They herd livestock for many reasons. The farmer may want to move animals many miles from winter grazing areas to summer pastures to control the area grazed within a very large field. The farmer may only want to move the animals into the barn or pen at night. Depending on your farm, an appropriate dog can usually be found.
Early exposure to the job and proper training is important for all dogs trained to help people. Experienced people with herding dogs may feel comfortable training their new dog. For inexperienced farmers there are many trainers available to give instruction on proper training and handling of a herding dog. Trained dogs are also widely available. A guardian dog is often left alone for most of the day on the farm. A herding dog/handler relationship must be well-established before they can work effectively as a team. The farmer must also possess a good knowledge of the livestock's behavior and what they require of them and the dog(s) during the routine herding of their animals.
Once trained, a dog can work off a leash and respond to your voice, whistle or hand commands. Constant reinforcement of training and exposure to livestock is necessary to maintain a high level of herding control.
Small farms may find that they only need a dog to help move the livestock in the morning and at night. In this situation a fully trained herding dog may not be justified. My experience with sheep has been that they will respond to many pure and mixed breed dogs. They can use a dog on a long line or leash to move the sheep. They make the job of moving sheep easier for the farmer. Provided the farmer gives the sheep a place to move or escape from the dog, the sheep will often go. Difficult sheep may challenge the untrained dog and need additional persuasion to move. A trained herding dog would have learned how to deal with these sheep. The farmer can help the untrained dog to get the animals moving.
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