Michael purchased Port Edgar Farm in 1988 and ran and owned the farm with his three daughters, Felicity, Fayan and Rhian until just recently. In 2024, his youngest daughter, Rhian, left the farm and Michael took a step back himself. Fayan is now running the farm with her boyfriend, Karl and Michael still lives on the farm and helps Fayan out when extra help is required. His eldest daughter, Felicity, lives and farms in Scotland.

The average micron at Port Edgar in 1988 was 29.0 and with improvements over the years, is now at 24.0 micron (2023/24 season results).

Port Edgar Farm is Quality Falkland Wool (QFW) assured.  QFW is audited and managed by the Falkland Islands Government Agricultural Department and whilst it is not a recognized standard worldwide, it assures that the shearing shed, outer pens and equipment are fit for purpose and the wool is prepared to a good standard.

Since owning the farm, Michael experimented with shearing the belly, crutch and top knot of his breeding ewes, reducing stain and allowing the lambs to get to the milk easier.  In the first year this resulted in his lambing success rate rising from 37% to 67%.  Since then he has seen the lambing success rate sit at an average of 75%. 

He also bellied, crutched and eye locked his young sheep, again reducing stain and allowing Vitamin D in to keep the animals fitter and healthier. Since Fayan took over the farm they still belly-crutch the ewes as well as crutching the young sheep, but have decided to leave the top knot on to cut down on locks, as this can go in with the necks if it’s fully grown. They still take off the top knot if it’s necessary, so the sheep can see better. 

The farm uses solar power for the majority of it’s power needs and the water for the farm buildings is from a natural spring and gravity fed to the settlement.

Like most farms in the Falkland Islands, there are areas of erosion as a result of sheep introduced in the 1870’s, destroying the tussac along the coast lines before proper fencing was erected. As soon as possible after purchasing the farm, Michael fenced off these areas and has planted tussac to restore the habitat.

Other areas on the farm have been identified as having ditches too dangerous to run sheep, therefore they have been fenced off for conservation areas, letting the natural plants and wildlife flourish. During 2021, the family planted a further 50 hectares of eroded ground with a mixture of native Falkland plants; this encourages and helps the native wildlife to nest and successfully return to the area.

Aside from running the farm, Fayan is also an experienced wool handler and classer, as well as being able to shear sheep, with her best day being 140. Michael himself is an experienced well respected shearer and can often be found helping out on neighbouring farms.  He is also a longstanding trustee of the local cancer support trust and has raised considerable amounts of money over the years by organising and completing various walks and shearathons.

Fayan’s main aim for the farm is to run it as economically as possible, continuing to fence off eroded areas and planting native plants. She also makes sure that the sheep are moved frequently to make sure the camps are not too eaten out, so that they can recover quickly; a concept that has been practiced on the farm for many years. 

Fayan would like to bring the micron and CV of the wool down whilst also maintaining the body condition of the animals. They are seeing a big difference in the young sheep’s wool already. 

Lambing percentage remains relatively high in comparison to other farms, so they can select which animals to breed off, helping to achieve this aim quicker. 

You can keep up to date with all that’s happening at Port Edgar via their Facebook page “Port Edgar Farm”.