Leader sheep and sheep farming in Iceland

Iceland Review: 10th September 2012

“Between 15 and 20 centimeters of snow fell in North and Northeast Iceland overnight leaving roads impassable. It is believed to be a new record for snowfall at this time of the year.

According to the manager of the Icelandic Road Administration in Húsavík, Gunnar Bóasson, strong winds are hampering efforts to clear the snow.

Search and rescue teams have been called out to assist foreign and Icelandic travellers.

Winds of more than 20 m/s have been recorded across the country and severe weather warnings have been issued.

People are advised against traveling today.”

In early September 2012, the most severe snow storm in decades hit Northern Iceland. Farmers struggled to retrieve their flocks from the mountains, to bring them down to safety in the valleys. As the snow fell and the winds rose, the drifts accumulated into several meters deep in some areas. Thankfully, the farmers had some very dedicated helpers, their Leader sheep, to assist them as they battled with the elements.

These Leader sheep, as the name suggests, have distinct leadership qualities. In the instance of the extreme snow storm of September 2012, these Leader sheep guided many flocks down from the mountains out of danger to the safety of the valleys. Farmers then took the sheep in trucks and trailers to shelter while the Leader sheep were then taken back up into the mountains on snow mobiles to guide yet more sheep down to safety.

Sadly the storm was so extreme that thousands of sheep were lost, buried under the snow. However, if it had not been for the Leader sheep the losses would have been much higher.

Leader sheep have, what my Icelandic sheep farming friend Sigrún Indriðadóttir refers to as ‘a special kind of intelligence’.

Many sheep farms will have three or more Leader sheep depending on the size of their flock. The majority of Leader sheep are ewes 83.7% with only 8.8% wedders and 7.5% tups (rams) and in the main, their fleeces are black and grey. They are a special breed of Icelandic sheep and have been known to exist since Iceland was settled by the Vikings over 1100 years ago.

Farmers will actively purchase Leader sheep to introduce them into their flock as a means of managing them in the mountains and extreme weather conditions. It is estimated that there are around 1500 Leader sheep with most them found in the Northeast of Iceland.

It was February, earlier this year, when I visited Iceland on an art residency at the Icelandic Textile Centre. One of my main interests during this time was learning more about their sheep husbandry.

They shear their sheep in October and then bring them indoors for the winter months until lambing in May.

My first encounter ‘face-to-face’ with a Leader sheep was on a visit to Sigrún’s farm Stórhóll in Skagafjarðarvegur, Northern Iceland.

So I was standing admiring Sigrún’s flock while this black and white sheep worked its way through the throng that were very happily munching on the delicious hay we had just spread out for them.

Look at this handsome fella … he is one of Sigrún’s Leader sheep.

Sigrún leads a very busy life as farmer, mother and artisan. Please check out her gallery website to find out more: www.runalist.is

Now that it is May, Sigrún is in the midst of lambing.

In early September, the farming families within each valley come together on horseback to gather in their flocks.

For more information on Leader sheep, please consult Daniel Hansen’s website: www.forystusetur.is