Farm Smart: Clarkson’s Farm star discusses the farm app which has revolutionised her farming practices!

Ellen Helliwell is a contract shepherdess and farm worker living in the Cotswolds with her partner, Rob, and their young daughter, Hetty. Originally from the Peak District, Ellen grew up on a National Trust hill farm rearing sheep and pedigree Belted Galloway cattle alongside her parents and sister.

While the farm was not passed down through generations, it gave Ellen a lifelong passion for hill farming and conservation. That balance still shapes the way she works today.

A practical farming background shaped by variety

Ellen’s passion for livestock farming is clear in the breadth of her experience. While she now works mainly with sheep and beef cattle, she has also worked on dairy farms, helped with pig care, and done grain carting during harvest.

That range of experience has helped shape her into a practical and knowledgeable farmer, comfortable across different systems and types of work.

In a slightly unconventional move, Ellen bought a small flock of sheep while pregnant with Hetty, determined to stay busy during maternity leave. Today, she rents around 30 to 40 acres of land in the highly competitive Cotswolds region.

Her flock is mixed breed, made up mainly of Swaledales along with a few Lleyn crosses and a Norfolk Horn. Her breed choices reflect a practical mindset. She prefers hardy, low-maintenance sheep that suit outdoor lambing and poorer-quality ground.

Her careful management allows her to sell lambs between July and October, while also buying in additional stores to sell around Christmas. It may be a small flock, but it is a thoughtful and efficient operation built on solid sheep knowledge.

Life as a contract shepherdess

As a contract shepherdess, Ellen works across a range of farms, helping with vaccinating, lambing, shearing, and other day-to-day livestock jobs. That work gives her a valuable perspective and the chance to see different systems in action.

Her love of sheep started young, helping her parents on the farm where she grew up. Over time, she specialised in sheep and beef, building her skills through college and her involvement with the National Sheep Association.

Looking ahead: plans and advice

Because Ellen rents her land, there are limits to the improvements she can make. Even so, she remains optimistic and has plenty of plans for the future that she hopes to turn into reality in time.

For Ellen, success in farming comes down to understanding your own system and making it work well. Her advice to others is simple: focus on what suits your land, livestock, and goals rather than copying someone else.

Sharing the realities of farming

Ellen, also known as Shepherdess23 on Instagram, has become a familiar face in the farming community online. Her journey into social media began on Twitter, inspired by her time in the NSA Next Generation group.

Seeing other young farmers share their stories made her realise social media could be a powerful way to connect, learn, and even find work during quieter periods. Her Instagram presence grew steadily after a friend challenged her to post consistently.

Today, Ellen uses Instagram as a platform for education and connection. What she values most is the range of people it brings together, all linked by a shared interest in agriculture.

She believes in showing the full reality of farming, not just the highlights. By sharing both the good and the difficult moments, she helps build understanding and respect between farmers and the wider public.

Support through difficult seasons

The online farming community has also been a real source of support, especially during harder seasons. During the wet lambing season of 2024, Ellen found comfort in seeing that other farmers were dealing with many of the same problems.

For someone who often works alone, that sense of community matters. It brings reassurance and a reminder that the challenges of farming are shared.

The Clarkson’s Farm effect

Ellen’s appearance on Clarkson’s Farm had a major impact on her social media following. Her audience grew rapidly overnight, bringing her work and skills to a much larger audience.

While her farming career was already busy, with regular work on several farms, the exposure from the show raised her profile even further. More people now recognise the work that goes into being a contract shepherdess, and her social media presence has grown with it.

How Herdwatch has transformed Ellen’s farming practices

Ellen has been using Herdwatch for around four years. She first explored the app when it was mainly designed for cattle, before a dedicated sheep management section was introduced. Since then, it has become an important part of her day-to-day farming.

Getting started with Herdwatch was straightforward. Ellen found the app easy to learn, and when questions did come up, support was always there.

One of the main reasons Ellen chose Herdwatch over other systems was its accessibility. She values the fact that it works easily on a smartphone, without needing extra hardware or complicated equipment.

Medicine records made much easier

One of the biggest improvements Herdwatch brought was in recording and managing medicines. Before using the app, Ellen tracked treatments on two separate calendars to avoid missing key dates.

Now, she can log treatments quickly and check withdrawal periods in just a few taps on her phone.

A better system during lambing

Lambing season is always busy, but Herdwatch has helped Ellen bring much more structure to it. Before using the app, she often jotted notes into her phone, which sometimes led to missed details or confusion later.

Now, she can record lambing events, note any ewe issues, and manage adoptions or fostering all in one place. That makes the whole process more organised and helps her make better decisions for the flock.

All the right information in one place

For Ellen, the biggest benefit of Herdwatch is having all of her farm information in one place. That makes inspections less stressful and day-to-day decisions much quicker.

Instead of chasing through paper records or scattered notes, she can find the information she needs straight away and keep the flock running more smoothly.

Given her experience, Ellen regularly recommends Herdwatch to other farmers. For her, it is a practical tool that has made a genuine difference.

You can read more real farmer stories on our farm case studies page.