At a time when UK sheep prices are increasing while the national flock is reducing, a new sheep sensation is in town. This is Fiona, an ewe dubbed the “world’s loneliest sheep” and now a mental health ambassador.

After spending 24 months on the cliffs of Cromarty Firth, Scotland, the heavy-fleeced Fiona got rescued in November 2023. Braving 820 feet of rock to reach her, five farmers of the region finally brought the ewe safely to Dalscone Farm. 

Now, the ewe has turned into a mental health ambassador for two charity groups. RSABI charity uses the #Keep Talking handle while The Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs use the apt tag #AreEweOk? 

So far, the two mental health handles have helped garner  £11,000 from people of goodwill who visit Dalscone Farm.

A kayak operator plying the waters by the cliff side was the first to spot Fiona at the lonely place. He later helped draw her to a civilized sheep pen located in Dumsfries, Scotland.

The Larger Perspective: drought vs fodder prices

Fiona’s mental health mascot role coincides with a period when the UK’s sheep market is experiencing deep market changes.

Like the agricultural depression of 1897 that prompted the formation of RSABI charity, sheep farmers in 2022 also battled drought effects.

Zero grazing operators had to fork out £400 per tonne to buy fodder, whose cost rose in the 2022-23 winter.

What more, fodder beet, a popular sheep feed in the country, was trading at £45 a tonne in January 2023. The same applied to stunted turnips, whose owners were renting sheep farmers $692 per hectare at the time.

This high price scenario followed a fall in lamb crops by up to 20% in 2022.

Reducing Flock Size Impacts UK’s Lamb/Ewe Price

On its part, 2023 saw a slight fall of  2.4% in the UK’s sheep flock in June. This resulted to a national total of 15.4 million sheep.

This fall in numbers has partially contributed to unbeatable retail lamb and ewe prices. A far cry from the then-falling beef prices, lamb steak cost at least £19.25 per kg in October 2023. 

The weekly market report for January 10, 2024 by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) recorded ewe prices of  £89.52 per head. Sheep sales have fallen by 31.37% week-on-week while the price per head has appreciated by 0.48%.

Medium-sized lambs weighing between 39.1 and 45.5 kg cost 292.9 UK cents per kg on January 10. This registers a drop in numbers by 31.1% and a price rise of 14.3% from the previous week.

So, as Fiona transits from the “world’s loneliest sheep” to a mental health mascot, the UK’s sheep situation is also changing.