This seminar is open to all and it is possible to attend in person or on Zoom. The presentation will be held in English.
Abstract
Shetland crofters maintain their grass fields and heather hills while facing the compound pressures of unpredictable weather patterns, migrating geese, fluctuating market prices, past and present agricultural policies, and negative public opinion on sheep farming.
Building on this, the talk will focus on the knowledges required to continue farming sheep in Shetland.
On the one hand, herding sheep in rough landscapes means farmers need detailed place-based knowledge of landscapes and sheep’s behaviour within them. On the other hand, selling sheep at scale also requires knowledge of standardized methods that calculate the supplementary feeding of silage and pellets and the timing and quantity of administering oral drenches against parasites. Usually, these farming knowledges – referred to as traditional and modern, respectively - are assumed to be contradictory, or even pitted against each other.
Instead, drawing from work with several Shetland sheep farmers, the talk will discuss how working with sheep requires both particular knowledge of places, landscapes and histories, alongside the ability to apply modern farming practices and use veterinary methods to tackle disease and parasites on the ground. What changes once we think of these as two essential elements of a farmer’s skillset, both for Shetland and beyond?
About LandBruk
LandBruk (LandUse) is a group of researchers and students associated with the NorLab research group, who come together to discuss anthropological perspectives on land-use in the Nordics.