I’m a glamorous farmer who hustles to clean out pens and feed lambs

In 2020, Laura Windle was a palliative care provider and a self-described “city girl.”

And while the rest of the world adjusted to a new life stuck in their homes during the pandemic, she dreamed of becoming a farmer living in the countryside.

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Fast forward to today: the 39-year-old has achieved that dream.

She is a farmer who cares for more than eight species of animals – including cows, sheep, goats, chickens, black geese, ducks and donkeys – on seven hectares of land.

However, Sheffield-born Laura is a statistical anomaly.

She is younger than the average farmer, she is a woman and she does not come from a farming family in an industry that has historically depended on succession from father to son.

Just 15% of Britain’s key farmers and ranchers are under 45 years old and just 16% are women, according to research from Defra’s Survey of Agriculture, published in September.

“What men can do, women can do too,” Laura tells Fabulous.

“I think women have a hard time in the agricultural sector.

“In the beginning I thought to myself: no one is going to take me seriously.

“I went through all that in my head.

“Someone like me – a woman of color – is not what you often see in rural areas.”

The mother-of-three, whose adult sons still live in Sheffield, is proud that she is not your average farmer.

She enjoys facials, nail art and a bit of lip filler, and often looks glamorous with styled locks and a full face of make-up when mucking out the pens and bottle-feeding lambs.

“I have a rule: every morning you have to give yourself half an hour,” she says.

“When you look in the mirror, you should be happy with yourself.

“When I feel good about myself, I can perform at my best and take care of my animals.”

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Laura was raised in South Yorkshire by her Jamaican grandparents. Her grandfather had a career in farming on the Caribbean island before emigrating to Britain in the 1950s.

She remembers her grandfather leading her through his allotment garden as a child, where she first learned the art of growing crops.

So when the call from the countryside came in 2021 after months of googling “farms for rent,” it felt less like a leap and more like a natural progression.

What men can do, women can do too

Laura Windel

Laura moved into a caravan on a plot of land in the Ilkley Moors, owned by a traditional father-and-son farming duo.

“I’ve never lived in a caravan before, but I thought if it meant moving to the country I was ready,” she says.

She worked with the farmers who owned the land she lived on to care for their sheep and donkeys.

It was there that Laura realized she had a talent for shepherding – and as her skills grew, so did her brood on the farm.

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To raise money to set up her own farm, she rented out her newly renovated caravan and slept in a metal container while caring for her animals.

By early 2023, she had enough money to move to Derbyshire and set up My Pets Palace, the affectionate name for her farm.

She now lives in a cottage on her seven hectares of land and cares for more than 100 animals.

Laura is single and does everything herself – including bottle-feeding her lambs, building pens, shearing her sheep and managing her homemade allotment garden (which she made herself from recycled tires).

If Prince Charming ever came to lend a hand, that would be fantastic

Laura Windel

“If Prince Charming ever came to lend a hand, that would be fantastic,” she jokes.

Laura mainly uses social media to finance her farm, as she isn’t keen on sending her animals to slaughter for money – “they’re my babies,” she says.

To her 180,000 loyal fans she is known as The Swearing Shepherdess.

On TikTok, fans send her “gifts” that can be converted into cash, and they also buy farm-themed merchandise on the My Pets Palace website.

Someone like me – a woman of color – is not what you often see in rural areas

Laura Windel

British agriculture is currently at a vulnerable crossroads due to changes caused by Brexit, food industry subsidies and muddy food production policies.

And after last month’s Labor budget, a row broke out over new taxes on farms worth more than £1 million.

Farmers have warned that the so-called ‘tractor tax’ will kill their industry and protested in tractors outside the Welsh Labor conference on Saturday.

“I don’t really delve into politics, because everything will change within four years,” says Laura.

“I’m like, ‘You know that governments probably change their minds more than their underwear?’

“But I would like to pass this career on to my grandson.”