FarmersMart - Late Spring 2011

The NorTh’s Number oNe FarmiNg guide Issue 22 | Late Spring 2011

www.Farmers-marT.co.uk

HAPPY 40th

Celebrating 40 years of the Limousin Cattle Society

hoLmFirTh markeT: comPeTiNg wiTh The big boYs!

The Ladds coNTiNue To keeP iT iN The FamiLY

aNNe barugh: sTiLL. goiNg sTroNg.

£600 aNd couNTiNg. For Yorkshires. YouNg Farmers.

Managing Director/ eDitor Simone Gallon Tel: 01274 610 101 [email protected]

conSULtant eDitor Chris Berry Tel: 0113 2643 645 [email protected]

aSSiStant eDitor Lucie Carter Tel: 01274 610 101 [email protected]

SaLeS Manager/SUBScriPtionS Ben Walton Tel: 01274 610 101 [email protected]

aDVertiSing accoUnt Manager Nicola Robson [email protected] Damien Downing [email protected]

FeatUre eDitorS Jennifer Mackenzie, Chris Berry, Harold Woolgar

DeSign James Ockelford

The FarmersMart 40 Stockhill Road, Greengates Bradford, BD10 9AX Tel: 01274 610 101 Fax: 01274 621 730 www.farmers-mart.co.uk

We mail to over 10,000 industry contacts with an approximately readership of 30,000 throughout Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Lancashire, Cumbria, County Durham, Northumberland,Berwickshire, Roxburghshire and Dumfries and Galloway.

The FarmersMart is published quarterly by Little Red Marketing Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form by means electronic, photographic, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publishers. Views expressed in The FarmersMart are not necessarily those of Little Red Marketing Ltd.

Front cover courtesy of case iH.

Welcome I thought I would never hear myself say this but the weather has been beautiful recently, but of course you guys need the rain so let’s hope we get some heavy showers throughout May so that you can sort out all those acres of dry land and thirsty crops!

This issue is yet again another busy one that covers a variety of interesting agricultural features. Ann Barugh’s is one feature in particular that might catch your eye; this lady is a force to be reckoned with as she continues to farm at the grand age of 86! See page 31 to read her story.

Another subject that we here at FarmersMart are 100% behind is the on-going saga between Ken Jacksons and DEFRA. After a 13-month-long dispute over whether or not his prized bull Boxster had TB, Ken has won his appeal. FarmersMart would like to wish Ken and all the Jackson family the best but sadly I don’t think we have heard the last of this. Please see page 7 for more details. As we go to print DEFRA now intend to pursue the matter further.

On a more positive note a big congratulations goes to our very own Chris Berry and his band the Singing Farmers. As this issue goes to print Chris and the rest of the band are receiving a special award from RABI. See page 11 for more details.

Another big thank you goes to all you farmers featured in this edition for allowing us to come and see you during your hectic lambing time; I know it has not been easy.

Our summer edition is out just before The Great Yorkshire Show, so if you are interested in featuring in our biggest issue of the year just give me a ring.

We’ll see you at the shows

Kind regards, Simone ([email protected])

news .....................................4-8

Belmont regency ...................... 9

Showtime ........................... 10-12

Limousin cattle Society ........... 13

Sawley and District

auction Mart ...................... 14-15

Holmfirth auction Mart ....... 16-18

ritchie .................................... 19

Donaldson ..........................20-22

BaSF ...................................... 23

Ladds ................................ 24-27

Ben Marsden ......................28-30

Barugh .................................... 31

garrowby estate Farm ........32-33

Fitzsimon ...........................34-35

Quattro ................................... 36

Yorkshire generators ................ 37

Weatherhead .....................38-39

Willoughby .........................40-41

Watson ..............................42-44

Machinery ..........................45-48

Brockhills of Yorkshire .............. 49

Handley .............................50-51

nesbitt ...............................52-53

graham edwards ..................... 53

Young Farmers ........................ 54

robson tractors open Day ..56-57

Lumley ...............................58-59

great newsome Brewery ....60-61

rising Sun Farm .................62-64

Brian robinson ...................66-67

West nubbock ...................68-69

Field to Fork ....................... 70-73

Bolster Moor Farm Shop ..... 74-75

Hazard ............................... 76-77

Marwood ................................ 78

neil Blyth ................................ 79

green Farm Health .................. 80

Heath ..................................... 81

Jeffrey ..................................... 82

Dairy ....................................... 83

Fawcett ..............................84-85

Property .............................86-87

competition ............................ 88

Farming People ....................... 89

contractors guide .................... 90

Each edition of FarmersMart contains essential information about the agricultural industry. As a subscriber you’ll get regular updates, a chance to voice your views - and much needed encouragement. Just fill in this form and send with a cheque for £15 (payable to Little Red Marketing Ltd.) to: The FarmersMart, Office 1, 40 Stockhill Rd, Greengates, Bradford, BD10 9AX. Or call Ben Walton on 01274 610 101, email: [email protected]

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contents

FarmersMart Late Spring 2011 3

news

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the British Wool Marketing Board has joined forces with the national Federation of Young Farmer’s clubs (nFYFc) to launch a photographic competition to represent the origin of wool.

The winning entry will be displayed within the ‘Wool Modern’ Wool Exhibition to be held in London during September as part of the Campaign for Wool’s 2011 Wool Week promotions. The closing date for competition entries is the 7th

August 2011 and the overall winner will be invited to attend the opening of the Wool Exhibition with four club members to the value of £500.

www.britishwool.org.uk

British Wool launch PhotograPhic comPetition

For many years indespension & Hudson trailers have strengthened the trailer industry by leading the way in manufacturing commercial and livestock trailers that are at the forefront of innovation & technology.

The Directors of both companies are delighted to announce that as of May 1st 2011 Hudson Livestock Trailers will be manufactured by Indespension at their factories in Lancashire.

Indespension will be responsible for all sales in mainland UK and Europe, while Hudson Trailers (NI) Ltd will continue to market Hudson Trailers together with the complete Indespension parts & trailer range, from their base in Armagh in Northern Ireland.

Product innovation has always been paramount in the design of the Hudson Livestock range; the combination of this and Indespension’s

Widely discussed proposals that the BBc is considering reducing its local radio output to two shows a day (breakfast and drive time) have been described by the cLa in the north as a potentially serious setback to communications in the countryside.

The Association believes that for many people in rural areas BBC local radio can be a lifeline, as well as a source of information and entertainment that commercial radio or networked national content would struggle to fill.

Douglas Chalmers, Director of CLA North, said: “If the proposals as reported were to go ahead, there would be a huge danger that many people, often the more isolated, would lose their information source. Countywide stations such as Cumbria and Lancashire are the first port of call for many during an emergency, for local news, weather and traffic news, and they fulfil this role well.

BBc local radio vital to rural areas says cla

indesPension & hudson comBine range of trailers is built for today’s exacting demands. They fit neatly within the Indespension customer program to provide a complete towing package.

Hudson now plan to increase its distribution network and set up some new independent dealers, as well as adding support to the existing ones in the UK & EEC.

For more information email: [email protected]

often at very short notice. I cannot imagine Gabby Logan doing ‘Lamb Bank’. We cannot tell the BBC where they should make their cuts, but we can make sure that they make

informed decisions, and realise the importance of their various services.”

For more visit www.cla.org.uk

manufacturing know-how signals some exciting times ahead.

Hudson’s knowledge of the agricultural industry gives them a unique insight into the requirements of the farming community. Combine this with safety, reliability and value for money, this

Many in rural areas cannot depend on a reliable internet connection, and of course in times of crisis with no power radio is often the only medium still working, in cars, tractors or via battery or clockwork models.

“The media is already in a state of flux, with local papers closing, TV news being centralised and local news becoming increasingly urban-centric. So much for localism and meeting local needs as and when they occur,

FarmersMart Late Spring 20114

tong Peal has added a suite of technical advancements to its 2011 range of machinery.

As one of the UK’s leading designer and manufacturer of handling and sorting equipment for the vegetable industry is now offering touch screen controls, memory settings, email or text alerts and remote diagnostics across its range.

“Traditional ‘stop and go’ controls are still offered on all machines, but there are considerable advantages to embracing our new technology-driven options,” says Edward Tong, Operations Director at Tong Peal.

As well as touch screen control, Tong Peal’s control system now

allows operators to store settings in the machine’s memory. The speed and direction of rollers and conveyors can be changed at the touch of a button to any combination of pre-determined adjustments, programmed for specific crop conditions and cleaning requirements. With standard controls users would need to manually adjust each component to change settings whereas with touch screen technology, users can simply set the machine once and store that particular combination.

www.tongpeal.co.uk

‘in touch’ With the latest technology

news

www.machinery4agriculture.com

Specialising in Used Agricultural Equipment

Wanted: All types of farm machinery and equipment. Good prices paid.

Welger AP 730 Baler - 1995 (A credit to Nick) £6,950+vatGrimme GL 32B Planter with hood POAFarm Force 3M Front Press £3,450 +vat

Kuhn Fc 313 Lift Control, Mower Conditioner - 2005 POA

Tel: 07793 742543 / 01937 841371Email: [email protected]

a new generation cereal fungicide being launched for this season could be arriving at an ideal time to help UK wheat growers respond to current high grain prices, says its manufacturer Seguris.

Seguris, from Syngenta, is a new, next-generation fungicide based on the company’s IZM (isopyrazam) active ingredient technology.

Now, with feed wheat around £160/t for 2011 harvest, its spring launch could be particularly timely, says Syngenta technical manager Stephen Williams. That is especially so given recent changes in the key wheat diseases of Septoria and rust which have taken place, he adds, changes which bring additional challenges for growers.

“Seguris combines the advanced double-binding properties of IZM (which provides long-lasting and potent disease control by binding strongly to both the leaf surface and the fungus) in a co-formulation with the fungicide epoxiconazole,” Mr Williams explains.

launch of neW fungicide could Be ideally timed for Wheat groWers

For the second year running the Masstock SMart Farm exhibition has drawn hundreds of farmers and food producers to Bishop Burton college.

The event, which was launched last year, gave more than 600 farmers the chance to see displays of the latest agricultural machinery and meet those companies conducting vital research and development in the UK.

This year the event included a programme of seminars with speakers such as Countryfile’s Adam Henson, GM expert Dr Julian Little, Irish farming journalist Andy Doyle and Masstock’s own Colin Lloyd and Philip Marr.

The rare breeds farmer who has been presenting the BBC’s flagship rural affairs programme since 2001, was at the College to speak to farmers and students as part of the second annual Masstock SMART Farm Exhibition.

“When we drove down the drive I just said ‘wow’. College’s weren’t like

masstock smart Brings countryfile’s adam henson to BishoP Burton

“In this way, it provides a powerful, single-product solution against the major wheat diseases of Septoria tritici, yellow rust and brown rust. More significantly, compared with current fungicide strategies, Seguris has given yield increases of up to 0.8 t/ha over a strobilurin + triazole based programme during its development, and up to 2 t/ha over where triazole alone was used. Even at lower grain prices, these increases are worthwhile. But at higher prices they look particularly interesting,” he says.

www.syngenta-crop.co.uk

this before and we could understand why it’s full,” said Adam. “It’s really an incredible place and the principal is an inspirational lady with excellent managers who all buy into the ethos of the place.”

As well as taking part in a seminar for farmers during which he spoke about his farm and his television career, Adam also took part in a Q&A session with students, alongside his fellow speakers GM expert Dr Julian Little and journalist with the Irish Farmers Journal Andy Doyle.

www.bishopburton.ac.uk

stePhen Williams


news

see Page 37 for more details

More than £1 million is available for Yorkshire and Humber’s farmers and growers to help them improve the competitiveness of their business through skills and business development over the next year.

LandSkills Programme Manager, Julie Hamilton, said: “LandSkills has been vitally important to farmers and growers in Yorkshire and Humber. Over the last two years close to 10,000 LandSkills

events have supported more than 4,750 of the region’s farmers, foresters and growers. These workshops and discussion groups really help businesses improve their professionalism and their sustainability within the local economy, and I am thrilled that we can continue to help them develop.”

David Hugill, Chair of the LandSkills Industry Advisory Board, said: “At a time when food security regularly

dominates world headlines, it is great to know that these hardworking businesses will continue to be supported, receiving funding to get the training and updating they need for business success. This programme has already invested £1.6 million into these businesses, and we are pleased to continue offering this support.”

Julie continued: “Farmers, foresters and growers need to act now if they

want their share of the £1 million for funding. It’s not too late to increase your skills and help your business thrive in these difficult financial times.”

Find out more or to find out if you are eligible, visit www.lantra.co.uk/LandSkills-YH. For more information on Lantra please visit www.lantra.co.uk.

£1 million availaBle... any takers?

21-year-old Victoria Forsyth from Leigh, Merseyside, stands out as a hugely enthusiastic young female famer who has just been named Lantra’s Women and Work

victoria’s drive toWard successagriculture Learner of the Year.

Since 2006, the Women and Work programme helps women develop their skills and progress their careers in industries where women are under-represented.

Working on a 900-acre arable farm isn’t a job for Victoria Forsyth, it’s a way of life and it’s one she is enormously proud of. “I was brought up on a farm until I was eight,” says Victoria, “and I’ve wanted to get back and work on one ever since. It’s in my blood.”

Victoria not only got her degree at Myerscough College, near Preston, but she followed in her dad’s footsteps and went on to add another string to her bow when she studied for an NVQ Level 2 in welding.

“I’m really chuffed to get this award too. It shows that at the end of the day, as a woman you can equally do a man’s job on the farm but if you really want to do well go and get the qualifications to back up your practical experience. That way you’ll stand out even more.”

Lyndsay Bird, Lantra Women and Work Programme Manager said, “Victoria has really taken on the spirit of this programme. She is a great example of how training can develop your skills and open great career opportunities, which is what this programme is designed to achieve.”

For more information visit www.lantra.co.uk/Women-and-Work

victoria forsyth


news

Unbeaten in the show ring champion Blonde Bull Hallmark Boxster passed a routine tuberculosis (tB) skin test in March last year; but just one month later his life was put under threat after he tested positive to a blood test.

This test however was not carried out correctly as animal health technicians had mixed two of his blood samples on the farm to obtain one full tube. My wife Anita and I challenged the result and offered to pay for the test to be retaken. After several months of discussion the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) officials at Leeds decided that the samples had not been mixed and issued a slaughter notice for Boxster which forced us into taking legal action.

Now after a long, arduious 13 month-long legal battle with Defra we have won our case. And it was announced to the press on Friday the 6th of May that Defra would not appeal against a High Court verdict that Hallmark Boxster’s blood test was in fact carried out incorrectly, and that he should be treated as though he hadn’t been given an official TB test. Boxster is now waiting to be retested as his true TB status remains unknown, and although the judge insisted we treat him as if the test had never taken place, we have kept him isolated from the herd until we get the all-clear from a properly performed test carried out according to the policy.

We don’t like to think about losing him after all we have been through but we do have to face up to the possibility that it might happen. Our herd has been clear from TB since the 4th Jan after having passed two consecutive tests, (all animals on the farm with exception to Boxster have passed seven TB tests in total) we therefore do not want to jeopardize its status by returning Boxster to the herd until we are sure it is safe to do so.

At present we have the best crop of bulls we have ever had, all waiting to be taken to the pedigree sales. Until Boxster is tested we remain

south yorkshire farmer challenges defra rulingken Jackson of forlorn hoPe farm in south yorkshire gives us his account of events

a closed herd and are keen to have the test carried out as soon as possible. All of these pedigree cattle will have to be put into the food chain if the restrictions are not lifted soon because the demand for pedigree bulls remains high throughout spring, but will surely diminish over the next few months.

On the 14th of April Justice McCombe ordered that Defra pay all the costs involved with an initial £15,000 to be paid within 14 days, which we are still yet to receive. We now find ourselves with legal bills for several times this amount left to settle and are in the process of accumulating the total costs incurred.

Without our tremendous team working with us we’re sure that none of this would have been made possible, and so we would like to say a huge thank you to our lawyers Barker Gotelee of Ipswich, Barrister Dan Stiliz and Professor Paul Torgerson. We would also like to thank our family, friends and the general public for their continued support.

It has been a very long year but we had to stand by our principles. We believe that if something is not done correctly then it should be rectified.

Ken Jackson, Forlorn Hope Farm Walden Stubbs Doncaster Dn6 9Bt

eDS note: all the best.

hallmark Boxster aWaits his fate

FarmersMart Late Spring 2011 �

news

auction marts set the trendLivestock markets around the country are reporting unprecedented prices for stock with liveweight prices driving up deadweight prices according to reports from the Livestock auctioneers association.

“We have seen record prices being achieved in the last few weeks with livestock markets leading the way in achieving these record-breaking figures,” said Chris Dodds, Executive Secretary of the Livestock Auctioneers Association.

The figures have been confirmed by a recent AHDB/EBLEX report which

shows beef prices going through the 300p/kg level, 26p or 9% above the same time last year.

Stephen Aitken of Darlington Farmers Auction Mart said: “We are seeing a week on week increase in prices with strong home and export demand. Prices are increasing across prime and fat stock with interest both from Scotland and the south. The demand for red meat from the consumer is high”.

“This is good news for the auction system. It shows that it provides a service both to buyers and sellers,

setting a market price in response to supply and demand quickly and efficiently,” added Mr Dodds.

The news from the sheep sector is the same. Philip Walton of Longtown Auction Market confirmed the strong demand for hoggs with an active export market. “We are selling strongly into France and overall we are seeing record prices for lambs. Good ewes are also achieving over £100 per head.”

Commenting on the situation, Chris Dodds said, “The market speaks for itself, auction marts are leading the

For most farmers and agricultural contractors, storing oil for vehicles or machinery can often prove troublesome especially with the recent introduction of the new Biodiesel, but with the advice and assistance from of a1 tank Services Ltd these worries can be eliminated.

A1 Tank Services Ltd are one of the leading installers and suppliers of oil

storage tanks in the North East of England (nationwide deliveries are available) and install and supply oil storage tanks to the Industrial, Commercial and Domestic markets.

The company can offer its customers a range of services from supply only of tanks, fuel management systems for multiple users and a complete tank replacement service. All engineers, installation teams

and surveyors are OFTEC OFT600A qualified and can if required carry out a full replacement service. A1 Tank Services are registered with an Environment Agency Section 62 Waste Carriers Licence in order to be able to dispose of your old tank and any waste/contaminated fuel you may have.

As approved “Accredited Installers” for both Titan and Atlas Tanks and

many leading Oil Companies and Insurance companies throughout the region you can have total confidence in our service.

For more information call John Marshall on 01748 831929 or visit www.a1tanks.com

the main road to a Quality service

way in setting prices and responding to customer demand and providing the best prices to its customers. We have a growing customer base and revitalised competition.”

www.laa.co.uk


belmont regency

Saving on the insurance premium you pay does not mean sacrificing the cover you have. Some years ago there was little choice as to where to go for alternate quotes as many direct insurers were not interested in farm vehicles or in providing adequate cover for these vehicles.

For instance a number of companies who are not involved with the agricultural market to any great extent, may, on motor cover, limit use for farm purposes to the policyholder only even though cover may be for any driver.

Nowadays there are a number of brokers nationwide who specialise in farm insurance by providing both farm, motor and household cover. They deal with many farmers, if not predominantly with farmers. They are likely to be fully conversant with the cover provided with the various insurers in this market, and are able to provide both initial and ongoing advice; no offshore call centres, no having to key your policy number into the phone every time you ring

with a query! You will generally know who you are dealing with and usually deal with the same people or indeed person for many years to come.

Furthermore a broker has the ability to research the market and is therefore able to change insurers at future renewals if it is felt beneficial to so do as well as obtaining competitive premiums at inception.

I look on the role of a specialist agricultural broker in the same vein as a GP, having a good working knowledge of the insurance industry with access to specialists in various fields. They will get to know you and your business over the years and hopefully together build up an ongoing mutually beneficial relationship.

Visit www.belmontregency.com for more information or call 01332 362367.

oBtain the most comPetitive insurance ratesBrett hannon, managing director of Belmont regency insurance services exPlains...


showtime

MayOtley Show: 21st Otley Showground

Beef Expo: 26th Hexham Auction Mart

Carrington Rally : 29th-30th

Northumberland County Show: 31st Hexham Auction Mart

June Yorshire County Show: 5th Nidderdale Showground

NSA North Sheep: 8th West Nubbock Farm

Honley Show: 11th

Open Farm Sunday: 12th www.farmsunday.org

Todmorden Show: 18th

North Yorkshire County Show: 19th Otterington Hall

Lincolnshire Show: 22nd – 23rd

Royal Highland Show: 23rd- 26th Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston

JulyGreat Yorkshire Show: 12th – 14th Harrogate Showground

Cumberland Show: 16th Carlisle Racecourse

Malton Show: 17th Scampston Park

Howden Show:18th Ashes playing fields, Howden

Driffield Show: 20th Kelleythorpe

Penrith: 24th Penrith Showground

Borrowby Show: 26th Hillside Rural Activities Park

Ryedale Show: 26th Welburn Park,

Limousin Open Day: 29th Messrs Ridley at Hesket Newmarket

Border Union Show: 29th – 30th Springwood Park, Kelso

National Limousin Show: 30th Borderway Mart

Cockermouth: 30th The Fitz

augustPowburn Show: 2nd Alnwick, Northumberland

Cartmel Show: 3rd Cartmel Racecourse

Bakewell Show: 3rd- 4th

Emley Show: 6th Factory Farm

Dumfries Show: 5th- 6th Park Farm

Garstang Show: 6th The Showfield

Osmotherley Show: 6th Home Farm, Thimbleby

Sykehouse Show: 7th

Huby and Sutton: 21st Sutton Hall

Egton Show: 24th Egton Cross

Bilsdale Show: 27th

Wensleydale: 27th Leyburn

Weardale Show: 27th St Johns Chapel

Keswick: 29th The Crossings Field

Stanhope Show: 29th Unthank Park

Kilnsey Show: 30th Upper Wharfedale

September Westmorland County Show: 8th Lane Farm, Crooklands

Nidderdale Show: 19th

Beef expo 2011, organised by the national Beef association with Lloyds tSB as the main sponsor, will this year play host to an expanded national Spring Spectacular Show (nSSS), with unhaltered prime cattle classes joining the usual haltered classes.

These additional unhaltered classes will take place at Newark

Livestock Market on Wednesday 25 May. The haltered classes will be staged at Beef Expo 2011 at the Nottinghamshire and Newark Showground on Thursday 26 May, with a prize pot of in excess of £8000 on offer across the two days.

The new classes are designed to recognise the high quality cattle

produced week in, week out by commercial producers across the UK, explains Newark Livestock Market auctioneer and NSSS chief steward Paul Gentry.

“There will be unhaltered classes for single steers, single heifers, single prime bulls and single barren cows, with no weight limit in any of the classes and an overall championship

awarded. These cattle will then be offered for sale in our weekly prime beef sale, offering exhibitors the chance to trade at the UK’s leading prime beef centre.”

For more information call 01636 676 741 or email [email protected]

Beef exPo 2011 to host exPanded national sPring sPectacular shoW

Honley Show is one of the most prestigious, best attended and well respected rural shows in the country. This year the event will be celebrating its 90th anniversary and has pulled out all the stops to ensure 2011’s show will be the best since it began in 1921.

The show will be held on Saturday 11th June at Farnley Tyas Showground, Moor Lane, one of the region’s best venues situated in the beautiful countryside near Huddersfield. The stunning setting allows visitors and exhibitors alike the opportunity to

seep up the atmosphere and enjoy a range of activities, agricultural events, country crafts, family entertainment and competitions.

A traditional, yet unique event, Honley Show attracts over 10,000 visitors each year. It is the perfect showcase of all that is best in the world of British farming, so make sure you go along and join in the fun!

For more information on the show visit www.honleyshow.co.uk

Be Part of the fun at honley shoW!


showtime

the Driffield agricultural Society will be celebrating its 136th Driffield Show on Wednesday, 20th July. the Driffield Show has established itself over the years as the highlight of the local calendar and boasts an average footfall of over 28,000 visitors throughout the course of the day.

Every year the Society looks to improve the content and quality of the Driffield Show to ensure it retains the prestigious reputation that it currently has and, of course, this years proves to be no exception.

The relocation of the Livestock Area in 2009 has made a vast improvement to the Show, enabling better viewing of the high calibre of livestock that is attracted to exhibit at the Show, and the extensive improvements to vehicle access to and from the Showground has also made loading and unloading of stock both quicker and safer. Sited close to the Livestock Section this year will be The Sheep Show. The Sheep Show is a fun and educational live show of sheep breeds and shearing.

Trade space within the Fencing, Foestry and Renewables Area has proven to be exceptional this year and this area will again incorporate several demonstration areas offering the opportunity for visitors to see some of the big forestry equipment

such as the Wood-Mizer and tree chipper in action together with the chain saw sculptor.

This section will also be home to the third Fencing and Landscape News sponsored National Fencing Competition. This competition continues to go from strength to strength and the Society is delighted to have Simone and her team at Fencing News/FarmersMart on board coordinating the event which creates a huge level of interest.

If you have been to the Driffield Show we are sure you will want to come again. If you haven’t been before, come along for a fantastic, good value, traditional day out, we are confident you will not be disappointed!

Driffield Show continues to be fantastic value for money with advance tickets now being available to purchase at the discounted rate of £10 for adults, £8 for senior citizens, £4 for children plus in an attempt to keep prices for families down to an absolute minimum a family ticket can be purchased in advance for only £24. In addition all car parking will remain free!

For more information on the Driffield Show go to www.driffieldshow.co.uk or call 01377 257494

it’s almost shoWtime!

When the Singing Farmers concerts first made their debut in 2004 with four concerts all around Yorkshire little did the people involved know that they would become such a big hit amongst the farming and rural community.

Eight years on and the concerts have not only raised vital funds for the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, they have also become an annual social gathering and have brought about greater profile than ever for the charity.

Just as Farmers Mart was going to press the team that is the Singing Farmers were heading down to Oxford to pick up a special award from the charity in recognition of their services.

The Singing Farmers 2011 concerts were once again a huge success this year with concerts held in Skipton, Malton, Brandesburton and Leyburn. The group is made up of Chris Berry

singing farmers receive raBi sPecial aWard

(farming and rural journalist); Phillip Holden (owner of farm supply shops in the Dales); and farmers Ken Jackson, Charles Marwood and Tony Richards. They are complemented by keyboard player Lloyd Lockwood.

‘Over the years, from our humble beginning playing in front of 100 people in Hawes in 2004 we have developed into a real touring family,’ says Chris. ‘It’s nice of the RABI to present us with this award, but it is the concerts themselves that are great fun. We all enjoy entertaining our audiences so much and if you haven’t been to one yet don’t miss us next year!’

top row from left: tony richards, Philip Holden, charles Marwood, Lloyd Lockwood

Bottom row from left: Ken Jackson, chris Berry


showtime

01748 831 [email protected]

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10 MICRON FILTER

fitted as standard

a giant ticket was used to launch the start of ticket sales for the 2011 great Yorkshire Show, england’s premier agricultural event. Dates for this year’s show are tuesday 12th to thursday 14th July and it takes place at the great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate.

The cream of the country’s livestock, edge-of-the-seat displays, acres

of shopping opportunities and countryside activities are just some of the ingredients on the packed timetable for 2011.

Event organisers, the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, are expecting more than 130,000 visitors over the three days. Last year 131,382 people came through the gates. With the countryside firmly at its heart, it is a

shop window for the farming industry and a great day out for all the family.

Honorary Show Director Bill Cowling said: “We’re hugely proud of the Great Yorkshire Show as a celebration of the best of British farming. Interest in food production has never been greater, and we’re proud to provide a national platform to celebrate agricultural excellence. It is important

it’s all systems go for great yorkshire shoW!

chief executive nigel Pulling and Bill coWling, honorary shoW director of the great yorkshire shoW launching the start of sales of tickets

to reach those whose only connection with farming is through the Great Yorkshire Show, as well as raise industry standards. And it’s a fun day out, whether you’re interested in food, fashion, flowers or farming.”

As well as the thousands of animals competing for the coveted championships rosettes, attractions for this year include:

• The Yorkshire Volunteers Band

• Fashion shows with national and regional designers

• Male and female young farmer modelling competition

• Cookery theatres

• International sheep shearing competitions & the English National Championships

• Demonstrations of country skills; dry stone walling, fly fishing, gundog training

• Hundreds of stands for plenty of shopping!

tickets are now available online or by calling the show offices on 01423 541222, visit www.greatyorkshireshow.co.uk for more information.


limousin cattle society

the British Limousin cattle Society has announced its plans for the 2011 year to mark the 40th anniversary of the Limousin breed in the United Kingdom and the establishment of the Society.

Speaking from the Society’s headquarters at the National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh, BLCS Chairman, Jim Bloom, outlined the special events and promotions planned to celebrate the anniversary year.

The centrepiece of the year will be a Limousin Weekend of high profile activity kicking off with a National Limousin Open Day on Friday 29th July at the Haltcliffe pedigree herd of Messrs Ridley, Haltcliffe, Hesket New Market, Wigton, Cumbria. One of the UK’s foremost Limousin pedigree herds numbering 100 head, the Ridleys have bred both of the highest priced pedigree beef animals ever sold at auction in the UK: the 100,000gns Haltcliffe Vermount and the 72,000gns Haltcliffe DJ respectively.

Visitors will be able to see the

influence of the herd’s famous stock bull Sympa, along with Cloughhead Umpire and more recent purchases Procters Commander and Cloughhead Ernie. The Haltcliffe herd was re-established in 2001 post-FMD and the breeding lines through the herd of Renoncule, Romance, Perle and Radio will be on show to visitors. The Haltcliffe pedigree Texel flock of 100 ewes and the 280-strong Swaledale hill flock will also be on display and will be an integral part of the day.

The following day, Saturday 30th July, a National Limousin Show will be held in the new Exhibition Hall at Harrison & Hetherington’s Borderway Mart, Carlisle. Classes and Championships will cover both pedigree and commercial Limousin cattle with the expectation being that over 400 head of cattle will be entered. In announcing the show, Jim Bloom said, “the show schedule is very inclusive with the emphasis being firmly on progeny, production, and commercially relevant cattle. A National Limousin Show is a much anticipated event and quite special in the respect that it is not held every

British limousin cattle society outlines 40th anniversary celeBrations

year. It is sure to be a tremendous spectacle”.

Judging the pedigree section is the well-known Welsh breeder, Mr Aled Edwards, who is also presently the World Limousin President and a past Chairman of the BLCS. Mr Edwards farms at Home Farm, Cilycwm, Llandovery, Carmarthenshire and runs the 80 cow- strong Dyfri Herd. With a wealth of Limousin judging experience Mr. Edwards has previously judged at the Royal Highland Show, Southern Ireland’s Ploughing Match, the French National Limousin Show, and Carlisle Bull Sale.

The Commercial Cattle Judge is Mr Alistair Graham, Madden Rd, Tandragee, Co Armagh, N Ireland who runs the Madden pedigree Limousin herd numbering 60 cows. Also no stranger to Limousin judging rings, Mr Graham has previously judged at the 2006 Great Yorkshire Show, 2008 Royal Show and at Society bull sales in Perth and Carlisle respectively. He will also be judging the Limousin classes this May at the Royal Ulster Show.

As well as the Championship titles, exhibitors will compete for a share of the £20,000 prize fund with a £1000 prize for the respective Pedigree and Commercial Champions on offer.

The Cheshire-based AI company, Cogent Breeding Ltd, and IGENITY, the DNA parentage and genomics provider, have been announced as mainline sponsors for the weekend.

In announcing the planned Limousin events, Mr Bloom said: “The British Limousin breed has come a long way in a very short time and breeders should be very proud of its sustained position as the UK’s Number One beef breed. This planned weekend

will celebrate that but the focus will be on showcasing the commercial attributes of the breed. The Society will use 2011 as a platform to build from for the next ten years and will in the year be announcing a sustained programme of high level investment in forward breed improvement plans and initiatives.”

The weekend is expected to attract a large crowd of pedigree and commercial producers with a domestic UK audience supplemented by visitors from the Republic of Ireland and Europe. The European Limousin Federation, Eurolim, have announced that they are organising a visit around this weekend ensuring further representation from a number of European countries.

Other planned initiatives for the 40th Anniversary year announced by the BLCS include:

• A National Limousin Pedigree Herd Competition to be judged in the autumn. The overall herd winners from competitions in each of the nine Limousin regions around the UK will go head-to-head in a judge off for the one-off title of National Limousin Pedigree Herd Champion 2011.

• In a special offer to mark the anniversary year, non-member purchasers at 2011 BLCS Collective Sales will be offered free membership of the BLCS for one year. This offer will also be available to any non-member in attendance at either the National Limousin Open Day or National Limousin Show.

Full details of the national Limousin open Day, national Limousin Show and BLcS 40th anniversary can be found at www.limousin.co.uk


sawley and district auction mart

DEDICATED TO DELIVERING A FIRST CLASS SERVICE

Specialists inAccounting, Auditing and Taxation ServicesWhatever your needs, we can help

For further information please contact:

Stuart StrikePateley Bridge Office01423 711748

David ThomasHarrogate Office01423 525641

Bill PearsonThirsk Office01845 522045

Charles GillRipon Office01765 603501

John MortonLeyburn Office 01969 623137

Or visit our website at www.barkerpartnership.co.uk

We are pleased to be associated with Sawley & District Auction Mart and wish them continued success for the future.

Old Hall Farm, Church Lane, Esholt, Shipley, West Yorkshire BD17 7RA

Telephone: 01274 581420Fax: 01274 530450

Email: [email protected]

We are pleased to be associated with Sawley & District Auction Mart and wish them continued success for the future

ten years ago livestock markets feared for their future. all were closed due to foot and mouth regulations and those that had been teetering on the brink for so long could see they were staring into an abyss. For the likes of Driffield, ripon, Stokesley, Masham and Penistone it was either the end or the end was soon to come.

Pateley Bridge Livestock Market (also known as Sawley & District Farmers Auction Market) survived where many commentators may have judged otherwise based on other small marts’ experiences.

Today husband and wife David and Judy Middlemiss, who farm at Ramsgill, operate as the mart’s fieldsman and chairman of the four directors. Judy also has a business in property management and letting. They tell of how close it was to going the same way as some of the other markets.

‘This market has had a five year turnaround since virtually closing.

Pateley Bridge on the uPchris Berry talks With david and Judy middlemiss

Everyone here has worked hard to build it up in order to keep our little market going. We’ve done it mainly through diversifying to create more money. We now have a car wash, the café ‘Teacups’ and the fat cattle and fat sheep collection centre in addition to the livestock market itself.’

Equestrian sales, farm machinery sales and a proposed antique fair to be run on a Sunday morning in the near future are just three other additional income streams for a market that is also now making use of its tourist location to attract new income. ‘Teacups’ is open throughout

the week for all visitors to the town and has earned a reputation for its prices, service and good food.

‘The market simply couldn’t survive without us doing all the things we are now doing,’ says Judy. ‘Livestock numbers are down nationally and we’re fighting to keep numbers up, in order to do that we have had to expand our area. Around here a lot of farms have been sold and farmers have quit. When that happens the farm goes forever. Somebody comes in to keep some horses. That has happened particularly in this dale amongst the cattle men. Because of the work we are doing we are

david and Judy middlemiss


sawley and district auction mart

holding our own with numbers and in fact slightly increasing, against the national backdrop of falling numbers.’

Cattle and sheep prices running at a high level for quite some time now is good news too, although David tells of it causing a cash flow problem at times.

‘It’s a boon for farmers but it does create a cash problem for the mart. There’s sometimes a bit of a gap between paying the farmer on the day and getting the money in.’

The fortnightly Saturday sales at Pateley Bridge see somewhere between 100-200 cattle going through the sale ring with ewes and lambs at this time of the year. The Easter sale saw over 250 cattle go through.

‘Our collection centre operates on Wednesdays and weekends. The abattoirs seem to like having stock that is available for them to start killing on a Monday morning before the other markets open. The collection centre started off with sheep and in prime time we now deal with 2000 a week, along with around 30 cattle. It’s gone very well and is probably now one of the biggest collection centres in England.’

The split between turnover of the livestock market and collection centre is now around 50/50.

Last year Pateley Bridge Market also played host to the AGM and national breed sale of the British White Cattle Society and both Judy and David are keen to encourage more in the years to come.

But they’re not resting on any laurels.

‘We are happy with the way the mart is operating generally,’ says Judy. ‘But like any business we have our various traumas.’

David puts the future success of the mart very simply.

‘Markets like this are not going to exist without the support of the local farmers. It relies on them heavily. So long as they are happy to maintain their support we are all happy to keep it going. The market does the town a lot of good too. It brings in a lot of additional trade.’

Livestock auction Market Bridgehouse gate Pateley Bridge Yorkshire & the Humber Hg3 5Hn Phone: 01423 712032

lots to sell

hoW much?

deeP in thought


holmfirth auction mart

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‘our market can compete with York, Selby and Bakewell. i think people are surprised at how much they can make for their stock here at Holmfirth.’

These are the bold words of David Moxon and Anthony Hobson, the Auctioneer and Chairman of the market which is currently enjoying a very buoyant trade.

‘The market is keeping going very nicely. We are fairly busy with regular sales as well as special shows and sales throughout the year. It’s also a very well attended mart that attracts good quality livestock from as far afield as Goole, York and below Sheffield,’ says David.

‘You have to do the job right in this part of the country to compete effectively and the sheep are as good as you will find anywhere in the UK.’

The bedrock of the market is still its regular Tuesday livestock market and that normally sees around 300-400 sheep going through, along with 40-50 store cattle.

‘We have a number of buyers around the sale ring,’ says Anthony. ‘We don’t have any of the bigger supermarkets directly but we have a number of local buyers including a local butcher who buys fat cattle out of here that come back into the café. The majority of smaller farmers here aren’t Farm Assured

Quality eQuals surPrising Priceschris Berry talks With anthony hoBson and david moxon at holmfirth market

but it doesn’t matter to our buyers. They know that what they are buying here is quality stock.’

The farmers who bring stock to Holmfirth Market could have a 50 mile round trip at least to go anywhere else, so most are happy to support their local mart.

‘This mart is still the meeting place for the week for farmers. Here they can not only trade their stock successfully, they can also discuss the way of the world.’

Anthony explains one of their biggest problems in recent times as facing up to EID tagging.

‘That has had to be a massive investment for us, but we had no choice but to do it. The set-up cost

was frightening and by the time we include all the training and a new member of staff that we have needed it has probably cost us around £10,000. That’s no good to us here at all. As far as we know we have gone to all this expense at this end but there’s no checking been done at the other end.’

The area around Holmfirth was once densely populated with dairy farms, but in common with many other areas that is no longer the case with many dairy farmers having left the industry.

‘When a farm comes on to the market in this valley it is carved up. The house goes, the barn goes for conversion and the fields are sold



individually to the pony brigade,’ says Anthony. ‘When we do get anything special coming in, such as a dispersal sale of a dairy farm, I text those within a 30 mile radius that it might be worth their while coming in and that seems to have worked for our dairy sales and other individual sales. It’s all about using today’s technology to move us on.’

Tack sales and horse sales have been an area where Holmfirth Market has had some success over the past ten years.

‘The horse trade has dropped off now’, says Anthony. ‘Two to three years ago a covered, good quality

cob could have made 1000 guineas, now it is struggling to make 300-400 guineas and those who have held on to their stock for the past 18 months thinking the job would get better have been disappointed. Recently we had 18 horses presented for sale one Saturday and sold just 10. A decade ago it was a lucrative trade and out of 50 horses presented on the day we would sell 40.’

On a far more positive note the Thursday evening sales of fur and feather, which start at 6pm and include 130-150 lots of poultry,

Continues page 18

anthony hoBson and david moxon

FarmersMart Late Spring 2011 1�


including fresh eggs, hatching and sitting eggs, which originally started once a month and then moved to every fortnight during summer are now being held every week. It’s a phenomenon that David and Anthony are very happy to see. So are we going back to how farming used to be?

‘People who are wanting to be self supportive are coming to buy themselves a few chickens, birds and the odd pig or two. Then they’ll send them to the local slaughterhouse. We hadn’t sold pigs for 15 years. In the recent past we have had two litters come through and there have been quite a few buyers for them.’

David and Anthony believe that the Tuesday market could still survive on its own, with all of the help given by staff on the day, but they also understand that Thursday evening’s sale and Saturday’s sale of equestrian tack and horses, which often offers up to 300 lots, have added to the mart’s income.

‘We’ve kept the wheels on the cart with the horse sales and we are keen to trying all things. We now have three car boot sales a year and we’re always open to new ideas. Quite a few of the people who work here farm in their own right and they know how important it is to keep the market going.’

David is also a livestock haulier and took up auctioneering when there was no-one else to do it many years ago. He stood in at the time and he’s still there now. Today he supplies quality stock on his way in to the mart from farmers out towards Selby, Goole and York – and he takes a lot of the finished stock to abattoirs.

Holmfirth cattle Market Ltd Woodhead road Holmfirth HD9 2Pr tel: 01484 683 652

Which do you like Best?

croWd at holmfirthdavid selling


ritchie

an advert in an agricultural journal encouraging stock farmers to sign up to Waitrose’s cattle connect beef rearing scheme was the starting point for beef and arable farmer James Broadwith to rethink his cattle system.

The Broadwith family have farmed at Bedale, North Yorkshire for several generations and after the high feed prices of 2007 James was keen to try and secure a more guaranteed price for the finished cattle. The potatoes from the farm had already been contracted, which allowed expansion and following the successful contract with Waitrose/Dovecote Park, the cattle enterprise has doubled to 350 head finished per year.

The Waitrose/Dovecote Park Cattle Connect beef rearing scheme ensures that farmers who provide the supermarket with milk have the opportunity to provide quality calves into the meat chain. Waitrose, who monitors the meat food chain from conception to consumption to ensure the highest quality of animal

care and flavour, were looking for Northern farmers to supply Northern outlets.

James decided that an additional building was needed to accommodate the latest demands of stock handling and feeding. To finalise the cattle handling system and to ensure siting and sizes would work, James visited cattle handling specialist Ritchie at their Forfar site. Local Ritchie agent Peter Bowe and the Ritchie Area Salesman had been very helpful in selecting a suitable curved race system but James wanted to meet the manufacturer and be reassured that the system was going to be the best design possible to fit into the space available. Ritchie designers finalised the design to include a double width animal race with moving pen gates so stock of 600 kilos could be handled as safely as those of 150 kilos.

Daily live weight gains provide confidence in the balanced food ration and animals can be selected for slaughter or fattening with divert gates directing animals into holding

factory visit finalises customer’s cattle handling system design

pens. Weighing is important as with fresh calves ordered months before reared stock are sold, James needs to be aware of how cattle are performing and cannot afford to have buildings under or overstocked.

Once the animals get used to being held in the crate for treatment or weighing they remain calm and less stressed, as they are not chased around or herded unnecessarily.

The careful planning of the whole beef-rearing unit is reaping rewards and James is confident that the

Ritchie cattle handling system will out live its 25-year life expectancy. Having investigated several other options prior to ordering, so far he’s well pleased with Waitrose and Ritchie.

Full details of the range of equipment can be obtained from David ritchie (implements) Ltd. call 01307 462271 or visit www.ritchie-uk.com for more information.

James BroadWith


donaldson

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We are pleased to be associated withThe Donaldson Family of Hazel House Farming

and we wish them continued success for the future.

its not often you come across a pair of farming sisters who, rather then following in their parent’s footsteps, choose to form a name for themselves in their own right.

Katrina Donaldson aged 20 and Sister Hannah aged 15 have always been interested in farming, but unlike their parents Roger and Carol have developed a real flair for showing their stock and competing in prestigious events across the North of England.

The Donaldson Sisters, along with younger Brother Harry (10) have lived at Hazel House Farm in Huby near York with their parents since 1997. The farm occupies both commercial beef cattle that are fattened for slaughter and commercial pigs and sheep, again which are bred and then all the progeny are fattened.

Katrina tells us, “We are a beef

sisters are doing it for themselves! We talk to siBlings katrina and hannah donaldson

unit rather then a breeding unit; we fatten commercial bred beef cattle. We get cattle in all year round really depending on what my Dad wants, but when the time comes Hannah and I go out and see what we like. I’d like to think that we’ve developed an eye for it now from many years spent watching, learning and gaining hands-on experience”

Hazel House Farm stretches across 500 acres of land and has grown since 1997 into an extremely successful commercial holding, but thanks to the sisters’ work in recent years the Donaldson name is now associated with award-winning stock

too.

Katrina’s interest in showing grew after she spent much of her teenage years competing with her neighbour’s dairy cattle. It wasn’t until 2006 however that Katrina took it upon herself to show beef cattle fattened on-site at Hazel House.

She continues, “Mine and Hannah’s first rosette success was with a British Blue Steer known as ‘Bertie’ who received many rosettes throughout the year. Then in 2009 we had Roxy and Martha, a Limousin Heifer and a Charollais Heifer; Martha received first prize at a few of the smaller shows including North Yorkshire

hannah, harry and katrina


donaldson

County and Eastrington Agricultural Show. Last year six of our stock were given rosettes at all shows we attended.”

Although the rosette recognition means a lot to the Donaldson sisters,

they both agree that the prize itself isn’t the most rewarding thing about showing.

“Without a doubt the best feeling is when our stock, which is obviously just from the fat shed, stands above

cattle that have cost thousands, whereas ours has only cost in the hundreds,” Katrina explains. “That’s where our pride comes in. I think there’s more fun in buying one cheap and getting 2nd prize than there is in spending thousands to win it.”

To avoid spending thousands whilst showing commercial stock, the Donaldson sisters leave the wheeling and dealing of the auction mart to their Dad and John Oliver and chose the best stock from what they have on-site.

Katrina explains, “We don’t go out and buy a show beast ourselves but we tend to go into the sheds and

select the best from what we’ve got. We specifically look for something that is stylish and that shows good confirmation throughout.”

For younger sister Hannah, the social side of showing also plays a major part in its appeal; “I enjoy meeting new people at the shows. We have a good group of friends who we see out and about and it’s nice to have something in common with other young farmers. At first it was a little bit intimidating because the majority of people were older, but now we feel as though we have made a good

Continues page 22


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donaldson

name for ourselves.”

Despite Carol and Roger never having really taken to showing, they are both incredibly happy to support their children’s love for the show ring.

“I’m very pleased that they’ve taken up showing because it gets them out and about,” Carol tells us. “Katrina and Hannah have done very well so far and I do think Harry will start showing one day but he is a bit young yet.”

Up until recently Katrina and Hannah relied on family and friends to transport them to and from the shows but now Katrina has her own trailer license the girls can travel to which ever shows they want.

“It’s an experience,” Hannah laughs, “But we prefer being able to up and go as and when we like. It means we can attend a lot more shows and hopefully get a lot more recognition.”

In 2010 alone the girls single-handedly competed at The North Yorkshire County Show, The Great Yorkshire Show, Huby, Agri-Expo at Carlisle and CountrySide Live. Not bad for what they considered a “quiet season”.

It seems the Donaldson Girls enjoy having their hands full because as

well as travelling far and wide over the Spring and Summer months, they both juggle work, study, cattle training, stock-judging and of course everyday farm work too. Two years ago Katrina left Bishop Burton College having achieved a National Diploma and a Foundation Degree in Agriculture. Since leaving the college she as worked at Thirsk and Northallerton Auction Mart and now works full-time at the York Livestock Centre. Hannah is currently studying Environmental Land-Based Studies part time at Askham Bryan College.

“I’m into auction marts,” Katrina tells us. “I’d love to be an auctioneer one day but I don’t have the confidence as yet. I think it helps that we have both studied the industry as well as having good hands-on experience.”

Farming experience is something the girls have in abundance; Katrina has been the Secretary of the Easingwold Young Farmers Club for over two years and Hannah has been a member since she was just twelve years old. Katrina admits that when she first became a member seven years ago the club was very popular indeed, but after only a few years it took a slight down turn in both numbers and outsider interest.

As perfect examples of proactive young farmers, the Donaldson Sisters look set for a prosperous and exciting future within this industry, who knows just what they’ll get up to next…..

For more information on the Donaldson Sisters or on the easingwold Young Farmers club call Katrina directly on 07743 807829. Hazel House Farm, Huby, York Yo61 1Ja tel: (01347) 810287

“Myself and Chairman Richard Brown are trying to get it back up to what it used to be and I think we’re getting there. Ours is now a very big club with 53 members in total and we are always trying to bring new people in.”

The coming Summer months are especially busy for Katrina and Richard; At the end of May the club will be hosting it’s first ever barn dance event and in June the club’s annual raft race will take place on the River Swale in Cundall.


basf

rat control needs to be an essential part of forage-making this season to prevent silage clamps, big bale stacks and hay barns becoming the reservoirs for serious trouble over the coming autumn and winter, advises regional rural hygiene specialist, charlie ives of BaSF Pest control Solutions.

“Forage stores are ideal nesting sites for farm rats,” he explains. They’re warm and weatherproof. They provide secure and relatively undisturbed accommodation right through to the early winter. And they are almost always conveniently sited close to stock feeding facilities.

“Leaving them unprotected from filling through to feeding out is a recipe for major rat problems over the coming winter. Especially so, as six to eight young can be produced by each female every six to eight weeks, leading populations to build to levels likely to pose serious

problems for most robust winter baiting programmes.”

Under these circumstances, Charlie Ives insists early action is vital, pointing out that a small amount of effort at forage-making is likely to be worth its weight in gold in saving time, trouble and expense later on.

Specifically, he recommends installing baiting points as part of clamp or stack filling and the early use of specialist Neosorexa Gold Rat Packs within them.

“It’s all a matter of understanding how rats behave,” he says. “Their wariness of change makes it important to site baiting points around your main forage stores soon after they are filled. This will significantly increase the initial uptake of even the most palatable baits by getting the rats used to the containers in which they have to be placed to minimise the risk to pets and other non-target species.

make rat control a forage-making essential

“As well as locating baiting points carefully alongside walls, in recesses and against the edges of stacks where rats prefer to travel, in my experience it also pays to bait these fairly immediately,” Charlie Ives adds.

“With Neosorexa Gold Rat Packs the bait stays protected from the weather and fresh to be consumed as soon as rats begin to take up residence. They’re also ideal for placing strategically within big bale stacks to intercept arriving rodents attracted by their particular combination of warmth, darkness and security.

“Do check your main baiting points every two or three weeks,” he advises. “Active consumption is a sure sign that rats are about and if they are baits may need to be topped-up to ensure every individual consumes a lethal dose. Rat packs make this particularly easy and convenient to do when relatively small amounts of bait are required, as is often the case outside the main winter control season.”

www.pestcontrol.basf.co.uk

charlie ives


ladds

there’s no denying Kendal’s beauty, it’s a delightfully historic market town home to a strong and pro-active farming community.

The Ladds family have played a part in Kendal’s agricultural framework since the early fifties when Andrew Ladds’ parents began tenanting Benson Hall Farm. Since then the farm has delved into new areas of diversification, explored new breeds of dairy cattle and sheep and has extended its land acreage massively.

Like many aspiring young farmers, Andrew Ladds spent his youth following in his late-fathers footsteps. From him he learnt all there is to know about maintaining a successful farm and fulfilled the second-generation predecessor role perfectly.

“When I first started farming here as a young lad we basically had about

Paving the Way for the next generationlucie carter meets With the ladds family in scalthWaiterigg, near kendal

80 milk cows and a few hundred sheep,” Andrew recalls. “Whereas now we have 150 milk cows, 500 mules and 40 pedigrees Texels!”

When Andrew married his Wife Cath in the 1991 they lived in a

small cottage a mile away but after the death of his Father they moved to Benson Hall in 1995. The Ladds clang now comprises of Andrew, Cath and their three boys Chris (18), Richard (15) and Tom (13),

who have each displayed an almost innate familiarity with the farm and have taken to the world of agriculture like ducks to water.

The family now farms a total of 540 acres at Benson Hall Farm and this


ladds

NobletRefRigeRatioN

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figure has increased significantly year on year. The original land acreage stood at 225 but as plots have become available nearby the family has seized their opportunity to farm on a much larger scale.

Chris tells us, “I think our success in tendering for land has come from us being in such a fortunate position. Years ago we set off for another tenancy through the Stevenson Trust (part of the Catholic Church), who actively sold a lot of property in Lancaster in 2001. They went on to reinvest the money they’d made back into the land, so because we were already in with them we have had chance to grow.

As a highly-successful modern Dairy Farm, Benson Hall is proof that five farming heads are better than one. Whilst other milking farms in the area have been unable to stay afloat in this unpredictable and often turbulent industry, the Ladds have ensured that they remain focused on the job in hand.

Andrew continues, “You have to run a tight ship these days and do the job the best you can. Our milk only travels about a mile over to Dale Farm who manufactures it to make yogurts and sweets for the likes of Morrisons and Marks and Spencers. When I was a kid my dad used to supply them but from there we went

on to supply Scottish Milk and then Thirsk Milk too, so it’s nice to see that we’ve come full circle and that we are back supplying locally.”

“I think as more and more people move away from milking cows, prices for those who have stuck it out like us are bound to increase,” eldest son Chris predicts. “I just can’t see how we could maintain the farm how we’d like to without the milk cows.”

Unlike many working Dairy farmers Andrew Ladds believes that the credit crunch and subsequent recession has actually benefitted his business; “From a farming point of view I think the recession has been good for us. I know our inputs have gone up but so has our output, in fact commodity prices of everything we sell has improved. Generally you’ll get the input going up whilst the output tends to stagnate. Effectively all we’re doing now is playing with more money.”

As Andrew mentioned earlier, the amount of animals housed at Benson Hall Farm has increased massively over the years, particularly over the last decade.

“Although dairy cattle numbers have increased recently, the growth where

the ladds Continues page 26


ladds

the sheep are concerned has been far more substantial” Chris tells us.

“We have only had the Texels for about six years now,” admits Andrew, “but they play a massive part in what we do here.”

The Ladds’ decision to explore the Texel breed was both spontaneous and unplanned; one Christmas none

of the boys could decided on what they wanted as a gift and so, realising that all of his children had enough gadgets and gismos to last them a lifetime, Andrew thought they might enjoy keeping a new and completely unfamiliar breed of sheep. And the rest as they say is history.

Chris explains, “I bought six pedigree Texel Ewes at Skipton to begin

with and we’ve basically taken it from there. I chose Texels because they seemed a promising breed to have about and also looked good to cross with our Mules. Last year we bought a ewe and flushed her for her embryos and finished up with three lambs, and although it wasn’t a massive success, we can at least say we’ve done it. We have

also used AI on the Texels over the last four years to try and continually improve our flock.”

One area of the industry that the Ladds are keen to improve on is showing, and that’s not to say they haven’t done well thus far. Last year the family stood with a Reserve Champion at the Grayrigg Agricultural Show and throughout

eldest son, chris ladds


ladds

2009’s showing season they scored at hat-rick at Lowick, Ravonstonedale and again at Grayrigg. The family also made their debut at the 2010 Westmorland County Show last year, where they stood second and third in the Shearling Ramb classes, and were winners of prestigious and highly sought after ‘Best Managed Farm Award’ back in 2009.

“I don’t think we have made a name for ourselves as yet but perhaps we are on the first run of the ladder,” Andrew admits. “It’s nice to go from feeling like underdogs to now being in a position where we feel as though anything is possible.”

Even though the Ladds family have been so successful in the show ring they have, like so many modern-

day farmers enjoyed diversifying into other avenues of agriculture. So much so that Benson Hall Farm now houses five diggers, two wagons for contracting work and a fully-fledged static caravan site covering four acres of land.

With all the Ladds boys currently studying agriculture in various different capacities, Benson Hall

Farm seems to have its next generation ready and waiting to get their hands dirty.

We wish them all the very best of luck for the future.

Benson Hall Farm Kendal La8 6PL tel: 01539 721419

andreW and cath ladds


ben marsden

www.abagri.com

ABN is part of AB Agri Ltd.AB Agri Ltd. 64 Innovation Way, Peterborough Business Park,

Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6FL

Telephone: 01733 422161Fax: 01733 422154

We are pleased to be associated with Ben Marsdenand wish him continued success for the future

ABN is The LeAdiNg BriTish mANuFAcTurer oF pig ANd pouLTry

compouNd Feed providiNg BoTh producTs ANd compLemeNTAry

soLuTioNs To The pig ANd pouLTry LivesTock iNdusTries

if you want to see a real high health status, quality pig farm visit Liley Farm at Millhouse green, near Penistone. this is the home of Ben Marsden and his 750 sows. everything is based on the farm, which is a change from how things used to be just three years ago and the pig buildings are amongst the best in the UK.

‘Our main business is now intensive pigs all on a commercial basis, producing 7 kilo weaners. Up until three years ago we were finishing pigs, but now all stock produced by the sows goes off farm at a minimum of 7 kilos and on to be fattened elsewhere. They go off at between 4-5 weeks. Over the past few months they have been hitting as high as 9.8 kilos which is even better as we’re on a bonus for anything over the 7 kilo mark. We’re now looking more at producing 10 kilo pigs.’

Ben had two rented farms in Tadcaster and Holme on Spalding Moor in addition to Liley Farm and was sending 9000 pigs a year

changes for the Better at lileyfarmersmart talks With Ben marsden of millhouse green

through to slaughter. The hike in feed prices combined with running between farms, rent and additional

salaries led Ben to bringing everything back under one roof.

‘The driving up and down a motorway was too much. We haven’t looked back. When we changed things around we started with 350 sows and we’ve increased bit by bit to the 750 we have now. Our sows are producing around 28 piglets a year (that’s around 21,000 piglets). Since things have got tighter we’ve become extra efficient and instead of getting everything away at 4 weeks we have kept some of the smaller ones back, putting a bit of creep feed into them and getting their weight up.’

‘We restock our sow herd at the rate of between 45-50%. Each sow has about two and a half years before going off to Cheale Meats


ben marsden

in Essex who are good at pushing British. Our replacements are from JSR in Southburn, Driffield using Genepacker 90.’

The business at Liley Farm is very much a team and family affair.

‘I have a good team including a full time manager Dan Barnes who has been with me 8 years. He manages the farm and is in charge of the sows. Under him is another man Gary Wilson who looks after the farrowing houses who has been with me a year or so. His predecessor was with me 10 years until he retired. I also have a young lad Taylor O’Connell who undertakes the vaccinating and bits and bats. It’s a family business with me, my brother Matthew and my father Richard. I’ve lived and breathed farming and I started off with pigs when I was 14 with one sow and her litter.’

There is a family business meeting once every two months with Ben, his brother, father, company secretary and a consultant. They look at the accounts and analyse what should happen next.

‘We don’t make any decision based purely on an individual voice. The amount of investment we have involved here is too big a decision for just one person. We thrash it

all out, discuss, tweak here and there. It’s all very democratic. Dad’s always going to be the boss and Matt is very good with figures. We are constantly moving forward.’

Before feed prices went through the roof Ben was all set for expanding to 1200 sows but that has had to be put on hold just at the moment.

‘We’ve had to put the brake on things. You can’t run a business without cash flow and the feed prices and a 20% dip in the market price have seen to that at present. We have become as efficient as we can. One of our sows produced 20 piglets, but when your vet starts telling you that you’re a victim of your own success with sows struggling to cope with a 15th piglet let alone 16th to 20th you know you’ve gone as far as you can. We will move up to 1200 sows when the time is right.’

Ben’s latest addition to the farm is his fledgling Aberdeen Angus herd.

‘I started it in October last year buying stock from Worcestershire. I’ve now begun a good relationship with a renowned breeder John Elliot in Scotland who has the Rawburn herd and is pushing me in the right direction. I’m buying stock from

Ben marsden With his Pigs

Continues page 30


Garth PartnershipGarth House, Straight Lane, Beeford, East Yorkshire, YO25 8BE

Tel: 01262 488323 E-mail: [email protected]

Fax: 01262 488770Website: www.garthvet.co.uk

Garth PartnershipA team dedicated to improving pig health and production.

We aim to maximise performance and reduce medicine costs.

would like to wish Ben Marsden continued success in his business

enterprise at Liley Farm

him. I was originally looking to run a herd of 30 but I am already over 40 strong in the herd now, with the bulk of the herd from John. I went for Aberdeen Angus because it is a native breed that always proves very popular for taste. I go to Scotland a lot and I like the breed anyway. I am already using top-end genetics to produce bulls and heifers for the breeding market and I am looking forward to the calves we will produce this winter from embryos I have purchased out of top performing cattle in Canada. We have also recently completed our qualifications for on farm AI through Jonathan Statham of Bishopton

Veterinary Group in Ripon. I’d like to show stock perhaps next year. But we won’t be running before we can walk.’

Whatever Ben does it still all comes down to a team effort.

‘You can have all the certificates in the world but if you don’t work as a team it’s no good at all. The team we have here is my extended family and we are determined to make things work.’

Ben Marsden - Liley Farm Penistone S36 9ng 07767307044

the Banner says it all

ben marsden


barugh

C & I Wade (agricultural Contractors)

Tel: 01262 400 395

Falshdale FarmCarnaby

BridlingtonEast Yorkshire

YO15 3QG

We are pleased to be associated with Anne Barugh and wish her continued success for the future

When the chief cattle steward rang anne Barugh to say they hadn’t received an entry from her easton Fold for this year’s show it wasn’t an oversight on anne’s part.

This remarkable lady who is now 86 years young has been exhibiting at the Great Yorkshire Show for the past 33 years – but not this year as she explains from her home in Bridlington where she still has her Highland fold.

‘I’ll miss both the Royal Highland and the Great Yorkshire but old age has finally crept up on me and ‘Tosh’ (Eric Robson) died earlier this year. He was my helper. He had a full time job but he always came here, halter trained the cattle and showed them with me. He had a heart attack whilst he was here one Sunday morning, had a stent put in, came home on the Wednesday and dropped dead on the Friday. That was that and it’s the end of my showing time. I’ll still attend the shows though.’

As for her fold at Bridlington she is determined to carry it on.

‘I’ll carry on until I drop dead. I know I ought to get rid but what would I get up for in a morning? I’ll not buy any more cattle though, just sell the calves each year. I’ve someone coming over from the Lake District to buy two of the three yearlings I was going to show this year.’

Anne never married although she had offers. She has led a varied and very active life which has taken her right across the world and into management. She was a Wren in WWII from 1944-46 ferrying officers from their billets in Felixstowe around in the same way as the actress who starred in Foyle’s War on TV; she was an air stewardess with BOAC flying to the far and middle east; she learned to water ski; and became the manageress of a hotel in Lochearnhead in Perthshire where she stayed five years and counts that time as being the best time of her life.

‘Then I had to come back to Bridlington to look after my ageing mother and I’ve been here ever since. The hotel at Lochearnhead had kept Highland cattle which I loved and my sister, knowing that I needed something else to keep me sane, suggested I should get a Highland cow. I rang the hotel to see whether they had anything for sale and they said they had this cow and calf they were going to take to Stirling Market

missing after 33 yearschris Berry talks With anne Barugh of Bridlington

the following week. I went up and bought them both. I’d never driven a car with a trailer before, let alone one with a cow and calf now inside it. On the way back I chose to go up Sutton Bank (a notorious road for caravanners blocking the route) and of course my car wasn’t powerful enough to get us all up and I got stuck. I had furious car drivers tooting and honking behind me until a kind farmer came and reversed me down and sent me the long way round.’

Anne gradually increased her fold with visits to Oban – where she has been twice a year for the past 33 years buying and selling stock.

‘I once took a bull calf to Oban which was bought by the Queen. I’d actually taken it out of the ring because it hadn’t made what I was looking for and was approached by one of the Queen’s factotums who offered me £1000. That was my first ever sale – not bad to start with royalty!’

Highland cow CHAMP was the beginning of Anne’s really good cattle. She had bought Champ because she was getting bullied by cows in another fold.

‘All the progeny I’ve had from Champ led to my winning ways. I’ve won the Royal Highland breed championship once and the Great Yorkshire breed championship three times. I’ve also had a champion bull

anne Barugh and one of her highland coWs

at each of the shows.’

‘I hate not going to the Great Yorkshire and the Royal Highland but that’s unfortunately the end of my showing career. Without ‘Tosh’ I can’t get anyone else to do it. I had a friend from Scotland who was going to make sure I still competed at the Highland but by the time I’d paid her train fare and everything else it was going to cost me about £1000 for the week.’

Anne still gets her quad bike out at 8.30 in the morning to go up the fields and check on her cattle. She feeds the calves then comes over to the other side of the road to check

on her three yearlings in a separate field and comb them, perhaps also cleaning their bums.

‘I cleaned three bums yesterday,’ she proudly proclaims. ‘I also let the geese out at 7.15 in the morning and feed the chickens. I only have three chickens and a cockerel now because we had a visit from Mr Fox. Then I go into the town and chat with a few old friends. I get quite a bit of pain in my back but I’m not one for grumbling. I’m a tough old bird and I’ll be back up in Oban this October.’

For more information call anne Barugh on 01262 672193


garrowby estate farm

FeedFertiliserGrass SeedsAnimal HealthMineralsGrassland SpraysFuel & Oil TanksAnd much more

Hawes BranchT: 01969 667334

[email protected]

Feeding cattle from calving to finishing

Contact your local sales representative to discuss your

feeding requirements

ten years ago a young farm manager from the Suffolk/essex border was offered the opportunity to build a new life up in the Yorkshire Wolds, on one of the county’s largest and most prestigious estates.

‘I was looking after a farm and had my own cattle and sheep. I had just left college at the time and wasn’t really looking at changing my job,’ says Clive Rowland.

‘My wife Ruth saw an advert in the Farmers Weekly for the role of farm manager here at Home Farm on the Garrowby Estate owned by Lord Halifax, but I nearly didn’t apply. I left it right until the last minute, but it ended up being the best decision I have ever made.’

Home Farm runs to some 550 acres which is all parkland and grassland on heavy clay and chalk. The farm is very much a livestock enterprise with a flock of 700 Mule and Texel X Mule ewes and a herd of 125 suckler cows and replacements.

Whilst Clive enjoys both the sheep and cattle side of the Home Farm operation his passion is cattle and he has worked hard to earn the reputation he now has in the market place.

‘I have spent the last 10 years developing the cattle enterprise, as well as adding to what we do with the sheep. Cattle are a big passion and when I first came to Garrowby we had 50 Aberdeen Angus cows. We were finding them hard to sell locally so I decided it was time for us to move on. We went out of them and with the money I received I set about upgrading our herd. I’ve always liked Limousin and Belgian Blue cattle and so I bought the best cows I could afford. We have now graded them so that we have anywhere

ten years of develoPmentchris Berry talks With clive roWland of home farm, garroWBy estate farm

between half-bred Limousin females right up to pure-bred. We also breed all our own replacements.’

‘We have four stock bulls. Three are Limousins and one is a Belgian Blue. We criss-cross them back and forth and keep some Belgian Blue X heifers to put back on to the Limousin bulls. They produce slightly sweeter calves and the top ones are sold to some of the leading showmen. I pick out 10-12 Limousin and Belgian Blue females each year to keep back as replacements whilst selling the surplus.’

Clive bought the Limousin bull

GLENROCK VENTURA (pictured) from Ian Handley’s Gunnerfleet herd at Ingleton three years ago and he has since been back to Ian for another young bull.

‘The young bull I bought was the first bull he had sold from a bull he has called DOLCORSLLWYN BRYNMOR. We bought him privately and he has 3 or 4 good bulls in his pedigree. He’s a slightly different bull to VENTURA – a bigger, framier bull with good width. We are looking to put VENTURA’s shape on that width for heifer replacements. We’re also using a bit of AI on one or two

cows to put a little more mix in the herd. I run the herd in 4 groups with around 30 cows in each.’

It’s not just his Limousin bulls that perform well. Clive’s Belgian Blue bull is from Stephen Potter of Thirsk’s Brookfield herd and produced a champion Belgian Blue heifer at Leyburn Market.

Sheep prices have been good for the past two years. That has certainly helped at Garrowby and Clive has also steered the flock in a different direction to the way it was when he came.

‘We now get a lot of repeat orders

clive roWland


for our mainly Texel X Mule gimmer lambs. We go to Hexham Market and buy all our replacements as shearlings. I prefer the Scotch Mule to the North of England because it is slightly thicker set and knits together well with the Texel. We keep some of our Texel X Mule gimmers and put them back to the Texel tups which produces a three-quarter Texel lamb. Many of our Texel X gimmers go to various local farmers and at the end of the year we sell stores through the Michaelmas Sale at Malton. That’s our big store lambs sale.’

‘Last year we sold somewhere around 160 gimmer lambs, which all made over the fat price norm, and hopefully this year they will be worth even more. The sheep work well on the parkland where it is not good grazing land for the cattle. The lambs, once they are weaned, come down to the lowland fields where the cattle are there too.’

Most livestock, whether cattle or sheep, is sent to either York or Malton markets and Clive also sells one or two young bulls privately to other local farmers for breeding, but he always prefers livestock markets to deadweight.

‘We have dabbled with ABP at York but I am a firm believer in the livestock market. It sets the price.’

Lord Halifax takes a healthy interest in the farm whilst letting Clive get on with the running of it.

‘I’ve always run it as though it were my own, after all it is my reputation that is always on the line as much as it is anyone else’s. Coming here you’ve a lot to prove to people that have been in the county a lifetime. Hopefully I’ve shown people I do know a bit about cattle and sheep. We regularly sell in the top 5% at

garrowby estate farm

market and our lambs are sought after, as well as our cattle. It’s all about maintaining and growing our reputation.’

Clive and Ruth have not only built a reputation, they have also built a family since they came to Yorkshire with three sons – Archie, Jack and Ewan – aged 6,4 and nearly 2.

‘We now have the front row of a rugby team,’ says Clive.

garrowby estate Farm Bugthorpe, York Yo41 1Qg tel: 01759 368669

clive’s Bull glenrock ventura

sheeP at garroWBy estate


fitzsimon

“THE FARMER OWNED BUSINESS”

Agricultural MerchantsRingford, Castle Douglas DG7 2AN

Animal Feeds Karen Callander

Fertilizers, Crop Sprays, Grass Seeds Murray Elliot

Animal Health, Hardware, Animal Equipment, Drainage

Stephen Hunter

For all your agricultural requirements contact your local depot:-

Ringford (Head Office) – 01557 820247Dumfries(Town and Country) - 01387 261661

Dumfries Feed Store – 01387 272651Castle Douglas - 01556 503633

Longtown - 01228 792244Glenluce - 01581 300555Whauphill - 01988 840383

Castle Kennedy - 01776 705821Newtown St Boswells - 01835 824111

Beef farmer alastair Fitzsimon had a surprise Silver Wedding present from his wife Margaret and the rest of the family - two yearling Highland heifers.

This was the start of their Tregallon fold of Highland cattle which in only just over three years has earned them numerous prizes, including the breed championship two years running at the Great Yorkshire Show.

“It came as a complete surprise,” said Alastair, who with his brother Iain also runs 180 crossbred suckler cows on 400 acres at Tregallon, Lochfoot and Sunnyhill, Holywood, both near Dumfries.

“We had talked for years about getting Highland cattle but I was pretty shocked to find out Margaret had bought some for our anniversary in October 2007!”

Alastair and Margaret run the cattle as a hobby at Tregallon Farm and the number of cattle at 20 head have already reached their optimum to

run alongside the mostly Limousin, Simmental and Angus crosses, the progeny of which currently mostly are sold store. The herd now includes 13 breeding females, eight of which go the bull this year.

“We have relatives on the west coast of Scotland with Highland cattle and they are easy going cattle, easily fed and wintered as well as being nice to look at and full of character,” said Margaret.

“We were originally just going to have a handful but we were going to have to wait another three years for the yearling heifers to have calves at four years old so we bought another two in calf heifers and a two year old at the Oban sale the following year,” she added.

With virtually no experience of showing cattle and Highlanders in particular, the couple embarked on their first season in 2009 with help from cousin, and very good friend, Angus MacGillivray.

it all started With an anniversary gift

alastair and meg With their collection of rosettes from

only tWo shoW seasons

Jennifer mackenzie visits alastair and meg fitzsimon


fitzsimon

Their three year old in-calf heifer Smeorach of An Sidhean was female and reserve senior champion at the Sheffield Highland Fling and then went on to win the female championships and breed championships at the Great Yorkshire Show and Dumfries Show.

Her dam Sally 3rd of Gallanach at 16 years old is the oldest cow in the herd and still producing calves.

Amid tough competition at the Royal Highland in 2010 she took first prize

in the young cow class. She collected a first prize at Glasgow City Council’s Highland cattle show in October and her eight month old calf, Smeorach 2nd of Tregallon, was junior reserve champion.

At last year’s Yorkshire Show another three year old in calf heifer, Scarlett of Hellifield lifted the breed championship for their second year running. Earlier in the year she was reserve senior champion at the Highland Fling in Sheffield. She

also went on to win the reserve breed championship at Dumfries. The heifer was bought at Oban the previous year and she sold privately at the Yorkshire Show.

The most recent trophy and rosettes were won at the Sheffield Highland Fling in 2011, with Smeorach 2nd of Tregallon taking the reserve junior championship and best home bred award as yearling heifer.

Another two red rosettes were won by Dossan Lurach 12th of Coirefuar in the three year old heifer class and Neoinean Bhuidhe 27th of Achnacloich in the two year old heifer class.

As well as enjoying being part of the show circuit and the new friends they are making, the Fitzsimons are keen to fly the flag for the breed and recognise that exhibiting their stock and winning major prizes in particular, is an excellent way to put their fold on the map.

The Highland cattle have lived up to their easy care reputation. The cows are outwintered and fed silage with those near to calving being fed some

concentrate. The calves are creep fed at grass.

The cows are also proving fertile, having a calf each year, and Sally in calf once again to produce in June. They are also easily calved, take little looking after and generally have good temperaments.

The herd’s original stock bull, Allan of Glangarnock is seven years old and is still working, with his progeny among the prizewinners.

Calves not suitable for breeding are culled and finished for the freezer. “The meat has excellent eating qualities, it’s healthy as it has lower cholesterol than other beef because the animals don’t carry as much fat,” said Margaret.

While the herd has always been intended to be run as a hobby, the cattle have been paying their way in the numbers of animals already sold.

alastair Fitzsimon tregallon Farm, Lochfoot, Dumfries tel: 01387 730272

Beautiful


quattro

learn more aBout green coW safe cuBicles

in a joint collaboration Quattro UK and easyfix ireland launched the “green cow Safe cubicle” range in the summer of 2010. the development has been heralded as a major step forward in terms of meeting the general management and welfare needs of the modern dairy cow.

The new cubicles which are green in colour offer enhanced safety features because of their flexible nature. The plastic bars dividing the cubicles provide cows with that little bit of additional space when lying down. The cubicle frame will revert to its initial default position once the cow stands up. Because the plastic frame is much kinder to cows there are no hurts, bruising,

haematomas or incidences of cows getting trapped associated with steel cubicles. Injuries like those mentioned have a negative effect on herd health, reduce milk yield, increase veterinary costs and reduces profitability in an industry where margins are already very tight.

In essence the Green Cow Safe Cubicle brings the comfort of outdoors indoors.

COW SAFE has a major advantage in its ability to be changed to fit its environment, it can be supplied as a full new system available in head to head or as a single post fitting or as a wall mount. The components also allow retro fitting using parts of existing cubicles. This gives a wide range of options for all types and size of cow. Beds can be lengthened or shortened at will.

COW SAFE consists of metal mountings and high strength flexible plastic pipes far more forgiving than metal hoops. Fronts and sides remain open providing the freedom of movement into and out of the cubicle. Variation on these can be provided with ratchet systems to vary neck rail heights and depth.

COW SAFE can also be used in conjunction with Polypillow.

They are easy to install and adjust and fitting teams are available if required.

Philip Haffey, a leading Holstein breeder in Northern Ireland who installed 70 Green Cow Safe cubicles last July said; “The investment has improved animal comfort which in turn is leading to better performance. Because I have steel cubicles in the same building with the same mattress system I notice that the Green Cow Safe cubicles always have a higher occupancy.”

Main Features

1. Consists of flexible plastic high tensile tubes.

2. Incredibly easy to install.

Main advantages

1. Improved animal comfort, welfare and performance.

2. Reduced healthcare and veterinary costs.

3. Increased resting time leading to higher milk production.

4. More efficient use of lying space.

5. They fit to size of the cows so the cow lies perfectly in the cubicle.

Dean Wright, a prominent dairy farmer in Portadown Northern Ireland, installed fifty Green Cow Safe cubicles in March 2010; “The new cubicles represent fresh thinking in terms of how dairy farmers can manage cows more efficiently in a housed environment.”

COW SAFE has been fitted in at Kingshay and members can enter their site to review all comments and testimonials. Because the Green Cow Safe system offers flexibility in terms of retro fitting and using existing steel anchors, it gives great value for both new and old buildings.

The combination of this excellent and affordable cubicle system with Quattro’s mattress and foam matt products provide UK farmers with an unbeatable choice in cow house comfort.

For more information please contact Quattro at 01768864977 or easyfix at 00353909643344.


yorkshire generators

Boroughbridge- based Yorkshire generators supplies generators for a variety of purposes from event Hire to Farm Businesses – and they are one of the most successful businesses of their kind in the region. at any one time there are somewhere near 100 generators out on Hire throughout the north eastern region and beyond.

‘We supply all sizes of Generators ranging from 6kva right through to 1000kva,’ says Richard Ogden. ‘It’s all a matter of surveying and understanding each individual application before quantifying the right amount of power needed for the job. Every job is tailored to suit the customer’s requirements, some Generators are Trailer mounted and can be towed onto site, whereas the larger static Generators are a more permanent feature and need positioning on site with the assistance of Hiab Cranes.’

‘Typically we would recommend a 40 - 60kva towable Generator for a Marquee Event where power was needed for a band, lighting, caterers, bar and toilets etc.’

Other common agricultural applications we get involved with, are supplying Standby Generators for Pig and Poultry units as well as supplying prime power for Corn Drying equipment in harvest time.

‘The company also recently supplied a much larger Generator to arable farmer David Sanderson at Sandholme Farm, Skipton on Swale. David is running an Oilseed

rape Straw Chopping Plant and it is running pretty much 24/7.

‘We started up nearly a year ago,’ says David. ‘And the business is going well. We are buying oilseed rape straw from other farms as well as utilising the 90 acres we grow. We then bale it at the right moisture content and, through our machine, powered by an SDMO V275C-2 Generator, we turn it into our product Bedwell horse bedding. It is precision chopped oilseed rape straw which has the dust extracted, making it a far superior product to wheat straw. We now also produce pheasant and poultry bedding too.’

‘With our production being all year round, we needed a reliable Generator and the 275 Kva SDMO set has proven itself to be the most economic solution. What is also re-assuring is the excellent service and back-up that Richard and his team provides. Their prompt availability for servicing and maintenance is essential to our business and to date we are very happy with the performance of the Generator we have chosen.’

Richard further commented, ‘ Over the past 5 years we have developed a niche business in this area supplying Generators, Lighting Towers and Distribution Equipment, however we are always acquisitive and looking for new bolt on business’s.’

Whilst David Sanderson’s 275 Kva set, and the 80 Kva powering the Corn Dryer at Wath are just two examples of how Yorkshire Generators are assisting the farming

PoWer is close at handchris Berry talk With richard ogden of yorkshire generators and farmer david sanderson at skiPton on sWale

community there are numerous other applications including Hospitals, Banks, and Supermarkets where Standby Generators form a critical part to their every day operations.

www.yorkshiregenerators.co.uk


weatherhead

Wharfedale refrigeration &air Conditioning limited

43 hollin gateotley • West yorkshire

ls21 2dWt: 01943 462622

email: [email protected]

Pleased to be assoCiated With h Weatherhead & sons butChers

and Wish them Continued suCCess

for installation, servicing & sales of allrefrigeration & air Conditioning equipment

Ilkley Abattoir, Little Lane, Ilkley, LS29 8HXTel: 01943 608042 www.threedales.co.uk

Fax: 01943 601586

Pleased to be associated with H Weatherhead & Sons Butchers and wish them continued success

Rowland Agar(Wholesale Butchers) Ltd

SUPPLIERS OF THREE DALES QUALITY MEAT

there aren’t very many businesses that can say they have been around since the 1800s but H.Weatherhead & Sons butchers are one of a fair few who can.

Situated on the main high-street in the heart of Pateley Bridge, just a stones throw away from the Nidderdale Showground, H.

Weatherhead is one of the most traditional businesses you are likely to find in our region, but instead of relying on history alone this butchers has paved its own way into the 21st century.

Henry Weatherhead founded the company in 1876, yes that’s right, 135 years ago! The butchers shop

was originally a fairly modest affair, but as a conveyor belt of Weatherheads generations have enrolled in the shop somewhat naturally, the business has now become a modern enterprise with a hearty, traditional backbone.

Andrew Weatherhead, the great-great grandson of Henry is now the

man in charge at H.Weatherhead and Sons; he succeeded his father Ian to the role and trained in the art of butchery from a very young age.

He tells us, “Believe it or not we actually started in the same years as Morrisons, in fact generations of our family have been in Pateley bridge since the 1300’s. Back then

the Perfect Balance of old and neWWe travel to Pateley Bridge to meet the team at h.Weatherhead & sons

hoW Pateley Bridge looked in the 19th

century


weatherhead

We are pleased to be long standing suppliers of ingredients and packaging to H Weatherhead & Sons Butchers

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the majority of the Weatherheads worked as either farmers or lead miners but from the 1800’s we have worked predominately as butchers. I started to learn how to be a butcher

when I was 15, although in truth I was slaughtering at the age of 13 but of course you aren’t allowed to do that now.”

Originally the butchers slaughtered all of its meat at its facilities just outside of Pateley, were it housed all the necessary cutting facilities, but after foot and mouth came in the team had to re-evaluate how they would manage things.

“All our stock now goes straight to Rowland Agar abattoir in Ilkley (two miles away) and then straight back here so that the traceability of the meat is the very best it can be. It was such a shame to lose the slaughter facilities here because we had been doing it for ourselves for over 100 years.”

Immediately after the foot and mouth outbreak Andrew and the team did attempt to continue slaughtering for themselves but were quickly deterred by the newly-heightened costs involved; “You’d have three vets watching us slaughter and it was costing us about £1000 a month for the £58-an-hour vets to monitor us. Effectively it was costing us more than the meat!”

Although the history that surrounds H.Weatherhead and Sons forms part of its massive appeal, it is of course the meat being sold in the shop that remains paramount. To stock only the finest, tastiest meat Andrew sources his beef and lamb from his Father-in-Law Robert Grey who farms at Lowling Park in Ilkley.

If supply and demand increases he will buy from Joe Stoney in Bewerley and Steven Church in Lofthouse too. For his succulent pork, Andrew uses Grantley-based Will Hitchen and Georgina Snow too.

Andrew insists, “We only source meat from good farmers who have bred off their own cows and finished and fattened their stock properly.”

By having such home-grown, locally-reared stock readily available to their customers it is easy to understand why H.Weatherhead’s popularity in the village continues to rise. And with an array of sausages, chops, award-winning pork pies, burgers and steaks temptingly displayed in the shop, those local customers really are spoilt for choice.

Now in 2011 the H.Weatherhead & Sons has become a staple of the village and its place within the heart of the community has only strengthened in recent years as consumer interest in food traceability continues to grow.

For more information on H.Weatherhead and Sons visit www.weatherheadbutchers.co.uk or call the shop directly on 01423 711 207

stePhen Peel : another of the longstanding Butchers at Weatherhead

the team at Weatherheads (andreW on far right)


willoughby

turning a neW venture into a sPecialist suBJect!lucie carter talks With tom and colin WilloughBy at Woodend farm near leyBurntucked away in the quaint little village of redmire just outside of Leyburn lay Woodend Farm, a beautifully picturesque sheep and beef farm that has been occupied by the Willoughby Family for almost twenty-five years.

Woodend Farm is part of the historic Bolton Estate and occupies 330 acres of land across the village. When Colin and Janet Willoughby began farming in the area they rented 80 acres of land and were licensees of the local pub ‘The Bolton Arms’. They raised Tom and his brother Mark there as youngsters but remained on the look out for something more substantial.

When a promising amount of land on the estate became available only a few years later, the Willoughby’s were in a fortune position and were approached by Lord Bolton who made them a tempting offer they

a milk herd of thirty dairy cows, so we moved them over here, carried on as usual and increased the herd to fifty.”

Up until October last year Tom and Colin milked their dairy herd like clockwork, but Tom admits that maintaining a successful dairy farm was becoming increasingly difficult.

“If I’m honest I was never that keen on milking cows and I don’t think the set up was ideal for us here. It was a case of us either ploughing a lot of money into doing it right or going down another avenue really.”

For the Willoughby’s it seems the latter was the more tempting option; almost fifteen years ago, sensing that his love for dairy cattle wouldn’t last forever Tom decided to introduce something new, profitable and interesting onto Woodend Farm, and so he chose to explore the Blue Faced Leicester Breed.

Brother Mark has also introduced a horse liverly enterprise at Woodend making use of a redundant dairy building.

Although Woodend Farm was no stranger to sheep, Tom’s new venture gave him the chance to fulfil his love for breeding purebreds, whilst trying his hand at something that was in many ways unfamiliar to him.

“We have had Swaledales for about fifteen years, but I brought the Leicesters onto the farm in 1996. Originally when we moved here we had only Dalesbred sheep but the market for them struggled a bit, you could sell your best, but the demand was never really there so I brought in the Leicester Mules and we gradually swapped over.”

The move from dairy left the Willoughbys with a completely different working farm, once which produced a healthy amount of beef

simply couldn’t refuse.

Colin tells us, “Janet’s uncle farmed Woodend originally under a tenancy but when he retired Lord Bolton who owns all the land on the estate offered it to us. At that time we had

tom and his flock


willoughby

We provide a full range of accounting servicesfrom book keeping/VAT returns to account preparationand Tax Returns, specialising in the Agricultural Sector

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heifers and a promising flock of Blue Faced Leicesters.

To uphold the standards of his sheep, Tom buys the majority of his Swaledale replacements from Hawes Auction Mart, but as flock numbers have fluctuated year on year he has used Bentham Auction too.

“Both buying prices and selling prices have gone up so it’s almost as though we are chasing our tail slightly,” Colin says of today’s trade. “We have sold about 230 Mule gimmers which have averaged £108 each, but then we have had to buy in between 110 and 120 replacements at a higher price.”

In spite of this Tom is confident that if he remains focused on the job in order to keep pushing forward; “I think as a farmer you have to concentrate on certain aspects of your farm when the going gets a bit tough. For us our main objective now is to get our name established with the Blue Faced Leicesters because there’s a lot of big money to be made in tup selling.”

Selling and indeed showing; since taking on his beloved Leicesters and Mules Tom has done exceptionally well showing them at a number of his local shows, although he is the first to admit it wasn’t an overnight success.

“We started showing mules properly

nowadays you’ll quickly get taken out because people are so eager to be at the top, but for us it’s always been about finding the right ingredients to stay there.”

At last years Kilnsley Show Tom’s Mules were awarded first prize in the group of six category, and at the Penrith Show one of his mules was crowned the overall champion which was before X Factor b4 hundith jointly owned with Jack and Adam Lawson from Kirkland Green. He has also enjoyed success at the Reeth Agricultural Show where he won with a group of five.

“I think our biggest achievement came at last year’s Mule Gimmer Lamb sale day at Hawes. We got fifth prize there and our top ten lambs reached £300 each. I’ve done it in reverse order really; winning the sale day is everyone’s dream but I did that before I did anything else. We have won plenty over the years but I’ve never won at The Great Yorkshire Show so that’s one of my main aims now.”

Breeding the very best sheep is now paramount to Tom. Recently he has sold a few of his tups onto fellow breeders and has also enjoyed exploring new bloodlines.

“That’s important because one bad tup can make a mess of your flock.

We like nature to take its course; the key to producing good stock is having a good knowledge of the sires and the females before you enter the auction.”

Tom also accredits long-term supplier Jamesons Feeds with producing strong, profitable stock. In fact for over a decade the Willoughby family has used their sheep cake on their flocks and are still satisfied with its results.

Colin tells us, “during foot and mouth we had to lamb the sheep up on the high ground because the powers that be wouldn’t let us bring them down home. We quickly realised if those sheep could produce milk for lambs on high ground on that cake, it was the right feed for us.”

The next few months look set to be very busy for Tom and Colin. Last year Tom had the privilege of judging the Swaledale draft ewe sale at the Penrith Auction Mart sale. The father and son duo have also begun showing cattle recently. It seems the thrill of a new venture is simply irresistible for this pair…..

tom and colin Willoughby Woodend Farm, redmire, near Leyburn DL8 4HB tel: 01969 622348

about five years ago. The first show we went to didn’t go very well in fact we didn’t even manage to get a ticket!” Tom laughs, “So within the last five we’ve gone from showing and getting nothing to winning quite a bit really. Doing well at the shows gives you that encouragement and enables you to set yourself targets for the next year.”

He continues, “In the early stages of showing the Mules I think we worried that what we had wasn’t entirely up to scratch, whereas now I think people look out for our name on sale and show days. Where showing is concerned I think if you stand still

tom With one of his Winners


watson

Tel: 01253 799100 / 07876 453 367 Email: [email protected]

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through successful embryo transfer work, in just over a decade at Bowsden Moor near Berwick, Jonathan and Jayne Watson and Jonathan’s uncle Brian redhead (trading as redhead and Watson) have established pedigree British Blue and Limousin herds which are achieving creditable prices through the sale ring, alongside pedigree Suffolk and texel flocks.

The partnership moved to the Borders in 1987 from West Cumbria and they own 330 acres, with a further 220 acres neighbouring Bowsden Moor plus 200 acres of seasonal grazing. All the land is suitable for arable cropping, but only 150 acres are put down to cereals in rotation with the grassland. They employ one full time man, Thomas Robson.

“We had 300 crossbred cows but when the Single Farm Payment came in it was hard to make it stack up financially so we sold the commercial cows to concentrate on

our herd of pedigree Limousins,” said Jonathan.

“Another issue we had was with the health status of the cattle, so we expanded the numbers of Limousins and also started a herd of British Blues, both under the Tweeddale prefix,” he added.

It was a visit to the Carlisle Limousin Red Ladies sale in 1999 that set off the herd and subsequent purchases from Denis Lomas (Glebedale), Robert Graham’s (Grahams) and Roy Fisher (Castlewigg) herds established good foundation cow families that have been expanded through ET work.

Females have ben selected for their size and bone to produce progeny of good weight gain potential along with superior carcase quality with selection also focusing on temperament.

The star of the Glebedale purchases was Iloris, a daughter of the famous

Pedigree livestock Put araBle farm firmly on the maP

British Blue heifers (inside) and calves With their natural and reciPient dams


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cow Silorie, who bred three supreme champions at Carlisle Limousin sales.

Two Grahams cows have been consistent breeders with Grahams Sharon producing two bulls which sold for 10,000gns and 8.500gns. The herd’s most recent purchase was in February 2008, Newstart Abeille, whose son produced by the most recent stock bull Newhouse Cyclone sold to Cogent at 10 months old.

Limousin herd now numbers 70 cattle and is closed. The herd’s first stock bull was Sympa son, Haltcliffe Argos whose first four sons sold averaged £6,000 with a top of 8,500gns at the Carlisle February 2011 sale.

Embryo work carried out by Celltech, Cheshire, produced between 60 and 70 Limousin and British Blue calves a year.

As commercial producers recognising the strength and qualities of the Limousin meant it was a natural

step to establish a pedigree herd.

A Blue bull had also been used commercially and again the breed was the logical choice when starting another pedigree beef herd.

The first purchase was Clarebrand Bertha whose sons sold to a top price of 5,800gns with others at 5,000gns and 4,000gns.

Two females were bought at Carlisle from David Leggat’s Broomfield herd. Nanette had a bull calf at foot and she was flushed. Two embryo bull calves at the Carlisle May 2010 show and sale sold for 6,000gns each, one of which was the reserve champion.

Five bulls averaged £5,000 while six yearling heifers made an average £3,000 a head.

More recent additions to the herd have been three cows and four heifers purchased from Belgium. One of the first bull calves from the imports Tweeddale Fearless has been sold to Cogent. The first five bulls

and 11 heifers from these females go through the ring at Borderway on May 21.

The herd now numbers 20 cows, half of which are bred naturally with the remainder flushed for embryos.

At Borderway Agri-Expo 2010 the Border British Blue Club award

for the best opposite sex to the champion went to Tweeddale Emise at 10 months old, a daughter of one of the imported females which sold privately at the show.

Another ET daughter, Tweeddale Flare was junior female champion at the Stars of the Future inaugural

Jonathan With young limousin and British Blue Bulls


watson

Scottish pedigree calf show for Blues at Forfar.

Royal Highland Show 2010 was the Watsons’ first major show outing with British Blues. Ebony did exceptionally well in the males and Tweeddale Enhance did equally well in the females. Enhance was a 15 month old heifer and achieved junior champion. The first calves off her are due in late May through embryo transfer.

Also Tweeddale Ebony achieved senior champion. Ebony also achieved reserve junior champion and reserve male champion at Royal

Highland Show 2010 and best young bull in the Borders BB herd competition and is now in stud at Cogent.

Both herds are performance recorded and are in the SAC health scheme.

The pedigree Suffolk flock goes back the furthest to 1984 and carries the Brijon prefix. Since the establishment of the pedigree Texel flock in 2000, Suffolk numbers have been scaled back from 150 to 70 ewes. Both flocks are MV accredited and closed.

Between 25 and 30 shearling rams from each breed are sold at the

annual Kelso Ram Sale. The 70-ewe Texel flock also carries the Brijon prefix.

Rams have sold to a top price of £7,000 for the Texels to average between £600 and £800. The Suffolk best price is £3,600 with a similar average. The sheep are run on a commercial basis to allow more emphasis to be placed on the cattle enterprise.

A flock of 500 Lleyn ewes is also run to enable all the sheep to be MV accredited and flock replacements to be home bred. They are bred pure as well as being crossed with the

Suffolk. Some of of the females are kept and crossed with the Texel.

The Suffolks lamb at the end of January with the Texels and Lleyns following from the end of March-beginning of April.

Jonathan and Jayne Watson Bowsden Moor Berwick-Upon-tweed northumberland tD15 2tg tel: 01289 387322 Mob: 07970 131425


machinery

You will already be familiar with the Bryce Suma brand and the chances are you have heard of Kattrak international Ltd, but have you heard of the Bryce HD180?

Over the years people have made conversions on small tracked machines to suit their own needs and applications. The HD180 is now a commercially available machine and is a unique combination of features that allow a post to be driven with precision quickly and easily without having to move the tracked machine itself for post alignment. This is an important point when working on wet greasy sloping ground as moving the complete machine can upset the alignment between post and mast.

The Bryce HD180 is a lightweight tracked machine that combines the strength and stature of a Suma Post Driver with the agility of tracked dumpers supplied by Kattrak. It is aimed at contractors looking for a one-man machine that is quick and efficient with the performance and features of much bigger and heavier machines. The collaboration between Jock Bryce and Kattrak Managing Director Peter McLaughlin came about after one of Bryce’s contracting clients, Ian McAnespie, was supplied with a tracked machine from Kattrak - only this machine was different. Before completing the sale Peter was given the opportunity to do a conversion by attaching a Bryce HD2 Post Driver onto the tracked dumper . Kattrak then gave Bryce a tracked machine for the purpose of developing a high spec.post driver that was compatible with this little machine and so the Bryce HD180 was born the virtues of a small tracked machine are well-documented in that they are compact and lightweight but as Jock says “you can’t hang a big performance post driver on the back of them”. As a fencing contractor, he has always been very focused on speed and efficiency and has found a way round this problem by developing a machine that has all the performance, features and hitting power of the well-known Bryce Suma in a small lightweight tracked outfit.

The Bryce HD180 is a bespoke piece of machinery exclusive to both Bryce Suma and Kattrak International – the agreement is that Kattrak supplies the tracked dumper and Bryce does the conversion work. The machine’s name is derived from the fact

the Bryce hd180 a Post driver With a difference

Jock Strikes a deal with Peter and gareth

that the tracked dumper is able to swivel through 180º without any fuss and as such, gives the added versatility of being able to drive posts from either side or anywhere in between. The patent for the Bryce HD180 design is currently pending and it looks set to make a substantial impact on the market in the coming months.

Jock added, “The only way I could get the stability and features for this post driver was to use a swivel type track machine with the post

driver mounted forward on the chassis mounted over the turret.”

if you would like more information on the HD180 visit www.brycesuma.co.uk or www.kattrak.com alternatively you can speak to Jock on 07970 730567 or Peter on 07860 231138


machinery

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one of the more creative products released to celebrate the royal wedding this year has to be from new Holland. the company offered a complimentary Union Flag bonnet to all customers who bought a tractor from their range during april.

New Holland’s Marketing Manager Richard Spencer says the royal wedding was an occasion to be celebrated and acknowledged.

“British royal weddings are always a really special occasion, not just for Great Britain, but for millions of people across the world. This was a truly historic event and New Holland, a manufacturer that is proud to build in Britain recognised its significance.”

New Holland is already flying the flag for Britain; last year its plant in Basildon, an operation globally renowned for the high standard of its World Class Manufacturing, was awarded a ‘Highly Commended’ at the prestigious Manufacturer of the Year Awards 2010, the first year New Holland has entered.

neW holland flies the flag for the royal Wedding

Richard concludes: “The New Holland Union Flag has already proved a popular choice with our customers who can request this enhancement when they purchase a

T6000 Range and Power Command or a T7 standard wheelbase tractor.

“The royal wedding gave us all a chance to show how proud we are to be British and this was an ideal

opportunity for our customers to celebrate with us!”

www.newholland.com


machinery

Black grass is a major problem to UK arable growers. 100 black grass ears per m2 can reduce wheat yield by 1 tonne per hectare. With wheat valued up to £200 / tonne, that equates to £200 / hectare, or £80,000 on a 400 hectare crop. Short rotations without a spring break crop, early drilling, the increase in minimum tillage, and an increased herbicide resistance, have all contributed to increase the black grass problem in recent years.

LEMKEN clearly recognise the importance of black grass control. In 2010 We started a long term trial with Masstock to understand how the crop establishment system effects the control of black grass. Although there is no clear data available from that trial yet, most agronomists recommend rotational ploughing, and drilling not sooner than mid-October, where black grass is a problem. This is in contrast to many farmers’ wishes to adopt a high speed min-till crop establishment policy, and completing

‘solitair’ – flexiBility can helP the fight against Black grass

drilling early in the autumn before the wet weather sets in.

LEMKEN has extended our Solitair drill range giving farmers the ‘best

of both worlds’. Drills from 3m mounted, to 6m semi-mounted can now be mounted on, and easily interchanged between a power

harrow and disc harrow.

For high speed min-till work, LEMKEN recommend mounting the Solitair drill on the Heliodor disc harrow. The drills ‘double disc and press wheels’ will accurately place the seed even at high speed in min-till situations.

Once the min-till work has been done, the drill can be quickly swapped onto a Zirkon power harrow and used very successfully on wet ploughed land in October or November. Furthermore, the disc harrow and power harrow can be used without the drill as stand-alone machines if required.

The 3m Heliodor / Solitair combination was displayed for the first time at LAMMA 2011. Cereals will be the debut for the full range of machines, with 3m mounted, and 6m semi-mounted machines on display.

www.lemken.co.ukheliodor 6m disc harroW With drill removed


machinery

a tractor fit for a kingif you’re an elvis fan, you really can’t help falling in love with this John Deere 4010 die-cast model tractor from the ertl Prestige collection.

Suitable for ages 14 and over, this beautifully made and highly detailed 1:16 scale model is an authentic replica of the John Deere tractor, built in 1963, that was owned and operated by the King of Rock and Roll. Elvis frequently enjoyed driving the tractor on his Mississippi ranch after he acquired it in 1966.

Displayed in its box against a photograph of Graceland, the tractor is equipped with a 46A front loader, an accessory rarely found on die-cast collectible models. Elvis’ signature is picked out in gold on the top of the bonnet, and every individual box has an Elvis Presley licensed product holographic sticker and a special collector’s insert.

The original tractor was fully restored by students at Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia, Mississippi, with guidance from John Deere, and is now on display

at the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.

The John Deere 4010 Elvis Presley tractor is now available to order,

list price £80.86 (including VAT), and is featured in the

company’s new 2011 Collection catalogue,

available free from John Deere dealers.

to find your nearest dealer, click on the website’s Dealer Locator at www.JohnDeere.co.uk or call Freephone 0800 085 2522.


brockhills of yorkshire

the last time we caught up with Peter Swales he had plenty of exciting news to tell us about, and today it seems, is no different.

Since Peter bought what used to be known as GE Brockhills four years ago, he has not only successfully re-branded the company to become Brockhills of Yorkshire, but has also introduced new lines of franchise machinery including Krone, He-Va, & Stewart Trailers.

Now though, Peter and his team at Brockhills have an even bigger reason to celebrate. The company recently completed the sale of their 50th New Fendt tractor in just four years

This is a huge achievement for Brockhills who have been specialist suppliers of Fendt Tractors since 1979.

As well as having impressive figures with the new machinery, Brockhills are also experiencing good figures selling used Fendt tractors, in fact since April 2007they have sold 53 used Fendt tractors many of which have been sourced from other Fendt

dealers within the UK..

Brockhills’ main franchise lines are now Krone, He-va, Lemken, Guttler, Votex, Stewart Trailers and of course Fendt and whilst each brand is proving just as popular as the next, Peter is happy with those he has chosen to supply.

He tells us, “I’m not looking to introduce any new franchise lines in the near future because I am very happy with how things stand at the minute. Our commitment to the quality end of our equipment is what matters most to me and I am certain that with the machinery we have now, our high standards are maintained.”

For Peter the “final piece of the jigsaw” came in February this year when he added Stewart Trailers to his product line.

“Since I first took over here one of my main goals was to generate a healthy presence within the arable market, and I think we definitely achieved that now. The addition of Krone

Whats neW With Brockhills of yorkshire?

last summer means that we now have machinery to cover all areas of agriculture whether its live-stock farming, cultivation work or general agricultural contracting.”

New additions Krone and Stewart Trailers have been welcomed by both new and existing Brockhills customers.

“Our job is now to build on what we have and consolidate. We would

much rather continue being specialist in what we do rather then become a jack of all trades.”

And rightly so….

if you would like more information on Brockhills of Yorkshire Ltd visit www.brockhills.co.uk or call 01845 577242

We talk With managing director Peter sWales

Peter sWales


handley

J M W Livestock Services

Professional Show & Sales Preparation+

General Farm Contract work

Contact Jock WyllieCall 07530 299864

Email [email protected]

Glenfield, Back O’th Fell Road, Lindale, Grange Over Sands, Cumbria LA11 6NB

Have you ever walked the three peaks? or witnessed the beauty of the famous ingleton viaduct? if your answer is yes, then chances are you will have been only a short distance from gunnerfleet Farm, home of the Handley family.

Jim Handley first came to Gunnerfleet Farm with his Mother and his Sister in 1947, back then the farm was covered an impressive 500 acres that Jim managed to maintain himself singlehandedly for many years. In 1959 Jim Handley married Janie, a local girl whose father had farmed in the nearby village of Newby Head.

When Jim and Janie eventually had children of their own they decided to raise them on the farm and teach them all there was to know about breeding, buying, showing and selling.

Now as adults, each son has developed their own area of expertise; John is the Managing Director of a local Landrover dealership, Peter is a dedicated sheep breeder responsible for 300 pedigree Swales and Blue-Faced Leciesters and Ian is an expert in Limousin cattle.

Ian and his Wife Diane also farm at Gunnerfleet Farm and have raised their three daughters Chloe (9), Imogen (7) and young Katie (2) there too.

Breeding and rearing Limousin cattle is now perhaps the most prominent part of Gunnerfleet Farm as Ian and Jim’s passion for the breed has continued to develop year-on-year. Limousin cattle were originally

glorious surroundings, glorious stock! lucie carter heads to gunnerfleet farm, near ingleton to meet With the handleys

introduced onto the farm in 1989 when the pair realised the breed would not only bring them plenty of enjoyment but would be profitable too.

Ian explains, “It all started when I left school; I knew that I wanted to go straight into breeding pedigree Limousins and I actually think I took to it quite naturally. I find Limousins to have a good spirit; they are a natural, muscular breed which are easy to manage, have good long livers, and are incredibly hardy.”

“We got the herd going by buying two cows and a heifer from Mike Keeble when he decided to sell up

and we have been breeding up ever since. It has taken a long time to get the herd up to where we have it now, but I think we are very much there now.”

To make sure their 70-strong herd is just as good as the next mans, the Handleys regularly attend the breed shows at Carlisle H&H auctions in May, June and October.

To help prepare for such mammoth dates in the Limousin-breeder calendar, the Handleys often bring Stockman Jock Willey of JMW Livestock Services on board to help them get the cattle up to scratch and looking their very best.

“Because it can be quite hard getting all the stock ready for so many sale days,” explains Ian, “Jock comes over about twice a week to help out.”

When asked whether or not he thinks the family have now made a name for themselves in the world of Limousin breeders Jim and Ian answer collectively; “I think we achieved that around about the time of foot and mouth because we weren’t affected, although we couldn’t trade whatsoever. It was about the same time that we had a bull called ‘Monkey-Tricks’ that was doing very well and we were

from left: Peter, Jim, Janie, Jock and ian


handley

averaging between 7000gns and 8000gns with bulls at every sale.”

So how are prices at the minute we ask? “The market has its ups and downs these days,” admits Ian. “It all depends on how the industry is shaping up at that particular time. At the moment we are finding that a lot of beef farmers are packing up because the price of fertilizer and feed is going up. So we must now really start to stand our ground.”

Although this is a real concern for the family, Stockman Jock insists its all part and parcel of this industry; “It is a worry yes because the less customers you have coming to these sales, the less likely you are to sell. What we have noticed over these last couple of years is that there is a hell of a lot of interest in commercials now.”

At a recent sale dale in Carlisle the Handleys purchased ‘Bankdale

Exfactor’, a champion stock bull for 38,000gns and sold two bulls for an impressive 7000gns and 9000gns!

The Handley’s main priority now is to continually improve the quality of their stock. To do so, Ian and Jim worked closely with genetics and bloodlines, import and export regularly, sell semen across the world and enrole their stock under the Johnes testing accreditation.

If you would like more information on Gunnerfleet Farm call the family on 01524 242366 or visit their website at www.gunnerfleet.co.uk.

ian Handley gunnerfleet Farm chapel-le-dale ingleton, Via carnforth Lancashire La6 3aU

the farm Building that ian Plans to convert into holiday cottages

stockman Jock Wyllie


nesbitt

Have you ever heard the phrase ‘selling coals to newcastle’? Doug nesbitt and his family are the farming equivalent as he proudly tells of their achievements at alwent Hall Farm, Winston in county Durham.

‘We were the first flock to sell female Texels back to Holland and now we’re the first herd to sell Charolais embryos back to France for trials.’

None of this will come as a shock to those in the livestock world who have been involved in some way with Doug over the years as his stock has long been considered amongst the best in the UK.

‘We run just over 100 pedigree Texel ewes and have two flocks – Alwent and Deneside. They are all based here on this one farm and our main business is in producing commercial type high index commercial rams. The jam on our bread is the pedigrees and each year we flush about six of our best ewes on multiple ovulation. This year we have some very good lambs in the Deneside flock by a tup that we bought a quarter share in. The tup cost 18,000 guineas at Lanark and is called Allanfould Rockerfella. We also have a one-third share in another ram Ettrick Rainbow Warrior which cost 10,500 guineas. They are both very high index rams – Rockerfella is 391 and Rainbow Warrior is 361. That puts them both in the top 1% for the breed.’

Prior to Foot and Mouth Disease in 2001 the Nesbitts – two of Doug’s sons, Steven and David, are also very much involved – had close on 200 Texels.

‘We cut down a bit after that but we’ve always had the same aim to

high achievers at alWent hallchris Berry talks With doug nesBitt at Winston

We are pleased to be associated withDoug Nesbitt and Family

and wish them continued success for the future.

Tel: 01833 695695 Fax: 01833 690085E-mail: [email protected]

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produce high performing sheep. We think performance is the key and more and more people are starting to recognise that. Commercial men are looking for sheep with figures now and they are prepared to pay decent money for them. Most commercial men want something that can breed faster growing commercial sheep.’

The Nesbitts sell around 50 rams a year and Doug admits to being one sheep farmer who is delighted to see just a single ram lamb born from a ewe – either that or twin ewe lambs.

Showing their cattle or sheep is not a large part of the family activity these

doug nesBitt With his toP ram


nesbitt / graham edwards

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days and they now show at just the Northumberland County Show at Corbridge and the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate.

‘We have shown at the Royal Show, but of course that is no longer, and the Royal Highland Show, but it takes up a lot of time. We’ve done okay at the Great Yorkshire. We have had the male, female and overall Texel breed champion there. First prize is quite an achievement at Harrogate because it is a terribly strong show for Texels. We showed the Charolais cattle at the Royal just after Foot and Mouth but we haven’t shown them much since.’

Doug has lived at Alwent Hall all of his 78 years. His grandfather Thomas Nesbitt moved here in 1925 and his father, also Thomas, took over. Doug is also a Thomas, christened Thomas Douglas Nesbitt. He and his wife Marjorie have four offspring, three boys and a girl – Martin, Steven, David and Jane.

‘I have no qualifications whatsoever apart from O levels. Steven and David went to Houghall College. The only one on the farm who has an agricultural degree is Brian who works with us. He went to Newcastle University.

David works more on the sheep side, with Steven looking after the cattle. Steven is a man in demand and just as we were going to press with this issue he was jetting off to Mexico to judge Charolais across the Atlantic.

‘We have a herd of 25 pedigree Charolais and we are finding that there is a lot of interest in the polled Charolais at the moment because of its easier calving, as well as not having to dehorn them. We have a bull of our own but we have been using and marketing semen from France. We sell bulls up at Perth or Carlisle.’

Qualifications or the lack of them have clearly never hampered Doug in his quest to produce the best quality stock of cattle or sheep. He is also a past chairman of the Texel Sheep Society. It just might be worth your while taking a look at the Nesbitts’ latest ram lambs this year too!

Doug nesbitt alwent Hall Farm, Winston, county Durham tel: 01833 660769

‘We have always prided ourselves on producing what our customers want,’ says Matthew edwards. ‘and that means listening to what they have to say. that’s why we have come up with the latest trailer in our range which is longer than many of our traditional livestock trailers.’

Graham Edwards Trailers latest model to join the fleet is the TDL6418,

which is an 18ft x 7ft tractor-drawn livestock trailer.

‘A lot of people were using our 14ft model but wanted something bigger to carry more stock than they have been able to. What they didn’t want was the expense or the weight of a bale trailer with container. That’s why what we have come up with is an 18ft model that is a 6.4 tonne non

demountable trailer.

The idea has already proved a hit with customers and Matt believes that this year’s agricultural show season will see a number of his customers taking a closer look.

‘It is all about responding to customers’ needs. This 18ft demountable trailer fits the farmers’ pockets well too.

Contact us now for early delivery. If you feel you need a trailer with that bit extra space to transport more stock for little extra cost the TDL6418 is the one for you.’

www.edwardstrailers.co.uk

extra length from graham edWards neW livestock trailer for those Who Want something Bigger


young farmers

Yorkshire Young Farmers recently travelled coast to coast to the national YFc annual convention at Blackpool’s Winter gardens & opera House on a pedal powered four man bike. Members chose the theme of carrots as this year’s Yorkshire’s greatest export and pedaled the carrot bike 148 miles from Scarborough to the golden mile promoting YFc and raising funds for the teenage cancer trust as they go.

There was stiff competition between many of the county YFC Federations to arrive in style in Blackpool where over 5000 members gathered. In previous years Yorkshire YFC members have travelled to conventions by tractors, baths, three wheeled cars, and even a giant pedal-powered crisp box. Last year they arrived at Torquay on a homemade pedal amphibious craft via inland waterways and the sea!

Tim Atkinson, Vice Chairman of Yorkshire YFCs Development and Marketing committee is delighted how

this year’s challenge shaped up. He said, “Members chose the carrot this year as it is visually striking and many people don’t realise just how many carrots are grown in and exported from Yorkshire. We are delighted that Poskitts Carrotts came on board as our main sponsor and we are pleased with how this fabulous event has promoted YFC and the charity work the club carries out.”

Aside from providing funding for the creation of the ‘Carrot bike’ Mr Poskitt owner of the sponsoring firm has chosen the Teenage Cancer Trust as the chosen charity to benefit from this event. The Teenage Cancer Trust is a charity devoted to improving the lives of young people with cancer.

Sisters Rachael and Jennifer Moore from Worth Valley Young Farmers Club near Keighley were part of the team cycling the route. Rachael said, “We thought we might be shattered with a very numb bum by the time we reached Blackpool, but it has definitely been worth

yorkshire young farmers 24 carrot coast to coast challenge

it because the money raised will hopefully make the lives of those people our age that suffer from cancer a little easier.”

The team of Young Farmers launched the event on Monday 2nd May on Scarborough’s South Bay. The route took the team from Scarborough to Thirsk on Day 1, and through Northallerton, Bedale and Hawes on Day 2. From there the cycle team pushed on through the peaks and troughs of the Yorkshire Dales and headed to Cockerham in

Lancashire. Finally on Friday 6th the team dropped down to Blackpool to cross the finish line!”

anyone wishing to support the charity aspect of our ride should contact rachael Moore on 07887 530 187 and for more information contact the Yorkshire YFc office on 01423 865 870

eDS note: Well done on raising £600 so far!

the national Federation of Young Farmers clubs, with 662 clubs and 25,000 members held their annual general meeting at the Winter gardens, Blackpool. over 500 young farmers from cumbria travelled down for the weekend to support cumbrian Young farmers’ part in competitions there.

Last year’s County Chairman Steven Dixon was proud to receive the

NFU Trophy from the new NFYFC President Matt Baker. This is presented to the Champion County Federation in the country. Cumbria’s Drigg YFC was also thrilled to receive a new trophy presented by outgoing President, Lionel Hill. This was for the Club who had collect most money for charity; Drigg raised £23,000 for the Special Care Baby Unit at the West Cumberland Hospital.

County Organiser Jan Davinson said, “This has been an amazing weekend for Cumbria and I am pleased that the hard work put in by members, advisory and parents has been recognised. It is a huge honour to win the NFU Trophy.”

Visit www.cumbriayfc.co.uk for more information

Cumbria won the Junior Member of the Year, Emma Armstrong, Caldbeck; Senior Member of the Year, Craig Brough, Raughton Head; Creative Writing, Rachel Edminson, Longtown; Intermediate Just A Minute, Lisa Bowe, Emma Salthouse and Josie Mitchinson of Raughton Head and Senior After Dinner Speaking, Lisa Mason, Dennis Sharp,

yfc sPeaks uP for cumBriaDaniel Asplin, Craig Brough and Tom Redmayne.

Caldbeck’s Laura Potts, Amy Clarke, Sarah Gate and Ben Wilde won the swimming and Raughton Head’s 60 strong cast won the Entertainment Competition.

Laura Potts and Ben Wilde plus Emma Armstrong came 2nd in Junior Speaking and Laura was also 2nd in Junior Member of the Year.

Skelton’s Juniors, Mark-Lucas Winspear, Flora Blackburn and Elaine Holme were 2nd in Junior Reading; Chelle Buchanan, Julie and

Emily Jenkinson and Sam Tyson from Drigg YFC were 2nd in Jazz Dancing and Pennine’s Ladies 5 a-side Football team of Megan Robinson, Hayley Pattinson, Charlotte Bell, Aimee Wilson and Laura Smithson were also placed 2nd.

County Chairman, Craig Brough said “It has been a brilliant weekend with fantastic results. I am really proud of all the members who put so much time and effort into these competitions. All these members will now compete at National Finals.”

congratulations to all of the winners!

cumbrian Young Farmers proved they are the best public speakers in the north of england when they competed against Young Farmers from Durham, northumberland, Yorkshire, east riding and Lancashire at Whitby in the northern area Sports and Speaking Finals.

cumBria yfc toP county in the country

matt Presenting the troPhy


robson tractors oPen day

Farm machinery open days are annual events for some companies, but not robson tractors at carlton Husthwaite who held theirs recently.

‘This is our first since February 2005,’ said David Franks, partner in the business. ‘We’ve had over 500 here already and it’s only just into the afternoon. It was supposed to be a 10am start but we had people last night and others started arriving at 9.30am.’

David and his team, which included the team from the Malton branch, were out in force on the day.

‘We had quite a lot to show people and we wanted to get the message across that we don’t just deal in tractors but the full range of farm machinery. We have just taken on

the McHale franchise so we wanted people to be able to come and take a closer look at that too. McHale had approached us around three years ago and we didn’t take it on previously because we didn’t believe we could do it justice at the time.’

‘We were short of a baler franchise though and that’s what led to our eventual decision to take it on. Usually you get into the situation whereby you have to have not just the company’s balers but their mowers, rakes and tedders too. We were already well covered in that department by Pottinger which we’re very happy with, so I didn’t want anything to detract from that.’

Robson Tractors made its name as a used farm machinery dealership

prior to taking on the Massey Ferguson franchise and opening up its second centre on the road between Malton and Pickering. David believes that the company is standing up well in the face of difficult trading conditions in the farm machinery market place.

‘Although it is fair to say that corn prices and livestock prices have gone up I’d say it is not as easy to sell farm machinery as it was around 2-3 years ago. The market has changed and become more difficult. High input prices are causing some farmers to hold on to the farm equipment they have for a while longer.’

In addition to the new McHale franchise Robson Tractors also launched another at their open day

– Dal-Bo rollers from Denmark.

But the open day wasn’t all about announcing new machinery franchises. It was also an ideal time for David’s two new salespeople to find their feet.

‘Having additional sales people on the team is another of the reasons why I am more confident in our ability to handle the new franchises that have come on board,’ said David.

There were hundreds of machines on display and sales were made throughout the day.

www.robsontractors.co.uk

not Just tractors at carlton husthWaitefarmersmart talks With david franks of roBson tractors


robson tractors oPen day

david franks (left) at roBson tractors oPen day live machinery demonstration

the sun stayed out


lumley

reaP the reWards By Breeding your oWnJennifer mackenzie talks to denis lumley at nooktonthe sheep need to be tough at nookton, Blanchland, and as a result Denis Lumley and his sons Stephen and John have taken the somewhat unusual step of using mostly home-bred tups.

The enclosed fell on the 2,000 acre hill farm in County Durham is hard and mostly black heather and Denis who took over from his father who started farming there in 1967 has adopted the policy of using both Swaledale and Bluefaced Leicester stock rams bred to the harsh conditions.

“Our predecessor at Nookton, the late George Middleton, warned us from the start, never buy a soft tup that had as he put it ‘been stuffed

at both ends’,” said Denis. “He would regularly buy a tup, for no other reason than it had entered the sale ring, and promptly jumped straight out. Taken that as a clue to vigour, we carried on the tradition.

“The ewes however were tremendous, we only discovered how tremendous when we lost them in the foot and mouth cull.”

Half of the 800 Swaledale ewes at Nookton are bred pure for replacements and stock tups while the remainder are crossed with the Bluefaced Leicester from the farm’s own 20-ewe flock.

“In appearance, what we replaced the Swaledale ewes with after foot

and mouth were far superior, but performance was all over the place, not necessarily how you would think. One of the biggest problems was the sheer number of lambs, twins and triplets. The cake bill went through the roof and we then spent that summer run ragged, with loads of sheep in fields, and 1600 acres of fell largely unstocked,” said Dennis.

Now by breeding with their own known tups, Denis says they are saving between £6,000 and £8,000 a year, mainly on concentrate feed costs but also the price of bought in rams. The ewes are also lasting so much longer.

Denis and Stephen - John also runs his own machinery business - have

opted for an easy care type of sheep which in effect is turning back the clock a few decades and relying on old fashioned stockmanship.

Keeping only single tup lambs off ewes at least three crop that had lambed every year without problems, seven years on there are tup hoggs, triplets are almost non existent, twins off gimmers are getting less, geld ewes less and the fell sheep are producing about 10% twins, rising to 50% when brought inside to the Leicester.

Mule gimmer lambs and wethers are sold privately off the farm to regular customers.

Using home-bred tups on three


lumley

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quarters of the Swaledales, two shearling rams were bought in last autumn to provide an outcross. One was bought for £3,000 at Hawes from John Mason, Oddacres, Skipton, the other a Swaledale cross Blackface bought privately from Michael Gibson, Thornton Towers, Newbrough.

Surplus shearling rams are sold at home in the autumn with 14 for sale this year.

This drive towards self sufficiency and keeping input costs to a minimum is also followed with the Bluefaced Leicesters which are registered crossing types. Again surplus tups are sold privately, mainly to Scotland.

“We produce them like we would want to buy them ourselves. The key is them staying alive. In the past we have found we have bought in problems. We are just commercial farmers and we have come into the tup job for our own use,” said Denis, a former chairman of the Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders’ Association.

Some stock rams have been bought in recent years including from Nunscleugh, Duhonu and Lowesfell. Sheep with any problems are taken out of the flock.

Nookton has taken a stand at Northsheep on June 8 with three pens of its sheep.

The farm also has a herd of 30 Angus cross cows which have been run in favour of continental crosses for the last decade. Only heifers off cows that calve every year are kept as replacements and surplus calves are sold well-grown and in store condition at a year old at Hexham Mart, mostly going to finishers for specialist schemes.

The cows also by necessity are hardy and they are bred to bulls from John Elliot’s Rawburn herd at Kelso which also have excellent mothering ability. The cows are wintered on straw and silage and calves are fed a rolled barley mix.

Denis Lumley nookton Farm, Blanchland consett DH8 9UH tel: 01434 675233 the granary Steps Slaley, Hexham tel: 01434 673204

three generations of lumleys so cute!


great newsome brewery

Sleck Dust, Pricky Back ochan, Frothingham Best and Jem’s Stout - up until the last two you might have been struggling to work out what connected the titles, but of course they are all beers.

They are all produced by the Hodgson family who farm at Great Newsome near Withernsea on the Holderness coast. They started Great Newsome Brewery four years ago as an additional enterprise to support the traditional family arable farming business.

‘We had a passion for real ale,’ says Matthew Hodgson, who runs the brewery operation with his brother Jonathan running the farming side. ‘We first looked at starting a brewery in 1999 but it wasn’t until 2006 that we found the time was right. The market for real ale was growing at the time and it has grown a lot since. It’s worked in our favour.’

Situated where they are, bounded by water four miles to the east by the North Sea and seven miles to the south by the River Humber, their local trading area is not the largest but they have succeeded in building a viable and sustainable enterprise in just a short time.

‘There’s always a degree of doubt over whether new ideas are going to work but the feedback we were getting from people was that they were looking for a local product. We knew that if we made a decent product and gave it good local branding that it should work.’

They didn’t skimp on the kit they needed to produce quality beer and set about putting together a sound business plan.

‘Fashion has driven the popularity of real ale. I think CAMRA deserve a degree of praise for that. They are constantly trying to bring real ale to a wider audience. We also pay a lower rate of beer duties than the larger breweries and that has helped us out too.’

SLECK DUST was their first beer and it remains their most popular. It is 3.8% strength and it makes up around 25% of all the beer they sell.

‘We have four core brands, a couple of occasional ones, and we

Working uP a thirst in holdernesschris Berry talks With mattheW hodgson at great neWsome BreWery

mattheW hodgson

are constantly coming up with new beers. Overall we have brewed over 20 beers. We’ve done well in our local area and one or two of our customers now promote it as a local product.’

Whilst the bottled beers make for a good photograph Matthew tells of 85% of their trade being cask beer.

‘Cask beer is growing but we are also finding that our bottled beer market is growing at an even greater rate. That means the brewery is growing too. Between 2009 and 2010 our sales increased by 69% and we are still finding new customers.’

‘We are bordered on two sides by water but that said we have pretty good transport links to and through the city of Hull. Our local market takes us to the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds, above Driffield; to the North York Moors and the east coast; and over the Humber into Lincolnshire. We also do pretty well in Sheffield

and Huddersfield.’

Whilst the original intention was for the brewery to assist the farm business the Hodgsons have been enjoying a successful time with both enterprises.

‘On the arable side things are a lot different to when we started the brewery. We were going through two years of poor commodity prices and high fertiliser costs. Things were pretty bleak. We were selling wheat for £58/tonne. That was just

Wishing Great Newsome Brewery continued success for the future!

Halsham, Hull HU12 0BTTel 01964 614233 Fax 01964 613227

www.northfieldagric.com


great newsome brewery

prior to starting the brewery. Just recently we have been selling wheat for £200/tonne.’

The Hodgsons have also increased the amount of land they farm, now running up to 1000 acres following semi retirement of a neighbour and retirement of a relative. They own

all but 220 acres.

‘Jonathan is involved with satellite technology. It’s something we’re really keen on and it is moving things forward on the farm. We currently grow wheat on around 60% of the farm with first and second wheats; plus we have

oilseed rape, beans and vining peas as break crops.’

Great Newsome Brewery now operates with Matthew and a local man, Nick, who started with them part-time but is now their full-time brewer. They have also just taken on a part-time driver. He works two

weeks a month on the deliveries.

Right! Time for a pint of Sleck Dust please!

www.greatnewsomebrewery.co.uk

Jonathan & mattheW hodgson roll out the Barrel at great neWsome


rising sun farm

rising Sun Farm situated just outside of Wallsend, tyne and Wear is the perfect representation of how a fully-functioning agricultural enterprise can work in equal partnership with the community that surrounds it, and do so successfully.

The organic community farm was established in the early nineties by the Rising Sun Farm Trust, a local organisation that was formed to bring members of the public closer to the rural land that lay on their doorstep whilst also creating educational, social and recreational significance within the community.

Margret Hall has led the Trust since it began and has played a key role in seeing the organisation successfully into the 21st century. The farm of 175 acres is in a country park run

a Wonderfully refreshing farming enterPriseWe visit rising sun farm to find out more aBout the Past, the Present and the future

by the local authority of 444 acres of conservation park land, including a teaching centre developed from an old isolation hospital.

In 1986 the local authority had the opportunity to buy the old hospital and created a Nature Reserve that was to be used as a teaching centre

for children within the area. Of course Rising Sun Farm was situated on the land too.

Julie (farm manager) and margaret hall (trust chair Person)


rising sun farm

The lease of Rising Sun Farm was purchased by the local authority and it quickly became clear that the best way to run the farm would be as a dedicated charitable trust, now known as the Rising Sun Farm Trust.

Being a community farm isn’t the only significance here though, because Rising Sun is also an organic farm a factor which was very much ahead of local thinking of the time. The Trust has worked hard to create an organic farm from what was once the site of one of Europe’s largest coal mining pits. The farm has been Soil Association certified since 1993, a circumstance that has both benefitted and burdened the Trust.

Margaret admits that even though being an organic farm is somewhat fashionable these days, it certainly wasn’t all those years ago.

She tells us “Organic status is very important to us, but I must admit it has become increasingly demanding year-on-year to ensure that we retain our certification, it’s an expensive classification to keep hold of so to think that we’ve managed it is absolutely fantastic.”

Having dodged two recessions and endured the horror of foot and mouth, Rising Sun Farm now has

the future to look forward to. The staff and volunteers who run the farm daily now work to promote education and knowledge of farming and the countryside; “The farm has been home to a special needs Day Service since 1995,” explains Margret, “and we work closely with people with learning difficulties in growing our beautiful produce”.

There are currently two farm managers working at Rising Sun, Julie Taylor and Mark Wright. Both started working as volunteers on the farm and were officially employed by the Trust in February this year.

Although the last seven years of Julie’s working life have been spent at Rising Sun Farm, when she first left agricultural college eight years ago she wasn’t even aware that such a successful and unique enterprise was situated just around the corner.

She tells us, “When I finished studying I wanted to gain more experience so my lecturer pointed me in this direction. I’d never heard about this farm believe it or not. I think this was because we are actually on an urban fringe here within a fairly built up area, so not many people know we’re here. That’s one of our main aims now to show people where we are and what we do.”

Rising Sun Farm now invites members of the public to come on site and really get their hands dirty. Visitors can help twelve of the regular volunteers with sheep, pigs and goats, can nurture crops, grow vegetables and can work on the arable land. An extremely popular livery business is also run on site and welcomes community involvement too.

Students of all ages are encouraged to pay the farm a visit whether it’s through a guided tour-like session or on an academic trip. As well as welcoming students looking to gain

invaluable hands-on experience, older people in search of that practical, rewarding pastime are also invited onto the farm.

“We also get trainees from an organisation called Nacro which works with disadvantaged teens that find themselves at risk of falling into crime and gives them something more constructive to do. As well as this we have a day centre for adults with learning difficulties.”

With so much going on at Rising Sun Farm it’s easy to forget that

Continues page 64


the farm does in fact house sheep, goats, pigs and chickens, to name but a few!

“When I first came here there were no animals here at all,” explains Julie. “I was quite keen to bring livestock back to the farm to make it more than just a local attraction. We now have two flocks of Wensleydale and poll Dorset sheep, Saddleback and Berkshire pigs which lend themselves quite well to the organic system that we have here, because being a native breed they are hardy and love the outdoor life. We also have goats including the rare Golden Guernsey, they’re a big hit with

visitors especially now we have some goat kids running around.”

Without a doubt the most exciting development at Rising Sun Farm came just last year when years of unsuccessful grant applications came to a triumphant end.

“Our Hands on the Land” was the project that broke the mould. After the Trust and the entire staffing team at Rising Sun Farm put forward their funding application plans to the National Lottery Fund, they hoped that the intricacy, importance and local relevance of the project would do the job, and it certainly did.

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SA Steel can provide agricultural buildings to suit any farmer’s needs or application’s, and because an ever-increasing percentage of the buildings on farms are being constructed with steel, the company is now more popular than ever.

SA Steel uses only durable, high quality steel in all of their buildings making them ideal for barns, farm sheds, or ranch structures as they feature column-free designs and provide a variety of flexible floor plans that can accommodate any number of layouts. Not only will the

structures provide adequate shelter for livestock, but they’re adaptable to include space for feed, crop, and equipment storage.

A variety of doors can also be added in various styles and sizes to add to the ease of access and the versatility of your steel building; makes it a lot easier for cattle, horses and tractors to get in and out and unique features and layouts are available and suit even the strictest of budgets.

For more information or to find out how Sa Steel Buildings can help maximise your farming potential visit www.sasteelbuildings.co.uk or call 0191 2531452

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Gen Barlow, Project Manager of “Our Hands on the Land” tells us, “Essentially it is about reconnecting children and their families with the land as a source of food. The funding has helped to encourage children, families and the whole community to engage with the land and understand exactly where their food comes from. Another aspect of our project mission is to get community groups to use the facilities we have and to recognise what they can actually do here on the site.”

“Our grant was put forward in partnership with the local council, local PCT and our local hospital trust. Now we are getting underway and the plans are becoming a reality it is incredibly exciting!”

Since receiving the substantial amount of funding major development work has been carried in and around the farm. A brand new timber building has been constructed on site by MG Courty Building Contractors that comprises of two state-of-the-art class rooms, the Cook Room and the Orchard Room.

In addition to the new timber buildings, a brand new steel sheep shed has also been erected at Rising Sun Farm. The structure is currently in the process of being constructed by the Whitley Bay-based firm SA Steel Buildings, and as you will see

from our photos is already looking very impressive indeed. The steel shed will house sheep primarily but it will also provide the perfect environment for hands-on interaction between visitors and the farms inhabitants.

Julie tells us how these facilities will be used, “These classrooms can give students and adults the chance to learn how to grow the food, sow the plants, harvest them, cook them and of course eat them. It brings the whole thing together in one place.”

The money has also been used to employ two new Food Facilitators who will both work throughout the farm and lead sessions in the new buildings. The Rising Sun Farm Trust are now seeking a feasibility study to see what they can do with the older, dilapidated farm buildings but they are keen to ensure that any new investments remain in tune with everything else on the farm.

For more information on rising Sun Farm visit www.risingsunfarm.co.uk or call 0191 234 0114 rising Sun Farm King’s road north, Wallsend tyne & Wear ne28 9JL

Battle hill Primary school Who came for a farm tour and to Plant some Potatoes


brian robinson

Hundreds turned out in force for Brian robinson Machinery’s open day at east cowton in May. they were treated to a massive array of machinery from all of the BrM franchises and for some it was their first opportunity to take a look inside the new building which houses the stores department, shop, offices and new training/meeting facilities.

‘The main reason for this open day is celebrate the completion of our newly refurbished building and retail area, which we moved into in December last year. It has 6500 sq ft of space and we’re extending it at the end of the year when we will put on a further 9000 sq ft for our new workshop which will put everything under one roof.’

It’s quite a change from when Brian started out with his wife Christine.

‘’We started off with a small workshop and after 2 years in business built a 2000 sq ft workshop which at the time I felt was massive. We outgrew that as machinery grew larger and 19 years ago we opened up what I thought again was a massive area with a 4000 sq ft workshop. Now we have this fantastic new building.’

Christine is just as proud as Brian over how far they have come.

‘We’re not a company where we have taken over from previous family members. Everything we have done has been how we and the people who work with us, including manufacturers, have helped to develop the business over the past 29 years. This building was once just used as a machinery store, now it looks great and we are also looking forward to lots of bookings for our new meeting and training facility.’

Another reason for our open day is to celebrate Valtra’s 60th anniversary,’ said Brian. ‘We have now been selling the brand that was originally called Valmet for the past 21 years. Valtra tractors, parts and service makes up around 40% of the total Brian Robinson Machinery business.

‘We now have hundreds of Valtra tractors on farms. When we sell a tractor we hope that the tractor will stay on that farm for a number of years and we will benefit from the workshop and parts business. That’s the way it pretty much works out. They are high spec, reliable tractors and their ‘a la carte’ system of manufacturing to each customer’s requirements is still what customers like.

grand oPen day at east coWtonchris Berry talks With Brian & christine roBinson

both one-pass cultivation and precision farming.

‘There has been a noticeable shift in seedbed preparation around here. There had been a move towards one-pass, but there has now been a definite movement back to power harrow combinations. The power harrow and drill combination is now back as the preferred method. I think a lot of people who went down the route of one-pass have been

caught out by not understanding the horsepower requirements of such an exercise. The thing is that if you use the power harrow combination over two days it isn’t far removed from what you’d get done with a one pass system because you would still spend a day in preparation for one-pass.’

‘There has been a lot more talk about precision farming lately. We now have a few customers using simpler

If you ever get chance to visit Valtra’s production line in Finland you will notice their attention to individual detail.’

But Brian Robinson Machinery is far more than just about one brand, as was plainly evident at the open day.

‘Our oldest franchise is JF which is now JF-STOLL. We’ve done really well with their diet feeders especially on both dairy and beef farms. POTTINGER and JOSKIN have also been good mainstays for us and KUHN is now very much a part of our stable of franchises. We don’t stock the full KUHN range but we do have balers, wrappers, tedders, rakes and sprayers. We have three sprayer franchises in all – Technoma, Kuhn and Lemken – and they all have very different features. On the arable side LEMKEN has been an excellent product for us with all of their cultivation equipment. Readers may also be interested to know that Brian Robinson is now the newly appointed area distributor for HUDSON TRAILERS.

Elsewhere we have just decided to expand into horticulture and have taken on the ISEKI tractor franchise, and our POLARIS quads business has been transformed in the past 8-9 months thanks to the launch of a diesel model.’

‘Overall this year is going very well. It’s not quite as buoyant as 2008 when our business went through the roof, but after a slight dip last year we’re currently enjoying good solid growth. Diesel costs are uppermost in farmers minds at present, in addition to the problems of diesel storage regulations from February of this year. We are doing our best to offer advice in terms of storage and consumption.’

Brian believes there has been a shift in arable farmers’ attitudes towards

christine roBinson - raising funds for yorkshire air amBulance

Brian on a tractor from yesteryear


brian robinson

East Cowton, Nr. Northallerton, North Yorkshire, DL7 0DX01325 378552 www.brianrobinson.co.uk

satellite systems and we are about to have a demonstration with a system being put forward by AGCO. I think there is a greater understanding from customers over what they are trying to achieve. They are applying high quality and expensive fertilisers and they want to make sure they are putting it on accurately, cutting out waste and making the most of what they have.’

Inside the new Brian Robinson

Machinery premises was a stand for Yorkshire Air Ambulance and we pictured Christine alongside it for one very good reason.

‘I’m raising funds for the charity by completing the Coast to Coast Walk from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay during May,’ says Christine. ‘Take a look at my Blog via our website and you can see how I’ve been training and I will continue to update my blog while I’m walking – talking about the

good days and the bad!

If you would like to sponsor Christine, go to the Brian Robinson Company website www.brianrobinson.co.uk and donate through her blog page or offer a donation through her email [email protected].

To end the Open Day, a presentation was made to Mike Donaldson to celebrate the past 25 years working at Brian Robinson Machinery as an agricultural engineer, specialising in

MF combines. Brian says it was a big decision for Mike, as he already had a full time job at Gill’s at Leeming Bar and a huge responsibility for me to take on my first employee all those years ago back in 1986. Mike was thrilled with the Border Fine Art’s limited edition ‘Checking the Ewes’ presentation gift.

www.brianrobinson.co.uk

Brian roBinson - the man!

collar in - collar out - get it sorted lads

noW are you sure you don’t Want it?


west nubbock

nSa north Sheep hosts, Lewis and Helen Forster are playing their role as modern hill and upland farmers; they’re achieving a balance between food production, rearing breeding stock for the lowlands and managing the landscape. Furthermore, with a world increase in demand for protein food, they are optimistic about the unit’s future.

“We are operating a commercial farming business which is balanced with environmental management,” Lewis explains. “We have adopted a twin approach to production. We are focused on maximising the breeding value of our flock, while the vast majority of the farm is in HLS and the remainder the HLS entry scheme, so we aim to produce the maximum number of kilos of lamb from the permitted ewe stocking rate, and our lamb crop has to be of consistent quality from top to bottom. Last season for example, our Mule ewe lamb crop peaked at £116 and sold for a very acceptable

average of £102 a head.

“First and foremost this is a livestock farm, at the same time we really do enjoy the stewardship element. In the last 10 years we have rebuilt 1,500 metres of stone wall, planted 8,000 trees, re-laid 700 metres of hedge, excavated ponds, and manage the vegetation to encourage the farm’s healthy population of Black Grouse, Curlew, Lapwing and many other ground nesting birds. We have a good working relationship with our landlord and land agent who are very enthusiastic about our farming practices. It works to everyone’s mutual benefit.”

West Nubbock, Hexham is a 1,200 acre tenanted unit lying to average around 800’, all of which is in the SDA, DA and SSSI, Most of the farm is in the Northern Pennines AONB, and carries a flock of 1,000 ewes plus hoggs, together with a 140 cow suckler herd. The Charolais cross calves are mainly sold as

West nuBBock a modern hill and uPland farm

yearlings at Hexham mart in May. Stephen Craigie has worked full time on the unit for over 30 years and Thomas Nattrass helps at peak times and with stone walling. The farm’s mix of managed heather moorland, rough grazing and sound in bye pasture perfectly lends itself to a stratified sheep farming system which also enables the Forsters to place their eggs in more than one

basket and maximise the potential of the different land values.

The sheep enterprise is headed by a core flock of North of England Blackface, genetics which are extremely well suited to the land type, says Lewis. “We’ve tried other hill breeds, however none match the North of England Blackie – they just suit here.”

leWis and helen forster


west nubbock

A portion of these Blackface ewes are bred pure for replacement purposes, and the remainder put to the Bluefaced Leicester ram, manily bred from the Forster’s own small flock. The cream of the crop of Mule ewe lambs are sold to repeat buyers for breeding purposes either through Hexham mart or privately at the farm, and the remainder retained and put to the Texel. These Texel cross lambs together with the Blackface and Mule wethers are finished off clover rich swards to 45kg+ live target weight and marketed direct from the end of July to independent procurer, Stephen Kirkup and Blackies, if possible to Dunbia/Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference scheme. The vast majority of these lambs are away by December, enabling concentrate fed to be reduced to an absolute minimal.

While the system may be very traditional, the genetics are new to West Nubbock and the management practices bang up to date. “We lost 80 years of North of England Blackface breeding to FMD, and it has taken us 10 years to restock, however we are still not quite back to where we would like to be. We’ve got the weight back in the lambs, however we still need to improve on quality. We’re nearly a completely closed flock, apart from buying in

tups, Blackies, Bluefaced Leicesters and Texels, all of which we select on confirmation.”

The Forsters have a close working relationship with their local vet practice, Intake Veterinary Services, Hexham which encouraged them to adopt a Farm Health Plan for both the flock and the suckler herd. “We’ve since introduced proactive strategies, for example for worming, vaccination and feet issues, which enable us to put a preventative plan in place and avoid fire brigade action.”

Grassland management is also high on the agenda. “We reseed annually around 25 acres of ley within a four to 10 year rotation,” Lewis explains. “After the silage cut, we direct drill a long term perennial rye mix rich in red or white clovers. I believe that it’s far better to invest in a good ley both for grazing and conservation purposes, than buy in fertiliser to invigorate tired swards,” he explains. “The result is to achieve better grass growth from a minimum amount of nitrogen application. We operate a rotational grazing system which includes a 10 day break every few weeks to freshen up the swards that are topped later in the season to prevent reseeding.”

Lewis is the third generation of Forsters to farm at West Nubbock, who have been here since the

1920s. Whether or not the couple’s daughters, 16 year old Lucy and Sophie, 13 years will be the next to take on the challenge remains to be seen. “The opportunity will be theirs,” says Lewis. “As well as being active members of Whitley Chapel YFC, South Northumberland Pony Club and the Haydon Hunt, both our girls are very much hands on helping out on the farm whether it’s lambing or planting trees.”

He adds: “Overall, we are optimistic for our future as well as theirs, simply because of the expanding world population and accompanying increase in demand for food. We

will continue to strive to improve our performance efficiency, however, as feed, fertilizer and fuel costs continue to spiral and having to work within the current legislative framework, we would prefer to be price makers rather than price takers for our lamb and beef. Until then, we will still be dependent on payments to enable us to reinvest and maintain a sustainable family farming business.”

For more information call 01434 603452

the recently established Bishop Burton centre for agricultural innovation received a boost today as its official home, a newly built suite of offices, classrooms and research units on the Bishop Burton college campus in east Yorkshire, was opened by the country Land and Business association (cLa) President William Worsley.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and lives at Hovingham, North Yorkshire, where he runs a family business involving farming, forestry and residential and commercial property in Hovingham, North Yorkshire. He is also a non-executive director of the Skipton Building Society and The Brunner Investment Trust plc.

William was invited to open the new building by College Principal Jeanette Dawson who said: “It’s extremely beneficial for our students to meet industry representatives such as president of the CLA, who can offer advice, encouragement and provide inspiration.

“William Worsley is a fantastic character, and a great advocate not only for Yorkshire, but for rural England and all that includes, and our learners and staff feel privileged to have met and spent time with him – it is something they will remember for a long time.”

The College’s Centre for Agricultural Innovation has been established to draw together all strands of land-based research currently carried out by staff and students at the College as Mrs Dawson explains:

“We hope that by establishing a Centre such as this, the results of valuable applied research can be used, built upon and promoted effectively to the betterment of agricultural and allied industries.”

William Worsley was impressed the College’s facilities and the students he met during his visit, which included a tour of the campus and the chance to meet some of the College’s agriculture degree students, who spoke to him about their dissertation projects and their plans for the future.

college centre for agricultural innovation oPened By cla President

He said: “I’m hugely impressed by the immaculate campus and how everything is so beautifully organised. The idea of the Centre for Agricultural Innovation is a brilliant one. Both the idea and the building are very efficiently laid out and the students are clearly engaged. I’m very encouraged by the quality of the dissertations.

“I’m also encouraged by their engagement with commercial enterprises and the sponsorship they have obtained, it’s impressive that

these businesses are so on board with it, and that the students are able to approach organisations with their ideas and get such positive responses.

“It’s really important to the CLA that young people are engaged with land management and agriculture, and we have recently launched a student membership to encourage this.”

www.bishopburton.ac.uk

William Worsley, harriet clark and Jeanette daWson


field to fork

Contact Alastair Cromarty1-5 Alma Terrace, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 1EJ

Tel: 01756 795417 Fax: 01756 701047

Established

for over 30 years

Specialists in Farm Accounts and Agricultural Taxation

We are pleased to be associated with John and Alison Spensleyand wish them continued success for the future

the traceability of food is now proving more popular than ever; as more and more of you turn to your local butcher for only the finest cuts of meat, it’s becoming clear that pre-packaged, formulated food will no longer satisfy those niggling hunger cravings.

Almost five years ago, Skipton-based farmers John and Alison Spensley were approached by Drake and Macefield, one of Skipton’s most traditional and highly-regarded butchers, and asked if they would consider selling their cattle directly through the shop, which is situated in the heart of the town’s bustling centre.

The Spensleys were eager to say yes and a field-to-plate partnership was quickly formed. John tells us, “It was an entirely new enterprise for us and we were very keen to get the ball rolling. For many years I’ve sold cattle through the auctions and onto the abbatoir, but I’d never had a major involvement with the end product

until this partnership began.”

Drake & Macefield have been serving the finest meat at their shops in Skipton and Settle for 113 years; in fact they are now Craven’s longest-standing traditional butchers. Since its formation in 1898, the business has looked to supply only the best locally-reared produce to its loyal customers.

seeing it through from field to fork We learn more aBout an exciting incentive develoPed in the heart of skiPton

alison and John sPensley

Working in PartnershiP

FarmersMart Late Spring 2011�0

field to fork

Pleasure to be associated with Alison & John Spensley

Bulk Haulage & Straw19 Brackenley Lane, Embsay, Skipton,

North Yorkshire, BD23 6NWTel/Fax: 01756 700454Mobile: 07702 876153

1 Sour Lane, Thorlby, SkiptonNorth Yorkshire BD23 3LJ

Mobile 07802 534704Email [email protected]

Pleased to be associated with the

Spensley’s

Slater Plant Hire LtdAgricultural contractors & Construction

EddiE B. WEBstErs & sons LtdWhittakers Barn Farm Cracoe

Nr. Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 6LB

Telephone 01756 730287 Fax 01756 730004Mobile 07801 123185

Email [email protected]

Lime and Slag Spreading • Haulage and Excavation

Now, in 2011, Richard Teal and Ian Thompson run the business in partnership and continue to ensure that the stock remains in line with the standard first introduced by its founder, the late Jack Macefield all those years ago.

After the field-to-plate partnership was agreed, the Spensleys, who farm at Manor Farm in Thorlby, began selling prime beef (British Blue, Limousin and Aberdeen Angus breeds) and lamb, all of which are raised completely naturally on the 560 acres of rich pasture land. Their livestock is grass-fed in the summer months and finished on a special high-energy diet of potatoes, maize, grass sileage, crushed and rolled barley, and protein pellets.

John continues, “In total we sell three cattle and eight lambs a week to Richard and Ian and we do so

fifty-two weeks a year. Drake and Macefield are literally only two miles away and are, I think, the only butchers in Skipton doing this sort of thing.”

Indeed they are. The Q Guild accredited butchers are now receiving recognition for their field-to-plate incentive. Ian and Richard are finding more and more customers are coming into the shop having heard about their partnership with the Spensleys.

Ian tells us, “It’s definitely a selling point for our customers. Sourcing locally proves that you don’t have to look far and wide to sell the very best. After our customers taste the meat they’ll often ask where it comes from and are more than happy to support this local initiative.”

On a personal level, John and Alison favour their partnership with Drake and Macefield because not only

has it strengthened local business relations, but it has also given them a guaranteed income, which in this turbulent industry accounts for plenty.

“It’s perfect because we are doing something positive for the consumer,” John continues, “but also for ourselves now because the trading relationship with Drake and

alison and John sPensley

ian thomPson and richard teal Jack macefield

FarmersMart Late Spring 2011 �1

field to fork

We are pleased to be long standing suppliers of ingredients and packaging to Drake & Macefield Butchers



Tel 01977 605590

le Bistro des amis

delicious Pies - trust us, We’ve tried them


bolster moor

Ilkley Abattoir, Little Lane, Ilkley, LS29 8HXTel: 01943 608042 www.threedales.co.uk

Fax: 01943 601586

Pleased to be associated with Drake And Macefield Butchers and wish them continued success

Rowland Agar(Wholesale Butchers) Ltd

SUPPLIERS OF THREE DALES QUALITY MEAT

field to fork

Macefield is consistent and reliable. When we first started supplying Ian and Richard they were after only one heifer each week, so the fact that they have increased order numbers so substantially actually speaks volumes.”

“It’s a much less volatile way to sell stock; I know I am selling at a fixed price each time and that prices won’t fluctuate in any way. It’s not at all similar to selling at auction really, because there you never know if you’ll have a good or bad day.”

The meat supplied in the shop is now proving more popular than ever and Ian accredits this to how well it is farmed by the Spensleys; “John’s cattle are incredabily lean and show a low proportion of bone and fat,

which is ideal to butcher,” he says.

To complete the field-to-plate connection, newly opened Skipton restaurant Le Bistro des Amis recently hopped on board to become the final piece of the puzzle by taking prime beef from - yes you guessed it - Drake & Macefield.

Luc Daguzan, who launched Le Bistro des Amis with business partner Liz Weatherby late last year, explained: “Developing on-the-doorstep field-to-table partnerships such as this allows us to have hands-on control over the supply process.

“This means we are able to ensure quality, along with full traceability, which is important to us, as many of our customers want to know where the meat they eat comes from and

we are happy to provide them with this valuable information. Moreover, our local supply ethos both helps keep food miles to a minimum and supports the local economy.”

After a fact-finding visit to the Spensleys’ holding, Luc explained: “I was extremely impressed by the high standards maintained. The fact that the farm has to undergo rigorous annual inspections, guaranteeing all aspects of animal welfare and environmental care, is extremely important to us, as I am sure it is to our customers.”

Le Bistro des Amis also sources other meat products through Drake & Macefield Butchers, including prime lamb, also from the Spensleys, free-range chickens, and home-cured

bacon. Some of the bacon comes from rare breed Saddleback pigs raised by Ian Thompson himself on the outskirts of Skipton.

For more information on Drake and Macefield, visit their website at www.drakeandmacefield.co.uk or call the Skipton shop on 01756 792802.

alternatively, you can contact John and alison Spensley at Manor Farm on 01756 792185 or perhaps you’d like to find out more on Le Bistro des amis. if so, contact the restaurant directly on 01756 797919.

luc daguzanthe end Product


bolster moor

Have you ever tasted a British Magical Sausage champion? or a BPeX Sausage of the Year? or a countryside Live Sausage Sizzle champion?

Bolster Moor Farm Shop, based just outside Golcar, near Huddersfield has produced all of these and has earned itself a tremendous reputation not just for its sausages but for all of its meat and its pork pies.

Second cousins Simon Haigh and Andrew Whitwam are partners in the business and started working together when they were both at Hinchliffes at Netherton Moor.

‘Both myself and Andrew wholly owned Hinchliffes butchers from 1996 to 2010,’ says Simon. ‘We had expanded the business massively for ten of those fifteen years but the last five we hadn’t seen any growth at all. We felt that it had got to the stage where the market was saturated. We thought Bolster Moor would be ideal to expand our activity. We knew we had the knowledge and having bred 6 children, all boys, between the two of us we wanted to be able to give

them an employment opportunity in the future. My eldest son, Luke, is doing well in the butchery and is winning competitions already, whilst my middle son Jack is studying agriculture at Askham Bryan College.’

‘We believed that there was room for a shop here in Colne valley. This place is a little off the beaten track but there was plenty of space for what we needed. The reputation we had built up at Hinchliffes and our experience led to people coming over here to support us and we have done exceptionally well since opening up here in November 2009.’

Their quest to use all things British has led them to expand their own farming enterprise which was originally set up by Simon’s grandfather Joe Haigh in 1953. At the time the farm ran to just 8-10 acres at Harden Road Farm. Joe was a butcher too. It was Simon’s father John and also Andrew’s father Harry who took over the reins in 1963 who started the poultry enterprise.

The farm enterprise today runs to

simPly the Best at Bolster moorchris Berry talks With simon haigh at golcar, near huddersfield

around 50-60 acres with Simon and Andrew now running it.

‘We have spent the past 4-5 years concentrating on what we have been trying to achieve with Bolster Moor Farm Shop, but we are now starting to build up our livestock enterprise. We buy-in quite a few store cattle

and both Angus and Texels are going through the farm shop. We’re now growing the farming side especially with store cattle and we will have around 100 cattle on at present. We buy from local farms too and bring the cattle on ourselves so that we have them killed at the stage we

simon haigh and andreW WhitWam of Bolster moor farm shoP


bolster moor

We are pleased to be long standing suppliers of ingredients and packaging to Bolster Moor Farm Shop



Tel 01977 605590

want them. We like all our cattle to have grazed; we don’t particularly want heifers that have never seen the light of day.’

Simon also has his own sources up in Scotland, through family connections.

‘My brother farms in a big way near Stranraer where he has 450 acres. He keeps us nicely supplied with strong store cattle. We’ve been killing six cattle a week since Christmas, which means we need around 300 cattle a year to keep up with demand.’

Using local produce and keeping the whole business as locally as

they can is another of their favoured methods. The abattoir (Woods) they use is just 2 miles away.

‘We’re conscious of everything we produce being British. What people expect when they come through the door is that even if the meat isn’t produced by ourselves it is still produced locally and it is quality. We buy shoulders of English pork but we don’t beat the wholesalers to death on price. If we can give better than the average market price we will and we’re happy to support pig farmers. After all, we would be the first to squeal if they’re gone. What we want is that something better than

the supermarkets produce. We’re looking for freshness and taste. We go through 22-24 pigs a week.’

‘Our trade has been unbelievable since we started here. We have a staff of 30 with over 20 on the butchery side, including our pie makers. One of the reasons we need so many is because we make, cut and manufacture everything ourselves. Everything is on display. That’s what customers want these days. They want to see the theatre of what is going on and to be able to talk to those who are making the cuts. We serve all of our customers personally and we are always

prepared to offer advice on how to get the best out of your meat.’

That’s why as well as including many of the other aspects of a farm shop Simon and Andrew have now opened up a bakery alongside the butcher’s counter, and are currently in the process of building a coffee shop which they intend to open in August.

Bolster Moor Farm Shop golcar, Huddersfield HD7 4JU tel: 01484 648274

We are pleased to be associated withBolster Farm Shop

and we wish them continued success for the future

1258 Manchester Road, Linthwaite Huddersfield HD7 5QA

Tel 01484 844897 / Fax 01484 844900

www.accountantinhuddersfield.co.uk


hazard

New-K Fabrication cover all aspects of metalwork including bespoke design, fabrication and installation of:

• Agricultural trailers• Livestock handling and feeding equipment • Loader attachments • Electric security gates and barriers • Ornimental gates, fencing, staircases and treeguards • Mig, Tig and Arc welding including on-site repairs • Specialise in steel, stainless steel, wrought iron

and aluminium

For more information about how we can turn your ideas into reality, visit www.new-kfabrication.co.uk or call us on 01572 789 944, or Carl on 07789 331 839

New-K Fabrication are proud to support Roger, Duncan and James Hazard

and look forward to working with them as their business grows.

AJ HAzARD FARmsAJ Hazard Farms specialise in arable crop production on farms in Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Services we provide include:• Full Contract Farming Agreements • Land rental • Whole farm “stubble to stubble” contracts • All aspects of cultivations and drilling • Oilseed rape drilling with Sumo Trio inc. liquid fertiliser banding• Spraying and Liquid Fertiliser application with a Chafer 30m sprayer

- GPS section control • Variable rate Nitrogen with a Yara N sensor • Variable rate P & K applications - GPS control • Combining with Hillmaster combines

For all you requirements or further information, please call simon Hazard on 07712 134 627 or email [email protected]

AJ Hazard Farms are proud to provide contract farming services to Rm Hazard & sons and look

forward to continuing to help their business grow

With the summer showing season just around the corner, many of you will already be preparing your animals and perhaps yourselves for your busiest time of the year.

As competitors up and down the country get ready for their farming schedules to erupt, the Hazard family are busy doing what they do best; breeding, breeding and more breeding.

Indeed, because of their reputation, it’s likely that you may already be familiar with the Hazard name. It’s a recognised reputation that father Roger, who recently completed his role as President of the Limousin Cattle Society, insists “has taken years to formulate”.

So let’s go back to the very beginning to find out just how what was once was a regular dairy farm, transformed into a successful, inspirational beef breeding unit……

Roger Hazard first came to Saltby Heath Farm with his late father in 1947 and it was this relationship which he accredits to him gaining all the farming knowledge he needed. In those early years the land at Saltby Heath stretched over a respectable 200 acres, but now Roger, with his Wife Susan and their two sons Duncan and James the farm has expanded the land to cover just over 700 acres.

History most certainly repeated itself at Saltby Heath Farm because as Duncan and James grew up they too learnt from their father who they now describe as being “the best teacher” and “the biggest inspiration” to them. So much so that as the working relationship between the three of them solidified and similar areas of interest were formed, the three of them together were a real force to be reckoned with.

Throughout their teenage years and

Breeders of the very Best limousin cattle lucie carter visits the hazard family at saltBy heath farm in sProxton near grantham

into their early twenties both James and Duncan studied agriculture and land-based studies at college and university, but once graduated the pair explored different areas of the industry and it seems it only made

them stronger.

Duncan tells us, “Studying definitely helped me; I suppose if its something you’re involved in and enjoy you tend to take more of an interest don’t you? When I left school and became more

from left: duncan, roger and James


hazard

Whilst Duncan continued to work on the farm with his father, James decided that after graduating from college he would travel to one of France’s most renowned Limousin-breeding districts ‘Limoges’ to gain further invaluable knowledge.

He tells us, “I lived in Limoges for six months because we already had some really good contacts there and I wanted to learn more about the breeding process, growth rate and carcass production.”

After working in France, James was able to see just how many fresh and varied bloodlines were available for the breed here in the UK.

Duncan tells us why those new bloodlines were so attractive, “Our intention was to buy something that was from a completely different pool of genetics without the horrendous expenditure you get over here when trying to purchase females to form new families but of course this was much easier when the exchange rate was better.”

In Rogers words, “It all comes down to the family” and both Duncan and James thoroughly agree; “It just so happens now that all our best animals have come out of the same families from when Dad first started,” admits Duncan, “Families such as Uplands Tamara, Broadmeadows Ukulele, Lumbylaw Upside and Tankersley

Trixie. All those lines still remain today and still remain the best.”

By maintaining only the best blood lines the Hazard family are now known both locally and nationally for the quality of their pedigree stock. Despite the country’s current economical climate, the Hazards insist that business is indeed booming.

“We are selling our stock all the time, in fact trade at the minute is great,” says James. “For years we have sold a lot of stock privately here on the farm to people wanting a stock bull as well as a number of people wanting females. We also sell all the killing cattle live-weight through the market so that people can see the type of stock we are producing. It’s just as important for us to attend auctions because it means we have a presence there.”

And a presence is exactly what the Hazards now have. In total the family has advised four other farms within the area to take on the Limousin breed and many of the people who have bought from them are now experiencing top-quality, award-winning cattle with the same pre-fixes.

For Roger, Duncan and James the art of breeding stock and the study of the breed itself has always been the most crucial part of what they do. They are currently part of the ‘HI Herd Health Scheme’ which

monitors the herd for any diseases, and more recently they have been selling semen from a good-looking bull they purchased in France.

In truth the Hazard don’t completely shy away from the glare of the show ring because for many years Roger has had the privilege of judging Limousin classes at shows up and down the county. And in just a few days time the family will be hosting a Limousin showcase day on behalf of the National Beef Expo Show who chose Saltby Heath Farm specifically for this one day event (25th May).

On the day coach-loads of visitors will arrive on the farm to observe the Mereside Herd in all its glory and to find out more about the breed from the Hazards, who it’s fair to say are now experts in their field.

For more information on the Hazards, the Mereside Herd or the Limousin breed visit the incredibly popular website www.meresidelimousins.co.uk or call the family directly on 01476 860282.

r.M. Hazard & Sons Saltby Heath Farm Skillington grantHaM Lincolnshire ng33 5HL

Don’t forget Beef eXPo on 26th May 2011.

involved in the business I developed a particular interest in feed and minerals, whereas James became more interested in genetics and bloodlines and now he is absolutely brilliant at that sort of thing.”

The two school leavers didn’t relax for long after their academic years were over, they dabbled in a bit of showing here and there and of course helped their father to milk cows and expand the pedigree Limousin side of the business.

Although Roger has bred his beloved Mereside Herd of Limousins since 1983, that original herd was relatively small when compared to the 300-strong one we now see roaming the land at Saltby Heath Farm. When the family eventually did decide to leave the world of dairy farming behind and make Limousin breeding their number one priority, they moved full steam ahead.

FarmersMart Late Spring 2011 ��

marwood

Four years ago andrew Marwood relocated his farm machinery business from old Malton to Full Sutton. the move was just 15 miles but it has made the world of a difference to andrew.

‘Coming here was like emigrating. We set up a new customer base. Everyone around here kept telling me they hadn’t had a farm machinery dealer in the area since Burgess over a decade ago. They were looking out for someone who could give a reliable service and I wanted an area where I could establish that core everyday business of parts. We’ve now established that and it’s growing on a week to week basis.’

Andrew now operates with two tractor franchises – Landini and McCormick.

‘Landini has a small but very loyal following of regular customers. If people who haven’t had a Landini can get beyond the name not being one of the biggest sellers they will find it is a very good, reliable product.

‘I took on McCormick because it already has substantial repeat business. There are 200+ machines already out there from the previous dealer and it has given us parts business from day one. It’s a tractor that isn’t full of gizmos which is what a lot of my customers want.’

The other main franchises in Andrew’s business are Dieci telehandlers and Trioliet feeders, although going to press Andrew announces the arrival of his new baler franchise with Vicon.

‘Dieci have now established a base in the UK and that will give us even greater back-up as a distributor. It’s a huge step forward and will up the ante amongst its competitors. It should give us an additional

advantage when talking with prospective customers.’

‘It’s my second season with Trioliet. It’s getting to the point where you have to feed all year round and these diet feeders are ideal. They used to come into the UK through Redrock but Trioliet were interested in setting up their own dealer network in the UK.’

‘Taking on the Vicon product enables us to offer the full range of grassland and fertiliser equipment to our customers and completes our portfolio.’

‘I’m now in a position where I’m confident with the team we have. The team consists of Mike Smith, our Stores and Service manager; Alan Hornsey, Product Specialist, who has recently rejoined us; Don Toogood; Justin Lamb and Andrew Smith – engineers who have a wide range of knowledge of farm machinery. Debra Marwood focuses on financial matters and marketing, and our recent addition to the team Jonathon Leaf working alongside myself in sales.’

So WHat Do anDreW’S cUStoMerS tHinK aBoUt tHe ProDUctS tHeY USe?

THOMAS HAGAR – BARTHORPE LODGE, BARTHORPE

‘We have 1500 breeding sheep and 1200 cattle. The sheep are Texels and Charollais crossed on to the Lleyn or Mule. The cattle are mainly black and whites that we bring in and take to fat. We send our stock to Jewitt’s in Spennymoor. We purchase DIECI handlers from Andrew and this is our sixth one. We normally replace every year but we’re holding on to this one a little longer. It’s the Agristar 37.7 and it’s a really good all-round machine. It’s

the machinery line-uP is comPletefarmersmart talks With andreW marWood at full sutton

SAM PADFIELD (STOCKMAN) – CW FOSTER, MANOR FARM, YOULTHORPE

‘The farm runs to 2000 acres with 300 acres of potatoes, plus cereals and grass. The livestock enterprise runs to 400 head of cattle with 40 being pedigree South Devons. We have just taken delivery of the Trioliet which has impressed us with how it works. It’s a quality machine that chops bales and mixes well.

Simon Foster made the decision to take it on and I can see why. ‘The way it mixes the food compared to how we were doing it before is very consistent. Every mix is the same as you can weigh what you’re putting in. That way you have more control of what the cattle are being fed. We’re very pleased with it. We also run a Landini tractor from Andrew.’

www.andrewmarwood.com

so handy for getting into tight spaces and for me it out manoeuvres other machines with its great turning circle. It also seems a much stronger machine than others and we give it some work. I’ve known Andrew a long while and if anything does ever go wrong either he or one of his mechanics will be straight out no matter what time of year it is. We are also using a Trioliet diet feeder from Andrew too.’

andreW marWood trioliet With sam Padfield


neil blyth

GILL’S - LeemInG Bar

John H Gill & Sons, Unit 4, Leeming Bar, Northallerton, North Yorkshire DL7 9AB

Pleased to supply Neil Blyth

and wish him continued success

for the future

THe FAmiLY Firm eSTABLiSHeD 1912

Tel: 01677 422127 Fax: 01677 426715 mob: 07786 972059 email: [email protected]

neil Blyth’s story isn’t at all dissimilar to that of a traditional, second-generation farmer, but the twists and turns along his journey have only solidified the fact that this man was born to farm.

The Blyth family began their farming legacy almost twenty years ago in Barnard Castle. As well as maintaining the farm, Neil’s Father Roy ran his very own Butchers shop in nearby Hartlepool, (as he still does today) and the family enjoyed farming from field to fork.

Being from Hartlepool originally, the Blyth family was always on the look out for a farm ideally located near to the butchers that would make Roy’s working day that little bit more manageable.

After making the move from Barnard Castle to Middleton House Farm

fulfilling a farming destinythat all our produce is homebred. Charolais cattle produce a good carcase with nice marbling and an even covering of fat and they also hang well. We have tried putting other breeds of cattle through the shop but have found them either too fat or lean, the latter of which don’t hang as well.”

Neil is also a regular at the Charolais Society main sales at Carlisle and Stirling with Bulls and Heifers. His main aim now having achieved so

much on the farm is to breed the very best Pedigree Charolais he can, and he seems to be going the right way about it; having already sold to a top price of 8000gns.

So if it’s good bulls and tasty local produce you’re after, then the Blyth Family should be your first port of call.

Middleton House Farm, Hartlepool tel: 01429 274549

Hartlepool, Neil immediately adapted to the new farm and worked tirelessly to make it the success it is today. Rather than follow in his fathers footsteps, Neil never contemplated training as a butcher, but instead went down an entirely different route.

“I decided that I wanted to go to university and study to be a surveyor. After I graduated from Nottingham Trent University I worked for three years as a surveyor but my heart just wasn’t in it, I simply wanted to be a farmer.”

Since he made the decision Neil has been able to invest both time and money into making Middleton House Farm a profitable enterprise; “The gradual growth has meant that we now keep 120 Suckler Cows, 75 of which are Pedigree Charolais as well as 300 ewes, mainly Suffolk cross Mules that we put to Texel and Charollais tups.”

As you’d probably expect the majority of the stock produced at Middleton House Farm goes directly through to the Butchers shop which is now run by Neil’s sister Alison on a full-time basis.

“We do like to promote that fact neil Blyth


green farm health

We are pleased to be associated withGreen Farm Health and we wish

them continued success for the future

Kevin Walker On Site Plant ServicesPhone: 01845 577832 Fax: 01845 578700

Mobile: 07793208322Email: [email protected]

Web: www.kramerallrad.co.uk

the second green Farm Health open Day and Spring Machinery Show, held at thirsk Mart in March was heralded a success by all of those who exhibited.

‘We have seen hundreds of

customers today,’ said Chris Jeffery of Green Farm Health. ‘Days like this offer farmers the opportunity to see just about everything they want to see all in one morning or afternoon from animal health products to cattle handling equipment to dog

Plenty to see at thirskchris Berry visits one of the neWest oPen days and machinery shoWs

and pet food, rural clothing and of course all manner of tractor and farm machinery. It makes life a lot easier than having to make several journeys when you can take a look at what’s on offer all in one place. Last year’s inaugural event was such a success that we just had to have another go this year and the reaction we have had from our customers has been very favourable.’

Many of the farm machinery suppliers including Brockhills of Yorkshire, Kevin Walker and Ripon Farm Services were impressed too.

‘We will see far more farmers on a day like this than we would if we were just back at our normal place of business,’ said Kevin Walker. ‘Events like this can only help what we are all trying to achieve. The facilities here at Thirsk are tremendous and the day has been very good for prospective orders.’

Green Farm Health, fresh from its triumph as agricultural store of the year in the Pfizer-sponsored awards, was very busy and the staff were pretty much run off their feet as customers chose this as an ideal time to purchase.

‘Events like these are also great social days too,’ said Chris. ‘Of course we all want to do well in business, but creating an atmosphere where people can come along and spend time together in a really nice social setting is good news too. Thirsk Market is a tremendous asset to the farming community and we have been delighted with the response from the agricultural community in their attendance once again.

www.greenfarmhealth.co.uk tel: 01845 522611


heath

You won’t find many galloways in Lincolnshire that’s for sure but David Heath is expanding his herd in the pursuit of commercial success at Wroot, just a handful of miles from Doncaster. For David it’s pigs during the day and cattle at night and at weekends.

‘I manage a boar stud for Rattlerow Farms, that’s my day job. The cows are just evenings and weekends. We have 44 Galloways at present and I’ve been involved with the breed for the past 18 years. Originally I just got them because I liked the look of them. When I got up to 16 cows I thought they were a bit much to handle on my own and I started cutting back, but then William wanted to get involved and thought we could make a business out of them, so we’re back building up numbers.’

William is referred to as David’s daughter’s ‘other half’. He’s William Gagg and is a farm manager for Higgins Agriculture Ltd, responsible for 500+ acres of potatoes and 1600 acres of cereals.

‘I said it was alright building numbers back up but we would need to sell at the other end,’ says David.

William immediately set about making contacts and they started supplying a local farm shop, Bank End Farm Shop.

‘They did okay but were struggling with the amount they could sell, so I got into the truck and started going around local butchers. That’s when I came across Sean Spellman. He has two butchers shops in Scunthorpe and Brigg and we’re now supplying him regularly. A lot of high class restaurants use Galloway beef and we have one or two restaurants directly.’

from toy shoPs to galloWayschris Berry talks With david heath at Wroot

‘There’s nowhere else nearby that has Galloway classes and there’s generally little point in putting them in with ‘any other breed’ classes as the continentals always seem to be put first.’

Having got the bit between their teeth David, William and Debbie (David’s wife) and Emma (daughter) are now the four partners in Ravenfield Livestock.

‘We’ve called it ‘livestock’ so that if we started with sheep it can also come under the same banner. William has had sheep in the past and so we might start on with them in the future.’

David’s father farmed and his brother, John, now farms out on the Holderness coast. He shows Jerseys and Aberdeen Angus. But David hasn’t taken the conventional route to farming.

‘My father also had another business, running toy shops. We had 5 at one stage all around the Doncaster/Rotherham area, but then Mr Scargill took all his men on an extended holiday and that messed the job up because all of our shops were in mining villages. I was in that trade for around 15-20 years. Then I moved into landscaping, eventually ending up with my job with pigs – and of course the Galloways.’

Watch out on whether David succeeds with his bull this July at the Great Yorkshire Show. The drink will still be flowing at the Galloway Cattle Society bar regardless!

D r & D J Heath, Heathersgill, Field Lane Wroot, Doncaster tel: 01302 772950

David and William are presently buying-in additional stores, fattening and then selling to Spellman’s.

‘It’s an old-fashioned, well-tasting meat with a little bit of fat and marbling,’ says David. ‘It’s slow-grown utilising Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust land. We pay a nominal fee for each site where they graze. There’s no way we could do this if we were having to pay a commercial rate, but the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust wants native breeds on its land to tidy up the scrub. Galloways are excellent for conservation grazing land and will eat almost anything. The land prices around here are so high because of the ‘pony brigade’. I just happened to drop on the LWT a few years ago and it has been an amicable arrangement. As numbers grow we are going to need more land, quite where that’s going to come from I don’t know unless they (LWT) buy something else.’

They have their own bull who is now 5 years old, Black Jack of Laneleybield, who came from the Peebles area and was bought at Carlisle.

‘He’s from cracking bloodlines and has been to the Great Yorkshire Show twice. We got Reserve Male with him last year and we’re hopeful that this year will be third time lucky. He looks really good. The only thing the judge marked him down on last year was a crack in his hoof. This time we’re taking a cow and calf, and a heifer in calf, as well as him. That way we can enter the pairs and team of three. It also keeps the numbers up for the Galloways – and we run the Galloway Society bar too!’

David had a junior champion at Harrogate in 2000, but he doesn’t show anywhere else.

William gagg & david heath

15 Old Courts Road • Brigg • DN20 8JDTel: 01652 650760

35 Marsden Drive • Scunthorpe • South Humberside • DN15 8ALTel: 01724 864 768

S p e l m a n SFa m i ly B u T c h e r S

Sellers of David’s Galloway beef

Wishing David Heath every success in the future.


jeffrey

Steve Johnson Cattle ServicesFreeze Branding In North Yorkshire

Tel: 01347 810980Mobile: 07940 064991

Wishing Tim & Caroline every success in their future business ventures Wishing Tim & Caroline all The suCCess for The fuTure

Walker Bros. agriCulTural ConTraCTors

SpecialiSt in round bailing & wrapping (Silage)

Main Street, Huby, york, nortH yorkSHire yo61 1HQ

Phone numBer: 01347 811061moBile: 07968 050238

tim and caroline certainly aren’t strangers to the world of agriculture, but up until 2005 they were somewhat unfamiliar with Highland cattle. now however, after a chance meeting brought them face to face with this statuesque breed, tim has developed a strong interest in rearing and showing Highlands.

Tim and Caroline moved to Edgewold in the village of Huby just five years ago after one of their elderly neighbours sold them the house and the subsequent land that came with it. The four acres of land hadn’t occupied animals before, but now houses 11 Jacob sheep, a goat, 12 Horses, Ponies and Donkeys all of which graze together on a further six acres. To accompany them Tim was keen to bring cattle onboard, but realised that further land would be required in order to achieve his ambition.

Although he knew that he wanted to keep cattle, Tim was unsure of which breed to go for; “I had showed a fondness for Highlands for many years but things really got going after my Dad and I watched the cattle judging at Aldbrough and Boroughbridge Show one year. Whilst there I got talking to one of the show’s exhibitors Marianne Halford and she told me a bit about Highland Cattle.”

After making their initial enquiry Caroline and Tim were invited by Marianne to come and observe her own herd of Highlands.

Tim tells us, “Marianne showed us round her visitor centre in Northumberland and it was there

where I immediately took to them. After we walked in the fields for a closer look, Marianne told us that a few of the Highlands were for sale. I said I wouldn’t mind a couple so promptly got the cheque book out!”

To ensure that the cattle had enough land to roam freely, and make plenty of winter feed, Tim extended their small 10 acre holding at Huby to include an additional twenty acres of rented Grassland in the nearby villages of Tollerton and Shipton.

Tim is a member of the North of England Highland Cattle Breeders Club and has 21 Highlands in total. For now he isn’t looking to purchase any more; “If I see something I like I’ll buy it but obviously I don’t want to overstretch myself with it being more of a hobby. I have my own Stock Bull which I hire out, and sell my unwanted young stock as stores; I don’t fatten them but rather select the ones I want to keep.”

Tim’s professionally time is spent working for himself as a tree surgeon, hedge-cutter, agricultural and fencing contractor under the business name ‘Timbercare Country Services’.

“I enjoy the blend between working with the animals and working professionally. It is manageable at the minute because it is a hobby rather than my main bread and butter and I prefer it that way because I’m still able to get the enjoyment out of it.”

Tim is now experiencing success in the show ring and it seems the pair has found the perfect balance between cattle and equine showing.

exPeriencing success after Just six yearslucie carter talks With tim Jeffrey and caroline thomson

Caroline tells us, “I start showing from May right through to September and I’m out virtually every weekend from then on. Tim and I are usually at different ends of Yorkshire when the showing season gets underway!”

At last years Aldborough and Boroughbridge Show Tim followed in his partners winning footsteps when he received the Championship prize in the Highland category, twice running at Ryedale Show, and much success over the last 4 years at the Great Yorkshire Show, Tim and a Beef Shorthorn breeder friend Steve Johnson played a key part in introducing a Native Breed class onto the schedule of their local show.

He tells us, “Huby and Sutton Show didn’t use to have any other breed classes apart from commercial

Angus and Limousin cattle, so we approached the shows organisers and persuaded them to introduce a Highland class. They said if that’s the case they may need help in sorting it all out, so we bought a cup to compete for, put classes together and entry numbers quickly went from thirty animals in the previous year to ninety!”

Tim and Caroline’s young daughter Hattie is now displaying an innate interest in showing with her Mum and her Dad, so who knows the very best from the Jeffrey family may be yet to come.

edgewold, Huby, near YorkYo61 1HJ tel: 01347 811120 Mob: 07736106323

caroline thomson and tim Jeffrey


Farming Insurance Broker, Harold Woolgar from Epworth near Doncaster, states that the tremendous take-up of the fitment of security devices such as M-Track and Plant I, together with various makes of immobilisers, seem to have turned the previous raging tide of stolen tractors.

In the previous 12 months period Mr Woolgar reported thefts of over £1million in tractors, Land Rovers and Discoveries. The police in West Yorkshire are delighted with the 99% recovery rate on the four separate tractor theft incidents, and moreover the arrest of the perpetrators.

Gone are the days of where we can simply leave a tractor parked in a field, without the need for some sort of physical satellite motivated surveillance system. Such systems keep a watching eye on the equipment, and also alert the farmer and the control centre when the vehicle has been moved or when there is any suspicious activity.

england waits with baited breath….

Sticking with good news, The World Ploughing event in Linderads, Sweden were recently held (14 & 15 May) and determined the World Champion in both classes for Conventional

dairy

Dry weather has dominated the conversations between farmers this spring. With another dry spring on the back of last year, should we be getting used to these conditions or is it in fact a blip?

2010 was an extremely dry year especially throughout the East of our region and forage stocks were already looking low for the 2010/11 winter. Early wintery weather forced the premature housing of cattle

and supplementing of sheep. This subsequently put forage stocks under further pressure and reaffirmed the need for an early spring, but instead we were greeted with an early summer and droughty spring.

This is good for the sheep men, but us dairy boys are scratching around a bit. On my own farm we had only 20 inches of rain in 2010 and so far we have had 3.5” (90mm) in total in 2011. Going into winter

take it from a man Who knoWs...

with virtually no first cut silage and depending on whole crop wheat (which should have sold for £200 a ton) and maize worried me about the ration with little grass silage in it, but we managed well and milk yields are well up.

We now look to be entering another year of similar weather, light showers are just starting as I write and long may they continue, because spring barley sown in March looks set to be a disaster and maize is yet to germinate in the dry soil. First cut is in full swing in Lancashire, but here in Yorkshire we have burn hill tops and winter wheat scorched across the area. One little consolation however, is that it is so dry even the

nettles are dying!

So what now for this summer? Reports of a heat wave lasting until July have been made, but with nature you can be sure that the conditions will generally balance on. So as we prepare for a wet Yorkshire Show and a difficult harvest, concerns maybe should be on next winters feed, will there be enough or should extra be made just in case!?

For this we will just have to wait with bated breath….

www.tim-gibson.com

at last tractor thefts seem to have Been halted

Ploughing and also Reversible Ploughing. This year’s Conventional Ploughing section is represented by John Hill, Chairman of the Barugh Green Ploughing Society and a dairy farmer from Hoylandswaine.

The Reversible Ploughing was done this year by Colin Bowen of Craven Arms in Shropshire who hoped to emulate John’s several World Championships in the reversible ploughing section.

See our summer edition for the shows results.

For more information call Harold Woolgar insurance on 01427 873888

the h team are all either farmers daughters, sisters, or come from a farming , legal or insurance Background, that is Why they and We, understand, farming insurance and

farmers . We Work for the client, not the insurer, there is a real difference.

dairy farmer tim giBson gives us his Predictions for this summer’s conditions


fawcett

ATV SPECIALISTS

28 Derwent Road York Road, Industrial Estate, Malton, North Yorkshire, YO17 6YB

Tel: 01653 692244

D H WADSWORTH & SONS(Malton) LTD

www.wadsworthquads.co.ukRepairs, Servicing & Small Machinery

We are pleased to be associatedwith Carl Fawcett & Sons and wishthem continued success for the future

INMAN & CO Ltd.CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

We are pleased to provide accountancy and taxation services to Mr & Mrs Fawcett.

We wish them every success in their Farm and Camp Site.

24, Green Lane Clifton York YO30 5QXTelephone and Facsimile 01904 640884

there has been quite a change to life on Kissthorn Farm during the past four years. carl and Kathy Fawcett had built up a strong reputation for their texels over many years. it was what they were known for – and they still are – but the family is now developing a formidable reputation for their cattle, particularly their British Blondes.

And that’s not all! In the past four years they have also diversified into running a very smart and beautifully positioned touring caravan and camping site, called Foxhill Park.

The driving force behind the move towards cattle has come from Carl and Kathy’s three sons – Ed, William and Jimmy aged 23,21 and 14 respectively, although Jimmy is so big already that he looks like he wouldn’t have trouble ever being served a pint! Carl and Kathy also have a daughter, Lucy, aged 11.

Kissthorn Farm is in the village

cattle and caravans add to sheeP rePutationfarmersmart visit the faWcetts of kissthorn farm, sand hutton

of Sand Hutton, with the caravan site situated less than a mile away at Claxton. The Fawcetts are part tenants and part landowners.

‘We have approximately 450 acres of which 300 acres belong to the Church Commissioners. We keep buying bits of land as time goes on,’ says Carl. ‘Our Texel flock is still going strong and we have 160 Texel ewes and another 30 pedigree Texels. We have done well with them over the years winning at the carcass competition at the Great Yorkshire Show three times and also doing well in the live butchers lambs classes. We have also won

with them at the Christmas Fatstock Show at Malton Market four years in a row.’

The Fawcetts also have a small flock of 60 Swaledale ewes that are put to the Blue Faced Leicester. Their crops include 160 acres of wheat, 50 acres of barley, fodder crops for the livestock, with the rest down to grass for hay and silage.

Whilst Carl has always had an interest in cattle it is the boys who have led the charge towards where the Kissthorn Herd has got to over the past four years. Carl tells of the direction they are now moving with the herd.

the faWcett Boys


fawcett

Escape to the tranquil and beautiful north Yorkshire setting of Foxhill Park. Foxhill’s ideal location and facilities gives the perfect opportunity for guests to explore North Yorkshire

• Shower block • Laundry room • Disabled facilities • Electric pitch hook-ups • Dog walking area • Shop - with locally

sourced produce • Food preparation area • Picnic benches • Many local pubs, restaurants

and take-away’s

Claxton to Harton Lodge RoadClaxton, York YO60 7RX

Tel: 01904 [email protected]

www.foxhillpark.com

‘We have been buying store cattle and fattening for market, but with the price of store cattle being high there isn’t much left for us after we have grown them on. That’s why we are now trying to breed more of our own stock and we intend to grow the suckler herd. At present we have 30 suckler cows with half being pedigree British Blondes. We’re very particular about our British Blondes and anything we don’t like we will send to slaughter with the bulls. If it isn’t something we would want to use ourselves we wouldn’t sell it to anyone else either.’

The Fawcetts bought their first British Blondes from the Thistlegrove dispersal sale held by Mr Pearson of Whitby and are now members of the North East Blondes Club.

‘We bought our first four pedigrees from Mr Pearson and we purchased our pedigree Blonde bull from Ewan Burgess’ Criffel herd at Carlisle

Market. We have shown him and he’s done very well for us. He has bred some nice cattle.’

Ed, William and Jimmy show the cattle and the Fawcetts will once again be out in force at this summer’s agricultural shows, starting with Beef Expo at Newark and then including Otley, Lincolnshire, Great Yorkshire, Ryedale, Malton and Rosedale with both cattle and sheep. One of the cattle they will be showing will be their own home-bred heifer KISSTHORN EDWINA (pictured here).

All of the Fawcetts’ fattened stock goes to Malton Market. They enjoy the atmosphere and camaraderie around the sale ring.

‘It encourages younger people get used to the livestock market world and there is always a very good trade. A lot of local butchers attend and they are just as keen to see the market do well.’

Foxhill Park caravan site came into being in 2007. It is Carl and Kathy’s first diversification into tourism.

‘We weren’t making a lot out of farming and it didn’t look like we were ever going to. We knew we

had to do something different and we gained permission for a site with 38 caravans and a small camp site.’

Four years on and they haven’t looked back. Aided by Carl’s mum and dad, Wendy and Bob, they have recently enjoyed the benefits of several bank holiday weekends and the additional business they have gained as a result.

‘Each bank holiday has been like a harvest for us,’ says Carl. ‘We’re looking forward to another shortly and then a busy summer period. It was tough when we started but now we’re getting a lot of repeat business and people now come for the season. The site is in a very quiet area and we find that’s why many of our customers enjoy it here. They are getting away from their towns and cities. They enjoy the pace of life in the countryside. It is certainly a good diversification and it is starting to work for us.’

Watch out for the Fawcetts at this year’s shows!

Kissthorn Farm Sand Hutton, York Yo41 1LF tel: 01904 468355

Jimmy faWcett With kissthorn edWina


ProPerty

continued demand combined with a further reduction in the volume of available farmland has resulted in the best first quarter growth in farmland values since 2008. this continued demand is supported by the number of new applicants registering to buy farmland, which were 16% up during the first quarter of this year compared with the same period of 2010. High crop prices and the fundamentals of feeding the world’s population continue to drive the interest in farmland as an investment asset, especially at a time when the performance of many alternative assets is muted. across great Britain average grade 3 arable land recorded growth of 2.3% during the first quarter of 2011 although a wide range in prices are being achieved broadly between £4,000 and £10,000 per acre.

For further information or a free no obligation appraisal of your property, please contact Savills (L&P) Ltd 13 -15 Micklegate, York, Yo1 6JH www.savills.com

andrew Black MRICS FAAV

Tel: 01904 617831 07967 555697 E: [email protected]

Sarah Hinchliffe BSc (Hons) MRICS FAAV

Tel: 01904 617819 07870 999441 E: [email protected]

Land at Poppleton ings, YorkApprox 46.6 acres Guide £140,000

chapel garths Farm, riponApprox 140 acres Guide £1,500,000

Hunters Hill Farm, thirskApprox 76.7 acres Guide £2,200,000

rolston Hall, HornseaApprox Approx 107 acres Guide £1,250,000

the View, Barwick in elmet, LeedsApprox 61.8 acres Guide £1,100,000

Lilymere, nr Sedburgh, cumbriaApprox 1,530 acres Excess £2,650,000

island Farm, Scarborough Approx 47 acres Guide £800,000

Manor Farm, Whenby, YorkApprox 113 acres Guide £1,750,000

Park Farm, Preesall, LancashireApprox 236 acres Guide £2,800,000


ProPertyProPerty

WestoW, york 2 lots

a Beautifully located residential farmAn attractive residential and equestrian farm situated within the beautiful scenery of the Yorkshire Wolds between Malton and York.• Grade II listed, 6 Bedroom farmhouse• Extensive Range of Courtyard Buildings• Planning for industrial use on traditional buildings• Equestrian Facilities• 27.65 Acres of arable and grassland• In all 28.82 Acres

For SaLe aS a WHoLe or in tWo LotS:Lot one: Farmhouse, Buildings and Grassland. In all approx 15.97 Acres Lot two: Approx 12.85 Acres of South facing Arable Land.gUiDe Price: £795,000

near roBin hood’s Bay, WhitBy

suPerBly situated lifestyle ProPerty With Panoramic coastal vieWs• 18th Century, 6 Bedroom Farmhouse• Superb 2 Bedroom Annexe Barn Conversion• 2 Bedroom Holiday Cottage• Range of Buildings• 10.47 Acres Grassland • Superb Sea Views

gUiDe Price: £875,000

Wrelton, Pickering 86.61 ACREs

Productive free draining land• 76.73 Acres Arable Land• 9.88 Acres Woodland/Dale• Highly Productive, Free Draining Land• SPS included• For Sale by Private Treaty as a Whole

gUiDe Price: £477,000

Beverley, east yorkshire

to let - excePtionally rare long term rental oPPortunity• Superbly Situated Residential Smallholding, amounting to 16.9 Acres • Equestrian and Commercial/Business Potential (Subject to Planning). • Located with Excellent Road Frontage onto the A164 • 3 Bedroom House Requiring Full Renovation• Range of Traditional Outbuildings and Stabling • 16.9 Acres of Grassland and Grounds.

to Let on a 20 Year aSSignaBLe LeaSe Expression of interest closing date: 2pm Friday 3rd June 2011

aVaiLaBLe aS a WHoLe or in tWo LotS


comPetition

For your chance to win £50 worth of M&S vouchers just answer the following questions;

1 What is the name of Ken Jackson’s prize bull that is currently under threat?

2 In what year the Watson family move from West Cumbria to the Borders?

3 For which show will the Hazard family host a Limousin showcase event for?

Send your answers to [email protected] or post to 40 Stockhill road, greengates, Bradford BD10 9aX by thursday 30th of June Congratulations to Fiona Guthrie from Selkirk who our last competition. The correct answers were 1. Rough Fell Sheep Society 2. 2010 NOMS Wildlife Award. 3. JS Accountancy

£50 m&s voucher comPetition

Somewhere in this 92-page issue hides Percy the Pig, for your chance to win a Case IH Puma 210 and a New Holland T7060 model tractor, simply tell us which page you have spotted him on!

get all your entries in to [email protected] or post to 40 Stockhill road, greengates, Bradford BD10 9aX by 30th of June, good Luck!

kids corner Where’s Percy Pig?

a final congratulation goes to alice taylor from Bentham who won our last Kids corner ny spotting the following differences.

4 5 6 7

1 2 3


farming PeoPle

Ladies from the Harrogate and nidderdale group of Farm Stay UK ‘flew’ into Leeds Bradford international airport recently to hand over proceeds from their annual Yorkshire Farmhouse Big Breakfast charity fund-raiser.

A total of 213 breakfasts were served up at the three-day event, hosted by Will and Lindsey Hitchen at St George’s Court B&B, Old Home Farm, High Grantley, Ripon.

The event netted £3,350, split 50:50 between the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the ARC-Addington Fund’s Strategic Rural Housing Scheme, which supports hard-hit farming families and communities across the UK.

Farm Stay UK is the country’s largest network of farm-based accommodation providers and Yorkshire members have raised thousands of pounds for charity over the years through its Big Breakfasts. Main sponsor of the 2011 event was Brian Elsworth, of EuraAudit UK, Ripon.

Breakfast will return in January next year at Lovesome Hill Farm,

Big Breakfast Proceeds Presented

Northallerton, to be hosted by John and Mary Pearson.

Currently celebrating its 10th anniversary, the ARC-Addington Fund supports hard-hit farming families and communities. In North Yorkshire alone, the charity has distributed 1,400 grants totalling over £680,000. The Yorkshire Air Ambulance provides a life-saving rapid response service to over five million people across the county, flying seven days a week, 365 days a year. It needs to raise £7,200 a day to keep both its ambulances in the air and maintained.

www.farmstay.co.uk

auctioneers at Brown & co have been demonstrating the breadth of their ability at sales recently. While his counterparts in norfolk sold £3.5 million of residential property, Ben Wills, from the firm’s office in Melton Mowbray, sold a female indian mannequin amongst farm equipment at an auction near Stamford.

The mannequin, whose arrival on the farm at Holywell near Stamford remains a mystery, sold for £62. Featuring as lot 91, she appeared in an auction of modern and vintage farm machinery at Pettywood Farm, Holywell, near Stamford on instructions of Mrs J R Machin.

More than 1000 people from all parts of the UK and Ireland attended the

sale. The highlights for the modern farm machinery included a Massey Ferguson 4WD Dynashift Tractor making £9,200 and a JCB Loadall Farm Special 526S reaching £13,000. Also exceeding expectations were vintage items such as a Ferguson sugar beet plough for £1800 and a Ferguson spring tine drag for £1100.

“This was the first machinery auction held by our recently opened Melton Mowbray Office,” said Ben Wills of Brown & Co. “The lady made a nice diversion from a traditional farm equipment sale. It was an excellent day with some exceptional prices!”

www.brown-co.com

mysterious manneQuin raises eyeBroWs at farm machinery sale

it is with great sadness that we report the untimely death of LaMMa Show chairman, tony Lighton, following a brief illness.

With more than thirty-five years of involvement with tractors produced under the Marshalls of Gainsborough banner, particularly Track Marshall crawlers, After joining Marshalls on a commercial apprenticeship in 1964, he spent two years on the shop floor, followed by two years of commercial training before, in 1968, being appointed Office Manager. After spells as both a Regional Sales Manager and National Sales Manager, Tony became World Sales Manager for Track Marshall in 1982.

Despite a hectic work schedule Tony also served as a Director of the Gainsborough Building Society from 1972 up to its merger with the Yorkshire Building Society in 2001.

The traumatic period of business rationalisation during the late 1970’s & 80’s had a dramatic effect on the then Marshall Tractors company. A series of changes in ownership of the business between 1975 and 1998 culminated in the purchase of the Track Marshall business by Tony’s own company TMS Gainsborough Ltd.

In the Autumn of 2000, Tony became Chairman of the Lincolnshire Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Association, the organisers of the LAMMA Show, a position he held up to his death. During his Chairmanship the LAMMA Show grew from a small regional event to become the UK’s largest and most successful farm machinery show with a national and rapidly growing international reputation.

Tony is survived by his wife Marie and daughter Sarah.

sudden death of lamma shoW chairman tony lighton

cla Welcomes red taPe revieW The Country Land & Business Association (CLA) has welcomed the announcement by the Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, Mark Prisk, of an assault on red tape, including an end to gold-plating of EU regulation, a review of over 21,000 statutory instruments and a general moratorium from all new domestic regulations for three years for new and small businesses.

Douglas Chalmers, Director CLA North,

said: “Whenever I meet rural businesses it is never long before the issue of red tape is raised. We have been lobbying on this for years, and now it appears that Government has listened.”

“Our members will be delighted to hear that the Government plan to end the so called gold-plating of EU regulations, by simply applying EU directives into domestic law, without embellishment. It is only a start, but it is a good one, and I can promise that the CLA and its members will do their best to keep this momentum going.”

www.cla.org.uk

nickerson Direct, the Lincolnshire-based company which has been advising UK farmers for the last 60 years and supplying the seed they need to produce a wide range of agricultural crops, has further strengthened its team of on-farm advisers in the north east of england.

Marc Lanham, 30, joined Nickerson Direct, which supplies seeds directly from the breeder to the farmer,

earlier this month. Reporting to Sean Lovegreen, the company’s Regional Sales Manager in the North of England, Marc will advise farmers throughout East and North Yorkshire on the full range of Nickerson Direct products.”

www.nickersondirect.co.uk

nickerson direct aPPoints neW seed sPecialist


contractorS gUiDe LATE SPRING 2011

Chris Smith Agri ServicesSpecialising in:

- Min-Till, Combi-Drilling- Ploughing using a 300 Horsepower Track Machine

- Combining using a Claas Lexion 570 with vario header

Tel (Mobile): 07734 443301Sutton Farm, Sutton-on-Derwent, York

For Further inFormation please call

0777 4775031

Alan Fish FencingAll Types of fencing

AvAilAble

If you would like to be included in our Summer 2011 Guide please contact Ben Walton on 01274 610101.

TEL: 07595 070 834 OR 01904 738 245

RICHARD BURNISTON & SONAGRICULTURAL CONTRACTORS & ENGINEERS

• ROUND & SQUARE BALING & WRAPPING • SUGAR BEET DRILLING• 6 ROW HOLMER TANKER BEET HARVESTER • STUBBLE TO STUBBLE

DEUTZ FAHR TRACTORS & TELEHANDLERSMcHALE ROUND BALERS & WRAPPERS

Thomas Dirom

Tel: Tom on 07787 565298

Agricultural Contractors LtdTractor & Dump Trailer • 230hp Tractor Hire with Driver

Large Rear Discharge Muck Spreader • Ploughing, Combination DrillingTrail Forage Harvesting, complete or part job undertaken

Quality work guaranteed!

ALL MAIZE OPERATIONSFROM SEED TO CLAMP

T E L :0 1 3 4 7 8 1 1 1 4 00 7 8 3 1 3 3 5 6 9 7

C o v e r i n g a l l a r e a s o fN o r t h & E a s t Y o r k s h i r e

HESSTON SQUARE BALING“MINI”, “MIDI”, or “BIG”

GRASS TEDDINGAND RAKING

Silage Operations include self propelled maize and hole crop forager / forage wagon, topping and grass aeration

Muck specialist including umbilical stubble injecting , shallow grass injecting, tanker injecting, rear discharge spreading

LPG tankers, precision fertiliser spreading, full ploughing operation

Tel 07967 725415 or 015242 [email protected]

W C O N D E R & S O NFULL FARM OPERATIONS

• ROUND BALING WITH CHOPPER AND WRAPPING

• SQUARE BALING 3’x3’ OR 4’x3’ AND WRAPPING• FORAGING-FULL OR PART OPERATION• JCB 416 BUCK RAKE• BOBCAT,JCB 412 & 416 SHOVELS• DRAINAGE WORK- DRAINER & GRAVEL

TRAILER HIRE

• STONE BURYING & ROTAVATING OR HIRE• REAR DISCHARGE SPREADER AND SHOVEL• UMBILICAL CORD AND TANKERS• HEDGE CUTTING, OVER SEEDING,

DIRECT DRILLING• PLOUGHING,POWER HARROWING, RESEEDING• SLURRY TOWER STIRRING• GRITTING & SNOW PLOUGHING

R. M. SIMPSONAGRICULTURAL CONTRACTOR

Copley Spring Farm, East Bierley, BradfordTel : 01274 653667 Mobile : 07973 112234


Moor Lane, Full Sutton, York, YO41 1HXTel: 01759 373062 / 01759 368563 (evening)

Fax: 01759 372929Web: www.edwardstrailers.co.uk

www.edwardstrailers.co.uk

email sales.marr@ farmstar.co.uk

www.farmstar.co.uk

For all your agricultural Machinery needs

Marr, Doncaster T: 01302 786786 F: 01302 783443

M. Weighton, York T: 01430 875900 F: 01430 875909

Newark, Notts T: 01400 283818 F: 01400 283819

Brigg, North Lincs T: 01652 654944 F: 01652 655171

TracTors, combines, Trailers, Ploughs, ride on mowers, hedge-cuTTers, sPreaders, sPrayers, mowers, drills,Telehandlers, rollers, discs

case ih - Manitou - Kverneland - KubotaMc hale - rau - richard Western - vicon

cousins - boMFord - PhiliP WatKins

main dealer

FarmersMart - Late Spring 2011

Documents

ax tel

edition of farmersmart

young farmers

editor chris berry tel

farming guide issue

editor lucie carter

little red marketing

biggest issue