A LIFETIME’S worth of expert sheep breeding is to go under the hammer on a noted Herefordshire farm.

One of the largest on farm dispersal sales in the country, David and Sandra Owens have made this significant decision to sell more than 1,000 purebred Suffolks and Texels at Luntley Court Farm near Pembridge on Saturday, September 17.

With a pedigree dating back to 1950, this is certain to be a prominent sale. It will also be a memorable one for McCartneys’ auctioneer, Glyn Owens, who will be handling the sale with fellow auctioneer, Jenny Layton-Mills.

Glyn, like his brothers, David, Sandy and sister, Daphne, was born at the farm.

This will not be the first time David and Sandra, who have two children – Nicola, aged 30 and William, 28 – have opted for a change of direction.

In 2002, in the wake of the previous year’s foot and mouth scourge, they converted four outbuildings into holiday cottages, which have since proved a successful part of their enterprise.

When bidding starts on the farm’s two purebred flocks, it will bring to a close a long and prized association with sheep breeding.

David explained: “We just want to clear the decks in readiness for when our son eventually takes over the farm.”

A chartered surveyor with Bruton Knowles, William, who works part-time on the family’s 400 acres, favours arable farming.

The Owens family has been breeding sheep for more than a century. David’s father, John Owens came to Luntley in 1947, and within three years had begun building the Luntley Suffolk flock.

The breeding policy was to breed strong Suffolk rams for producing crossbreds in the Welsh borders.

He has notched up nearly 40 years working with Luntley’s sheep, developing the Texel flock in the early 1990s.

More than 10 years later, the legacy of foot and mouth put paid to movement of livestock. That experience persuaded the Owens to diversify into the holiday let-tings business. Now they are preparing for another new direction.

Away from the farm, David is show director of the Three Counties Show, a Pembridge parish councillor and chairman of the village’s almshouse charity.

He is pretty confident about Britain’s farming future following the referendum decision to leave the EU.

“In the long-term, Brexit will prove to be a good thing. We’ll be able to tailor our policies to our needs.”