health whilst working in this industry?

HJ. Well actually, in the last year, I came back from New Zealand and there was a change of circumstances and life was just a little bit tricky and I actually had to reach out to the DPJ Foundation mental health charity in Wales. I was feeling anxious all the time, I couldn't eat properly and I wasn't sleeping properly either and it was really starting to affect me. I'm very lucky as I am very close to my parents and we talk a lot and I also have a very good friend down in Devon so I spoke to her a lot also, but at the same time it gets to a point you just need to speak to someone completely different who doesn't know the circumstances. I was lucky to have counselling through the DPJ Foundation for six months and it was extremely helpful. It was fab. I would recommend it to anyone. You can't really describe it but it's like a big relief. You can go into that room feeling like a blown up balloon about to explode and you just deflate. That description sounds a little negative, but you just let all the pressure out and you start to feel as though life is manageable and you are on top of it again. 

I also go to the gym now which helps me a lot. I go to a small gym not far from where I live and I have my own personal trainer. I call it my torture session because she pushes me so hard, but she is also amazing. Again going to the gym feels like a small knit community and it's something that is completely different to farming. It's important to have something like that when you are working in farming to have something which is completely different that is non related. It's like your normal person thing to do, you put your normal person clothes on and for that next hour, that is all you have to think about is making it through that set. Farming is such a physically demanding industry anyway that sometimes you just have to pick yourself up and take yourself away from it in order to relax.

It was a big step for me to go and ask for help. The year previous I had actually raised money for the DPJ Foundation charity by running a few 10k runs, and even though I was raising awareness of the charity and the work they do in reducing the stigma linked to mental ill health, it was that naïve thing of thinking I don't need the help myself because I'm fine. But it sometimes gets to the point that you have to listen to your own advice and you just have to talk.

FF. What would you say has been your greatest achievement so far in your farming journey?

HJ. It's probably going to be linked to the shearing. There would be a couple. Last year I was having a good show season. I competed in Corwen shears and I came first in the intermediate category. I was speechless at the time because I didn't think my final had actually gone that well. But to actually win was really something else. Also being asked to be part of the shearing records. I have helped out in three records and also helped out as a wool handler in Phil Groves 24 hour shearathon. That was something completely new and very tiring. But yea, that win in Corwen was my last show competing in the intermediate section before going up into the open category. Being part of those records, for someone to be so dedicated and every little thing they do is monitored from how much water they drink, to how much sleep they get. How many carbohydrates and protein they are eating. Everything is monitored to the detail. For them to go and ask you to then be a part of that day when they have put so much effort in, makes you question why you have been asked. They trusted me with my broom to help them achieve their record. To be part of that team was an incredible feeling. I was very lucky how I got into it. Colin had booked a shearing course for him and a few friends with Matt Smith. So Matt came down to us and I was rousie for them for the day and it was roughly a month later that Matt's wife Pip had sent me a message on Facebook asking for my number. First thoughts were of concern that there was a problem with the invoice or payment however, Pip said that Stuart needed someone on broom for the record and Matt had put my name forward and wanted to know if I would be happy to do it. It made me think that I must have done something right that day I rousied for Matt and the boys during their training. So it was thanks to Matt I got into it which then created a knock on effect for others we have got to meet since then. It's nice, especially through the summer when we fancy a few days away from home we can go and spend some time shearing with friends in Cornwall, or Dorset for example, that we have got to meet since that initial record experience.

FF. Would the younger version of Hannah be proud of what you have done and achieved now?

HJ. I think so. I think she would be surprised. She'd question why I wasn't in vet school probably. But yea I think so. She would be shocked but I've stuck to what I love. I always loved shearing days at home. It used to be my favourite day of the year because the shearing gang always brought their own wool roller with them and I would always follow them around like a little shadow. And then the dogs. As I've mentioned, the dogs mean everything to me so the fact I get to work with dogs every day is, yea, I got something good. You can talk to the dogs and they don't judge you.

FF. What is your one item that you can not farm without?

HJ. Not sure if I'm allowed to say this but, a kelpie. Don't think I could farm without a kelpie. I have seven dogs in total and it's like asking a parent who's their favourite child but I have my own bitch, Cam, which I trained. She's very hard. But then we do have Nelby who is Colin's bitch, and Nelby is definitely our child.

FF. If you were having a tough day in the wool shed or on the shearing trailer, what is that one song you would put on that would just get you in the mood to get the job done and get that day finished?

HJ. This is difficult to answer as we have so many songs on our shearing playlists. There is one song which I think is called 'come to party', I can't remember who it's by but it's not the usual type of music I listen to. I'm usually listening to country music or chilled out music but obviously everyone's taste in music changes over time. I remember in New Zealand, I was jet lagged and tired and straight into a shed wool handling and this song came on and I just loved it. It was called 'Home among the gumtrees' by John Williamson. It cheers me up without fail. But of course the other song that is always amazing when working in New Zealand is 'Yma O Hyd' by Dafydd Iwan as it's something from home. They're two very different songs but sometimes when you're not having a great day, songs like that will catch you off guard and instantly put you in a better mood.

FF. Last question. If money was no object and I was to say to you that tomorrow you could live your dream lifestyle, what would that be?

HJ. Good question. It would be to have our own farm, little cottage, sheep, kelpies and our very own shearing shed on the farm. I'd also love a Corgi dog. When the time is right I will definitely get a Corgi. Colin and I have always wanted to have our own farm with a custom built shearing shed where we can have our own little bit of New Zealand with us. The ultimate dream one day is to have our own farm. We've recently gone into Romney sheep as well as having our own flock of hill sheep, but to be farming our own place in Wales, that's the dream. As much as part of me would love to live in New Zealand and be out there, I'm too close to my parents and my dogs to leave.