FarmersMart - Summer 2010

The NorTh’s Number oNe FarmiNg guide Issue 19 | Summer 2010

www.Farmers-marT.co.uk

rickerbY ceLebraTes iTs 130Th Year!

Farm TheFT is oN The rise: ProTecT YourseLF

mF9280 deLTa have a red hoT summer wiTh masseY

graham edwards. PreseNTs The.

uLTimaTe TraiLer.

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 Tel: 01274 610 101 [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 Massey Ferguson.

Welcome As you will see this is our biggest ever bumper issue, packed full with an array of different agricultural features for our summer edition, so enjoy the read and pass it on to family members.

We will be exhibiting at the Great Yorkshire and the Driffield Shows so please come and visit us. We’ll be giving away all kinds of goodies, plus we have special offers on subscriptions for both magazines and it would be nice to catch up and have a chat.

I mentioned in the last issue that we were following a theft story, well now three men have been charged with theft, intent to pervert the course of justice and fraud by false representation. All thanks to one of our agricultural contractor Tom Dirom who helped the police with their investigation. Plus Harold Woolgar has given some valuable advice on how to protect yourself from farm theft, see page 59 for more details.

We went up to visit Rickerby’s open day, who were celebrating their 130th year trading, so congratulations to them! Carrs Billington had their annual open day to promote their ever-popular machinery, and Robson Tractors have been busy too; see pages 36, 37, 44, 45, 46, 55, 56, 57 and 58 for more details.

If you are going to the Driffield Show don’t forget to come and witness the fencing competition near the main ring it will be fabulous to see!

Well good luck at all the shows but you are all winners to me! Thanks to all our advertisers for making this our biggest issue yet.

Have a great summer see you in the autumn

Kind regards, Simone ([email protected])

contents

news ...............................4-6, 28agri.cycle .................................. 7BaSF ........................................ 8Diary Dates ............................... 9Showtime ........................... 10-13ritchie .................................... 14Bert Verity ............................... 15andrew Jennings ..................... 16the grainery ............................17Stones of Marrick ............... 18-19Farmer copley ....................22-23Dales traditional Butchers ..24-26Watson ................................... 27gripple .................................... 29elliots ...................................... 30Severn Valley .......................... 31ccM auction Mart ..............32-33Bindloss .............................34-35carrs Billington ...................36-37Malcolm corbett ...................... 38PK nutrition ............................ 39Low cornriggs Farm ................ 40green Farm Health .............42-43robson tractors .................44-46Brockhills ................................ 48David Findlay .....................50-51towers at Wray ..................52-53

rickerby Spring Show .........54-58Security .................................. 59robert towers of Farleton ...60-61anne goodman ....................... 62Massey Ferguson ..................... 63agrimaster .............................. 64graham edwards trailers ......... 65Young Farmers ........................ 66russells .................................. 67rookes of Beadlam .............68-69Dumbretton Farm ............... 70-71Farmstar ............................ 72-73chris armstrong ................. 74-75Bell .................................... 76-77Property ............................. 78-79east Fourstones / armstrong 80-81andrew Manfield ................82-83Bentleys Butchers ................... 83robert Patchett ..................84-85Harris of Little Smeaton ......86-87newby Hall Farm Shop .......88-89David Walker ......................90-91William Lambert of Hawes ..92-93Yorkshire Steel Buildings .......... 94Farming People ..................95-96competition ............................ 97contractors guide .................... 98

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]

name ........................................................................................ tel no. ............................................

address .................................................................................................................................................

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.................................................................................................. Postcode .........................................

GET YOUR COPY

p54-58

p6 p18-19

FarmersMart Summer 2010 �

news

2006 Morooka MST600 1300 hours, and Post Driver 2008 Model with linkage andelecto-hydraulic controls at the back with start/stop, handbrake and a dead man stop. Can carry up to 150 posts on the back. All work was done by Autoguide.

Also Herbest 18ton low loader 2006 with air and hydraulic brakes also a sprung draw bar. All machines have only one owner and driver, very well maintained and in first class condition.

Prices on request.

Please phone Tom Gaisford 01434689583 or 07813798133

FOR SALE

With continuing concerns over food security making farming’s role more important than ever, Yorkshire farmers have a timely opportunity to discuss the future of their businesses at the great Yorkshire Show, says adrian cawood, the agricultural Mortgage corporation’s (aMc) north east regional agricultural Manager.

“Farmers in Yorkshire have concerns about greater volatility in the market, but they have more confidence in the long term future of their farms and this is showing in the growth in investment across the region,” he says. Many farmers are keen to invest in additional land but opportunities are limited in a very tight market.

“Yorkshire farmers are investing to

ensure that their businesses are in good shape to make the most of the opportunities in the future,” continues Adrian. “The level of investment in the infrastructure of farms including buildings has been very low indeed over the previous decades because the return on capital was not viable for many. Farmers with sufficient scale are now giving serious thought to making improvements.”

“The Great Yorkshire Show provides potential AMC customers the opportunity to discuss how we can make their future business plans a reality.”

Stand number 228

BUSINESS SUPPORT AT GYS

the national Sheep association is demonstrating its commitment to the next generation by staging the nSa Young Shepherd of the Year award at nSa Sheep 2010, the industry’s biennial event staged by the national Sheep association at the three counties Show ground, Malvern on tuesday 3 august.

The Footvax sponsored award with £2,000 at stake, is open to college students, YFC members and young people up to 26 years old, and is designed to test their shepherding skills in a pentathlon of activities. Each entrant will be required to sort finished lambs for slaughter, demonstrate handling, vaccinating and dosing techniques, erect an electric fence, and put an ATV through its paces. They will also be questioned on flock management and health issues.

“Helping to equip tomorrow’s sheep keepers with the skills they need and

giving recognition once those skills have become honed is a must for any forward thinking industry association such as NSA,” comments association chief executive, Peter Morris.

“Competitions such as this are a good incentive to encourage the next generation of shepherds to try and better themselves and look forward to working in a profitable and sustainable industry.”

nSa Shepherd of the Year award entry from can be downloaded from www.sheepevent.org.uk

NSA lAUNCh YOUNG ShEPhERd Of ThE YEAR AWARd

celebrities, hosts, working dog enthusiasts, current and potential sponsors rubbed shoulders as the whistle sounded to begin the countdown to the 2011 iSDS World Sheep Dog trials, Food & country Festival. they are to be staged in england for the first time at Lowther estates, near Penrith in cumbria, from September 15-18, 2011.

With at least 30,000 visitors anticipated public interest will be boosted with a Food & Country Festival promoting locally produced food and crafts the regional economy can expect to receive a £2m-plus boost from next year’s trials.

The official launch event was staged at The Punch Bowl Inn, Askham, in May with the 2011 ISDS World Trials declared “open” by historian, broadcaster, columnist, countryside campaigner and Scottish Borders farmer Sir Johnny Scott.

Sir Johnny wrote and co-presented the BBC2 series “Clarissa and the

Countryman” and writes for a variety of publications on field sports, food, farming, travel, history and the countryside.

He commented: “There is no animal quite like the sheep dog. In 1880, the Scottish poet and novelist James Hogg said: ‘Without the shepherd’s dog, the whole of the open mountainous land in Scotland would not be worth a sixpence.’ This is not only as true today as it was then, but now applies in all parts of the world.”

www.worldsheepdogtrials.org

OffICIAl lAUNCh Of 2011 ISdS WORld ShEEP dOG TRIAlS

FarmersMart Summer 20104

news

PRE - STRESSED CONCRETE SPECIALISTSTelephone : 016973 32585 or 016973 42277

MANUFACTURERS OF ALL TYPES OF PRE-STRESSED CONCRETE PANELS AND GENERAL PURPOSE INSTANT

WALLING - SILAGE FARM & INDUSTRIAL USE, HOLLOW CORE FLOOR UNITS AND ‘T’ BEAMS MADE TO MEASURE

CONCRETE POSTS & PANELSCONCRETE POSTS & PANELSFOR INSTANT SECURITY WALLING

CONCRETE LIMITED

The Contractors Choice in Yorkshire

Tel: 01302 708706 / Fax: 01302 707377Email: [email protected]

Easy access off A1/M62/M18 and M1

www.burnfencing.co.uk

• Post and Rail• Mesh Systems• Fittings• Round Timber• Chain Link

• Steel Palisade• Stock/Rabbit• Welded Mesh• Gates

a global animal feed company whose UK headquarters are based in Stamford, Lincolnshire has been giving local students a helping hand with their work.

Alltech, one of the most successful animal health and nutrition companies in the world, invited Year 12 pupils from The Robert Manning College in Bourne to see first hand how the skills they have learnt in the classroom can be used in the workplace. Helen Elliot, Work Related Learning Co-ordinator from The Robert Manning College, commented; “Alltech has been highly supportive in putting together

sessions and workshops which show how the subjects the students are studying are relevant in the business world. The visits have been hugely beneficial and the college hopes to maintain the partnership so that the students can continue to benefit.”

Year 12 student Andy Johnson agreed: “My visit to Alltech has helped me to understand the business as a whole and has given me a wider knowledge of the different job roles throughout the company.”

www.alltech.com

A BEhINd ThE SCENES lOOK AT AllTECh

two of the British isle’s top sheep shearers will have the opportunity to travel to new Zealand next year to represent their country at some of the most prestigious shearing tests organised on the Kiwi competitive circuit thanks to a new shearing competition organised by BiSca (British isles Shearing competitions association) sponsored by Lister Shearing.

The Lister British Isles Shearer of the Year Circuit will comprise a series of qualifying events to be held in the UK this summer where points will be awarded to competitors depending on their placing in each competition and the number of shearers taking part.

Alun Williams, Managing Director of Lister Shearing, said he was pleased to be sponsoring a competition that would give the winners the opportunity to compete in New Zealand:

“Sheep shearing is a very important rural skill and one in which the standard is constantly getting higher.

We’re delighted to be sponsoring this new competition through BISCA and to be able to give the overall winner and runner-up the chance to go to New Zealand and compete with many of the world’s top shearers.

“This year Wales is hosting the World shearing championships, an event that will certainly put competitive sheep shearing into the spotlight. We hope the British Isles Shearer of the Year Circuit competition will encourage even more people to get involved in shearing,” concluded Mr Williams.

www.lister-shearing.co.uk

UK ShEEP ShEARING ChAMPIONS TO COMPETE IN NEW ZEAlANd

FarmersMart Summer 2010 5

news

www.machinery4agriculture.com

Specialising in Used Agricultural Equipment

12 ton Muck Spreader Hire – £100 per dayWanted: All types of farm machinery and equipment.

Good prices paid.

Choice of four 3M Front Press starting at £925+vatMiedema 106 telescopic elevator £10,750+vat Also For Hire

Collection of three Welger round balers starting from £9450+vatFront End Ballast Weights - P.O.A.

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

REd TRACTOR GOES TO TOWNDefra Secretary of State, caroline Spelman, helped mark the tenth birthday of red tractor, the widely recognised red tractor logo, with a cake cutting ceremony on London’s Southbank earlier this month.

After cutting the cake with TV presenter and journalist Janet Street-Porter, who fronted this year’s Red

how their food is produced and to explain farming’s commitment to quality that is behind the Red Tractor brand.

David Gregory, AFS Chairman, said: “Massey Ferguson tractors have been so symbolic from the start. The Red Tractor is Massey Ferguson and it would have been hard to achieve the same attention without them. Look at how having the tractors at events really helps to capture people’s

attention,” he explained, pointing to the crowds.

AFS Chief Executive, David Clarke added: “We are delighted with the support we have received from Massey Ferguson for the past ten years and we are looking forward to continuing our relationship for another decade.”

www.redtractor.org.uk

Pictured at the Red Tractor 10th Anniversary celebrations in London, from left to right is: David Gregory, Chairman, Assured Food Standards; Janet Street-Porter; Paul Lay, Public Relations Manager for Massey Ferguson; David Clarke, Chief Executive, Assured Food Standards.

Tractor Week, Caroline Spelman said: “Consumers can be confident about the products they are putting in their shopping baskets when they carry the Red Tractor logo. It assures us that it is safe to eat and that high welfare standards have been followed.”

Massey Ferguson tractors have been an integral part of the celebrations,

helping to focus consumers’ attention on all that’s great about farming and food. The 2m high cake in the shape of the Red Tractor logo was transported on a trailer into position under the London Eye by an MF 5445 tractor.

Massey Ferguson is a key part of British farming and for the past ten years has supported the Red Tractor scheme. At events across the country we use our tractors to help consumers’ connect with


agri.cycle

Pesticide containers, caps and foils Fertiliser and seed bags

Cardboard Crop cover Silage Wrap

String and netwrap Spent shotgun cartridges Tree Shelter and Guards Limited Hazardous Waste Collection or delivery in

Simple system – no hidden extras

Recycled on site in Lincolnshire into a

clean, uncontaminated product for use in the

plastics industry

Telephone: 01673 878 215

Email: [email protected]

www.agri-cycle.uk.com

agri.cycle’s agricultural plastic waste management system, with a network of regional collection points, is simpler and easier to manage than many other systems available, and yet is comparable on cost, with a guarantee of no hidden extras.

Each year Agri.cycle have expanded their service to include a plastic recycling service for tree guards, shelters and spirals, limited hazardous wastes and now, unique to the UK spent shotgun cartridges.

AGRI.CYClE fOR AGRICUlTURE & ThE ENVIRONMNT

kind in the UK. Their service is so simple and flexible; they are able to adapt it to suit every farmer and grower.

“Throughout the economic downturn in prices for plastic, we have managed to maintain our gate fees and continue to transfer waste from our customers in the time period agreed. This is the commitment we have towards our customers and the future” says Robert Moore, Managing Director.

tel 01673 878 215 email [email protected] www.agri-cycle.uk.com

Agri.cycle is the birthplace of the original palletised dumpy bag for the 1,000 acre plus farmer and grower, probably the largest in the world and certainly the first of its

The palletised dumpy bag in use

FarmersMart Summer 2010 �

basF

cattle and sheep producers across northern england need to take early action to prevent their forage stores becoming the reservoirs for serious rat problems 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’re almost always conveniently sited close to stock feeding facilities.”

“Leaving big bale stacks and hay barns, in particular, unprotected from filling through to feeding out is a recipe for major rat problems over the 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 even the most robust winter baiting programmes.”

Charlie recommends installing baiting points around all big bales and hay stacks from the late summer, and the early use of a specialist rodenticide within them.

“It’s all a matter of understanding how rats behave,” he stresses. “Their wariness of change makes it important to site baiting points

GET ON TOP Of RATS EARlY

around your main forage stores early on. This will significantly increase the initial uptake of even the most palatable baits by getting the rats used to them.

“With external food sources readily available you need to employ bait with particular rat appeal to ensure rapid early acceptance and uptake. With its patented Fortec foraging grain technology, Neosorexa Gold is proven to boost the speed and reliability of control. And I’d use it in the form of handy Rat Packs so the bait stays protected from the weather

and remains fresh to be consumed as soon as rats begin to take-up residence.”

“Make sure you check your main baiting points every two or three weeks,” Charlie concludes. “Rat Packs make this particularly easy and convenient to do when relatively small amounts of bait are required, as is often the case in summer and autumn.”

Visit www.pestcontrol.basf.com

Charlie Ives


diary dates

Julygreat Yorkshire Show Tuesday 13th - Thursay 15th

cumberland county Show Saturday 17th

Howden Show Sunday 18th

Malton Show Sunday 18th

arthington Show Sunday 18th

Driffield Show Wednesday 21st

Penrith Show Saturday 24th

Weeton Show Sunday 25th

ryedale Show Tuesday 27th

Borrowby Show Wednesday 28th

Border Union Show Friday 30th – Saturday 31st

cockermouth Show Saturday 31st

augustSykehouse Show Sunday 1st

Bakewell Show Wednesday 4th - Thursday 5th

cartmel Show Wednesday 4th

emley Show Saturday 7th

osmotherley Show Saturday 7th

Powburn Show Saturday 7th

garstang Show Saturday 7th

Dumfries Show Saturday 7th

Bingley Show Sunday 8th

Danby Show Wednesday 11th

Halifax Show Saturday 14th August

egton Show Wednesday 25th

Malhamdale Show Saturday 28th

Bilsdale Show Saturday 28th

Weardale Show Saturday 28th

One of last years winners at last year’s Great Yorkshire Show

Wensleydale Show Saturday 28th

Keswick Show Monday 30th

glendale Show Monday 30th

Kilnsey Show Sunday 31st

SeptemberBentham Show Saturday 4th

Westmorland county Show Thursday 9th

Kelso ram Sales Friday 10th

Penistone Show Saturday 11th

Stanhope Show Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th

Stokesley Show Saturday 18th

nidderdale Show Monday 20th

aPF Forestry Show Thursday 23rd - Saturday 25th

octobercountryside Live Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th


showtiMe

The Showfield, BellerBy road, leyBurn

a great family day out, with entertainment for everyone.Adults £7 Children £4 Under 5’s Free

Family ticket £20 (2 adults and up to 3 children)Free Car Parking ~ Open from 10am

Steve ‘Showtime’ Colley Stunt displayPoultry Classes (new for 2010) Cattle and Sheep Classes,

Children’s Funfair, Carriage Driving, Leyburn Band, Pony Classes, Walling and Quoits competitions

Around 100 Trade and Craft stands, plus much more…

01969 623750 www.wensleydaleshow.org.uk

Saturday 28ThauguSt 2010

Westmorland county Show, established in 1799, is one of oldest agricultural shows in the country and is a huge celebration of the countryside. Westmorland’s 211th event will be held on thursday 9th September at the county Showground near crooklands.

A Show with its heart in agriculture, Westmorland is the place to see a whole host of different livestock, with some of the best quality animals to be seen in any one place in the North West.

Visitors can also see the Learning for Life and craft displays, the Women’s Institute marquee and their competitions, together with over 350+ trade stands. The

expanded Countryside Pursuits area is also worth a visit with Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling, Hounds and Terriers as well as demonstrations of many traditional rural crafts and the Young Farmers’ Tug of War competition.

In a dedicated area, The Cumbria Forestry and Woodland Festival will continue it’s year-long celebration and promotion of all things wood.

Truly an event with something for all the family, from tots to grandparents, Westmorland County Show is well worth a visit.

For more information visit www.westmorlandshow.co.uk or call 015395 67804

ANOThER YEAR, ANOThER WESTMORlANd COUNTY ShOW

the 96th Wensleydale agricultural Show takes place on Saturday august 28th in Leyburn in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales. this year the show is to feature for the first time since 1963, over 60 poultry classes ranging from large fowls to true bantams and an egg section.

In addition, as a traditional agricultural show there are cattle, sheep, heavy horse, horticultural, handicraft and home craft sections and a flower and vegetable show. A vintage section will include tractors, cars, and steam traction engines.

With a full programme of events in the main ring top billing is the Steve ‘Showtime’ Colley Stunt display. He will attack a series of impossible obstacles and amaze the audience flying up a 7 foot vertical wall, leaping over big gaps, performing 180 degree

ThE WENSlEYdAlE AGRICUlTURAl ShOW 2010

helicopters, bunny hops, insane trick riding, and an endless array of balance skills.

Around the show ground stalls you will find Walking Stick competitions, Open Quoits Competition, Hounds and Beagles and a Dry Stone Walling Competition. Over 100 trade stands, licensed facilities, an all day a full restaurant and snack service on site complete the line up. The day finishes with an on the day dog show.

Show Chairman Mr Gerald Hodgson said,” We pride ourselves here at Wensleydale in being a real agricultural show with a big presence of cattle and sheep plus the welcome return of the colourful spectacle of poultry for the first time in 47 years.”

For more information visit www.wensleydaleshow.org.uk


showtiMe

The biggest and best one-day agricultural show in the country

Show Classes, Displays, Demonstrations, Competitions, Trade Stands, Food Stalls ...... and much, much more for all the family, including Harness Racing and the famous Crag Races

9.00am - 7pm Ample FREE ParkingAdults £10 - Children £2 - Under 5s FreeContact Kathy Lambert on 01756 753259

KILNSEY SHOW & SPORTS31st August 2010

www.kilnseyshow.co.uk [email protected]

The UK’s national beef event, organised by the National Beef Association with Lloyds TSB Agriculture as major sponsor, attracted an audience of more than 6000 beef farmers and industry professionals from all over the UK and Ireland as well as several overseas delegations to make it one of the most successful in what is now firmly established as the major annual event for the beef industry in the UK.

“We were delighted to welcome so many beef farmers to Hexham,” said event chairman, Scott Donaldson. “Beef breed societies and trade stands reported good business and farmers attending were able to catch up with all the latest developments in genetics, nutrition, husbandry, machinery and marketing to help them run an efficient and profitable beef farming business.”

The theme of this year’s event was “The Way Forward” and every corner of the available exhibition area at Hexham Mart was taken up with live displays by 22 beef breed societies and 150 trade stands.

More than 350 cattle of the 22 different breeds were on display in the extensive breed societies’ exhibition area.

The heifer classes were particularly strong and produced the supreme champion, Tip Top, a 512kg black Limousin cross from Jonathan Timm, TWH Farming, Leeds. The heifer, bought from breeder, John White, for £2300 at Middleton-on-Teesdale for Mr Timm as a 21st birthday present, was champion at Otley Show the previous week-end.

BEEf EXPO 2010 dRAWS hUGE CROWdS TO hEXhAMBEEf EXPO 2010 dREW ThE CROWdS IN ThEIR ThOUSANdS TO hEXhAM AUCTION MART ON ThURSdAY, MAY 27.

VISITING ThE dAlES? VISIT ThE KIlNSEY ShOW!For over 100 years the beautiful Yorkshire Dales has been home to the annual Kilnsey Show, one of the summers most anticipated agricultural showcases.

The one day event takes place on Tuesday the 31st of August at the Kilnsey Showground near Grassington and has something to offer everyone. Activities on the day include sheep and cattle showing, horticultural exhibitions, vintage tractor displays, dry stone walling competitions and the famous crag race. The show will also be incorporating its ‘Real Food and Farming’ area, which promotes upland farming, encourages the

public to source local produce and hosts cookery demonstrations given by award-winning chefs.

We spoke to Show Chairman Robert Lambert as he looks ahead to the summer extravaganza; “The shows committee are really looking forward to the big day. Up to15,000 visitors are expected on the day so hopefully the sun with make an appearance, because there’s been rain for the last two years, so we’re keeping everything crossed.”

www.kilnseyshow.co.uk www.realfoodandfarming.co.uk

Several £3,000-plus prices and virtually total clearance of the 92 cattle forward, 89 were sold, were the highlights of the annual show and sale of pedigree Limousin breeding bulls and females at Skipton auction Mart in May

Top joint call at 3,600gns went to the reserve supreme champion bull from Cumbrian showman John Richardson, of W Richardson & Sons, Laverock Bridge, Kendal. His January, 2008-born Laverock Domino is a son of the prolific Rocky, who has sired bulls to 22,000gns, out of Laverock Pearl, a high-class dam who also produced Laverock Nimrod, the 2000 Royal Show champion.

Reflecting Skipton’s growing status as a pedigree Limousin venue, the fixture incorporated stock reduction consignments from two of the region’s

leading breeders, the Oddacres herd of John and Claire Mason in Embsay, and Steven and Ruth Priestley’s Brontemoor herd at Denholme, Bradford.

The Oddacres 18-strong show entry was largely based on imported French cattle sourced from many of the best herds in the original home of the Limousin. Their bulls averaged £2,669, cows and calves £2,555, and maiden heifers £1,214.

The Priestleys’ consignment consisted of 31 cattle, predominantly home-bred females from renowned bloodlines. However, the top performer was their first prize 2009-born junior bull, Brontemoor Dr Doolittle, by Doonbeg Andrew, another Rocky son. He headed the class prices at 3,500gns when knocked down to Northumberland buyer Aydon Carse,

97% ClEARANCE AChIEVEd AT SKIPTON lIMOUSIN ShOWCASE

of E Carse & Son, South Ord Farm, Berwick Upon Tweed, who was also making his first purchase at Skipton.

Show sponsors were PV Dobson & Sons, Skipton, Farmers Mart magazine and Huddersfield-based agricultural agent Janet Sheard.

commercial youngster champion at northern Limousin extravaganza

The commercial champion got the nod over the pedigree champion in the battle for supreme honours at Limousin Extravaganza.The overall title fell to the first prize Limousin-sired bullock, “Coco Pop,” from James and Rachel Wilkinson, of Ivy Farm Cottages, Leyburn. He is a son of the prolific Rossignol, bred in Cumbria by W. Richardson & Sons, Ghyll House, Dufton, Appleby.

The event attracted a £2,000-plus

James Wilkinson with his 2010 Northern Limousin Extravaganza

supreme champion, joined by judge James Wycherley.

prize fund following support from over 20 sponsors. It formed part of Craven Limousin Day - a Skipton pedigree beef season double-header also featuring the annual show and sale of pedigree Limousin breeding bulls and females.

www.limousin.co.uk


showtiMe

as the days continue to lengthen thoughts are already beginning to stray to the longer, warmer days of summer and the host of pursuits and events that go along with them such as barbeques, days at the seaside and of course the Driffield Show.

Once inside the Show no one will be disappointed with the vast range of activities, displays and demonstrations designed to suit all ages regardless of your interests. The Show will once again combine the winning formula of celebrating the areas agricultural heritage whilst also embracing new developments. New for this year will be the reintroduction after many years absence of pigs at the Show. As well as this new section which is bound to attract lots of interest there will also be cattle, sheep and goat classes throughout the day in the newly designed and relocated Livestock Section.

With over 450 trade stands to choose from we are confident the Show will provide enough retail

therapy for even the most dedicated shopper! Many of the stands offer ‘Show Specials’ so you may even come away having bagged yourself a bargain! The Food Hall and Food Theatre is also being improved, 2010 will see the introduction of more seating to this popular area together with an action packed timetable of culinary demonstrations using local produce throughout the day together with question opportunities and ‘food surgeries’.

Driffield Show continues to be fantastic value for money with advance tickets now being available to purchase at the discounted rate of £8 for adults, £6 for senior citizens, £4 for children plus in an attempt to keep the prices for families down to an absolute minimum a family ticket can be purchased in advance for only £22! In addition all car parking is free and this year there will be 40% more car parking spaces available to ensure your visit to the Show is hassle free.

ThE 135Th dRIffIEld ShOW 21ST JUlY 2010

As a further incentive, anyone travelling to Driffield by train on Show day also receives £1 discount off the Shows admission simply by showing their ticket at the Showground.

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.

www.driffieldshow.co.uk

Robert D. Webster LtdKilham, Driffield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tel . 01262 420226Owstwick, Nr Roos, Hull . . . . . . . . . Tel . 01964 670251Howden, Goole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tel . 01430 430624

Robert D. Webster Ltd.

New Holland T8000 Series New Holland T5000 Series

New Holland T7500 Series

Robert D. Webster Ltd.

New Holland T6000+ Series

0% FINANCE AVAILABLE ON VARIOUS MODELSPLEASE PhONE FOR DEtAILS


showtiMe

20 Slyne Road, Bolton-le-Sands, Carnforth , Lancashire. LA5 8BQTel. / Fax 01524 822192 Mobile Tel. 07946 819467

Suppliers of a full range of galvo. gates & wire fencing. sheep races, lamb weighers, roll over crates, dagging yokes,

calf pens , sheep hurdles & dog runs.

Cow cubicles & mats, cattle crushes, races & calf dehorner crates.Plastic & galvo. water troughs, bowls & footbaths.

Cattle & Sheep feed troughs, hayracks, feed rings, barriers, creeps etc.

JAMES STEWART(Agricultural Sales)

See us at the Westmorland County Show

Bill Cowling, Honorary Show Director said: “We are very much looking forward to welcoming Princess Anne in July. She is well known as a huge supporter of rural life and her interest and knowledge of all things equine is renowned. I am sure she will have a super time with us, and her visit will give an extra reason to come to what is England’s premier show.”

During her visit, The Princess will meet visitors, staff and exhibitors as she tours the showground on the edge of Harrogate.

The Great Yorkshire Show is

organised by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, and HRH The Prince of Wales is the Patron. The show is no stranger to royal visitors. Most recently, in 2008, Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh were guests of honour, and two years earlier, The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall toured the show. The Princess last visited the Show in 1992.

This will be the 152nd Great Yorkshire Show and last year some 130,000 visitors came through the gates. The thousands of animals competing for the coveted championship awards

hRh ThE PRINCESS ROYAl TO VISIT ThE GREAT YORKShIRE ShOW

remain as the focus of the event, but around the 250 acre showground visitors can enjoy fashion shows, a huge food hall promoting regional food and drink, the new Garden Show and demonstrations of country

activities such as sheep shearing and dry stone walling.

For more information visit www.greatyorkshireshow.co.uk

ThE YORKShIRE AGRICUlTURAl SOCIETY IS dElIGhTEd ThAT hRh ThE PRINCESS ROYAl IS TO VISIT ThE 2010 GREAT YORKShIRE ShOW. ThE PRINCESS WIll TOUR ThE fAMOUS fARMING ANd COUNTRYSIdE ShOW ON ThE fIRST dAY Of ThE EVENT WhICh RUNS fROM TUESdAY 13Th – ThURSdAY 15Th JUlY.

FarmersMart Summer 2010 1�

ritchie

Faster – Tighter – Easier – Safer

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alastair Paterson and his contracting team specialise in grass baling and wrapping from their Stoneykirk, Stranraer farm base.

Carting individual silage bales off field used to be a slow going affair and was the main reason why Alastair researched and purchased a Traileyre bale carrier from Scottish manufacturer Ritchie in 1998. Now twelve years later and with a second Traileyre machine in his fleet, Alastair advises that he can keep all his bales on the move safely!

Silage bales are produced using 2 x Lely Welger RP235 fixed chamber balers with bale weights often exceeding 900 kilos on first cut chopped silage, so a strong, well built bale carrier was of prime importance; bales are carted off field to a stationary wrapper to reduce bale movement once wrapped.

As a baling contractor, Alastair prefers to operate a baling system which he believes provides the best solution to producing high quality fodder for his customers – and any

RITChIE TRAIlEYRE ARE STIll GOING STRONG

hole in a wrapped bale is detrimental to the quality of the grass within. In fact 90% of all the 12,000 silage bales he produces annually are carted using a Ritchie Traileyre.

The Ritchie six bale carrying units automatically spike and lift the bales with three bales a side being transported on the heavy duty trailed frame. The rolling hills of Stranraer have not been a problem

to the bale carting operation as the wide axle wheelbase and frame adequately cope with the stress of hillside work.

Ritchie took on the manufacturing and sales of the “Traileyre” when it’s well known agricultural machinery inventor Geoff Eyres wished to spend more of his time on new inventions.

Ritchie’s 140 years of manufacturing

experience added to Geoff Eyres intuitive product has produced a Traileyre with strength and ease of operation, which has proven its worth in the field.

For more information visit www.ritchie-d.co.uk


bert verity

ChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh BERT VERITY Of KIRKBY OVERBlOW He’s Yorkshire’s and quite possibly the world’s greatest living showman and at 97 years of age on 8th august he’s also quite probably the oldest living showman too.

Bert Verity is not one for letting little things like the ageing process get in the way though. He still runs a few sheep at Barrowby Grange, Kirkby Overblow, not far from Harrogate and in recent years he has been behind the reinstatement of the Stockman’s Marquee at the Great Yorkshire Show. He is still a regular at many agricultural shows throughout the county.

‘I’ve had a pacemaker fitted now and I do find that I can’t do everything these days, but so long as I’m able to I will attend the Great Yorkshire Show and every other show I can,’ says Bert.

Born just a year before the outbreak of the First World War his first recollection of the agricultural show circuit goes back to 1921 when he attended Otley Show as a 7 year old.

‘It was held down Pool Road where the rugby ground is now. There were no houses built out there at the time. I remember my father had a Model T Ford and that the show had a lot of dairy cows. Otley was known for its dairy herds in those days.’

Bert’s favourite memory is Masham Show 1923.

‘My father won with the champion group of cattle and I won first prize with my bantam. My granddad won the Supreme championship there many years before with a Swaledale

ThE WORld’S GREATEST lIVING ShOWMAN

ram. Unfortunately Masham Show disappeared through bad management and its last show was in the early 1950s.’

Bert holds strong views on the show scene and its future.

‘The best shows are still doing well. It’s all to do with organisation. Since the Great Yorkshire came to Harrogate I’ve been to every one held there and it is an excellently run show. It’s now probably the centrepiece show in Britain. To my mind it now needs just one big improvement – the cattle sheds. The cattle at the Great Yorkshire are a special feature and there is no other show with a better display of them. I believe the cattle sheds at the show, have now served their purpose. They want modernising then they will be able to hold another 100 as well as being less cramped. The most outstanding one day show is Nidderdale Show at the end of the season, held at Pateley Bridge. It is exceptionally well-run, the Nidderdale

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Agricultural Society own their own show ground and the show has improved considerably over the years. Kilnsey Show is a lovely show because of its location. It is a marvellous site but last year it was a quagmire. It needs a better drainage system.’

He also has a word of caution for show organisers:

‘The one thing that spoils a show is if you let the horse people take command. That must never happen, otherwise you end up with a horse show rather than an agricultural show.’

Full and partial house clearances. See website for dates.

MART OFFICE:Thirsk Farmers Auction Mart

Thirsk Rural Business Centre, Blakey LaneThirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 3AB

Tel: 01845 523165 Fax: 01845 526604

www.thirskmarket.come-mail: [email protected]

EVERY THURSDAYWEEKLY DEDICATED SLAUGHTER SALE

300 prime pigs & cast sows @ 9.00am1500 prime sheep & cast ewes @ 9.30am

550 prime cattle & young bulls @ 12 noon(preceded by OTM cattle & cows)

All stock must be CLEAN & TAGGED

EVERY OTHER TUESDAY OF THE MONTHFORTNIGHTLY SALE OF STORE STOCK

SALE OF STORE & BREEDING SHEEP as forward @ 1.30pmTOGETHER WITH FORTNIGHTLY SALE OF STORE CATTLE @ 2pmUsual selection of Cast Cows, Young Bulls & Store cattle. See website for dates.

EVERY 1ST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH @ 10.00AMMONTHLY COLLECTIVE SALE OF MACHINERY, FUR & FEATHER

Over 600 lots of fur & feather inc turkeys, rabbit, ducks, pigeons, hens, geese & ferrets . Entries on day of sale 7 - 9am.

Usual wide ranging selection of Agri-goods, Builders and Farm equip, workshop &gardening requisities, Timber etc.

Collective entries taken on Friday before sale 10am - 5pm.See our website for details.

FORTNIGHTLY ALTERNATE TUESDAYS TO STORE SALES @ 4.30PMFORTNIGHTLY SALE OF FURNITURE, ANTIQUES & COLLECTABLES

Clean Double & Single Beds, Suites & Modern Furnishings, over 1000 lots of quality goodsAlso usual collection of collectables, brassware, glassware, pottery, pine effects, nearly newfurniture. Antiques, Furniture & Collectable entries 12 noon to 5pm Monday day before sale.

Viewing from 12 noon on day of sale

Bert looking great at 96!


andrew jennings

lIfE’S A BEACh fOR ABBEY hOUSE COWSChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh ANdREW JENNINGS Of fOUNTAINS ABBEYWhilst many families will be looking to get out on to the beach this summer andrew Jennings has found that by bringing the beach to his cattle his herd’s health status has improved massively.

Andrew is a third generation dairy farmer and runs the renowned, prize-winning show herd of Abbey House Holsteins from Hill House Farm, Fountains Abbey. This year will be the 100th that his family have been farming here. The farm business runs to some 300 acres in 3 lots with the majority down to grass. He has 50 acres of maize and 30 acres of wheat. He tenants 180 acres with the rest being owned.

‘We have 196 cows in the herd and we’re averaging around 10,500 litres per cow,’ says Andrew. ‘We went on to using sand beds last year and from a welfare point of view it has proven a really good move. We put this big new shed up and went on to sand cubicles. The cubicles we had before had been put up in 1972 and they were well outdated. They weren’t cow welfare friendly and I’d made do for years, then one day I decided to bite the bullet. The welfare issue was getting to me more than anything else. Now the cows are so comfortable and both mastitis and cell counts are down. Any foot trouble we had is also a lot better.’

Andrew believes it is the best thing he has ever done on the farm.

‘We buy about 50 tonnes of sand a month and bed up every 10 days. We put a pile at the front and the cows slowly pull it back and bed themselves up. All we do is clean the muck off the back of the beds.’

On the show circuit Andrew has developed a strong reputation, but it’s not something he inherited from his father.

‘My dad was never into showing much. It was when I was in the young farmers that I started showing at the Nidderdale Show, in the young farmers’ classes. I enjoyed it and it led on from there. I’ve had quite good success over the years but it was only six years ago that I showed at the Great Yorkshire. I always thought mine weren’t good enough for Harrogate but people were

‘If I have a cow doing 8-9 lactations rather than 5-6 lactations that gives me more replacements to sell. The first thing I look for in a show cow is that something stylish, something that makes it stand out, like an X Factor. I like a long, stretchy cow but size isn’t everything. If you get a good udder and right teat placement one thing leads on to another. A good show cow that can be got into calf at the right time each year will generally be able to be shown for a few years.’

The Jennings offspring seem to have caught their father’s bug too. Eldest son Stuart (13) started two years ago with a calf at the Great Yorkshire. It

went on to become Junior champion at the show last year. Daughter Natasha (11) has a red and white calf which she may be showing for the first time this year; and young William (5) says he’s going to have a go at the Yorkshire Calf Show!

It looks as though Andrew and his wife Charlotte are going to have their hands full for some time yet on the show circuit.

Andrew is a past chairman of the Yorkshire Holstein Club. He also attends Otley and Nidderdale Shows.

andrew’s mobile: 07740 929102

telling me I should be there.’

The words of friends were to prove right. Andrew can’t remember what his results were the first year he attended, but he can remember what happened in 2006.

‘That was my year to remember. HRH Prince Charles was there and I won the dairy championship and went on to take the interbreed title with Bricknell Gibson Peach. It was a once in a lifetime thing.’

It was made all the more special by what happened on the Thursday of the show when HRH Prince Charles was to present him with the trophy.

‘One of my sons, William, who had been born on a Great Yorkshire day the year before, had been booked in for an operation in hospital in Leeds on the same day as the presentation. I got back to the showground half an hour before the parade, but this next part says a lot about the atmosphere at the show. Those who had been showing their own dairy cows had got my cow all cleaned up and ready to go into the ring for me. All I had to do was grab hold of her and off I went. That’s the way it is. Everyone helps everybody else.’

Andrew breeds for a high type of cow, for functional type, not for milk, although the proof of how well he’s doing is shown in his herd average.

Andrew Jennings


the grainary

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Tel: 01723 870 519Mob: 07870 549 820

Wayside farm, WhitBy road cloughtoN yo13 0dX

We wish John and Linda continued success for the future

‘We had a feasibility study done years ago which gave us a choice of three things either put it down to corn and get another job as well; go really intensive with beef, sheep or pigs; or diversify and start doing bed and breakfast.’

That’s how John Simpson tells it from beautiful Keasbeck Hill Farm in Harwood Dale, just 5 miles from Scarborough. They went for the third option and today he and his wife Lynda run the award-winning The Grainary which has 14 bedrooms all with en-suite facilities. It is now promoted on their leaflets as a wildlife farm and also has its own country tea room.

‘What attracts people to our farm is the conservation side. We’ve got walks, wildflower meadows, a lake and organic hay. Quite a bit of the farm is now in the Higher Level Stewardship scheme. Our whole business is now a combination of farming, tourism and conservation. The tourism pays for the conservation and helps the farming.’

Keasbeck Hill Farm ran to 160 acres and was a tenanted farm at one time. John tells of the acreage, including rented acres, going up to 300-400 years ago, but today it is 200 acres which is wholly owned by the Simpsons.

‘We had over 1000 sheep and about 100 cattle,’ says John. ‘Now we have just 40 fattening cattle, 6 Highland heifers and 250 breeding sheep.’

John names all his sheep and marks them up with their names on their backs. It’s another example of how

WhERE CONSERVATION, fARMING & TOURISM COME TOGEThERChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh JOhN SIMPSON Of hARWOOd dAlE

tourism and providing something different has taken over from the pure farming side of the business. He still goes to market at Malton and Ruswarp, and sometimes York and Thirsk, but also sells deadweight to Dawn Meats.

‘If it was just pure farming we wouldn’t be here today. You can’t run a farm like this on just 200 acres.’

When times got really difficult John and Lynda started with four bedrooms, on a bed and breakfast basis. That was 20 years ago. They now employ up to 15 people in the peak season. John has recently completed a boardwalk for the wetland and woodland area to add another attraction. The tearoom opened 14 years ago. Lynda runs the tearoom, does most of the baking and prepares the night time meals too. She’s a busy woman!

‘It is hard work but it is also very enjoyable,’ says John. ‘A lot of our customers are also our friends now

and they keep coming back year after year. We specialise in providing accommodation and nice relaxing holidays for less able people and we have four downstairs bedrooms. We also have walks especially for the disabled. The whole idea is for people to come on to a real working farm. We’re not a play farm here, we are still a working farm. We grow hay to sell to other farms and 30-40 acres of corn for feed. We sell our lambs in March/April. We do well with selling our hay to horse people.’

John and Lynda have four children: Mark (26), Gary (23), Helen (22) and Craig (15). They will be the fifth generation at Keasbeck Hill Farm if that’s where they end up, although it’s too early to say just yet.

‘They have all got their own lives and their own jobs,’ says John. ‘Hopefully one or two of them will come back and take over.

In the meantime there is enough on John and Lynda’s plate at the moment. They are happy with where they’re at.

‘We’re on the doorstep of Scarborough and Whitby but also off the beaten track. The National Park here is one of our biggest assets. We get people from all over the country and quite a few from abroad.’

John tells of how simply he sees their tenure: ‘We try to look after the farm as best we can. The whole idea is that we’re only here for a while and that we try to look after it whilst we are.’

John & Lynda Simpson the grainary, Keasbeck Hill Farm Harwood Dale Scarborough Yo13 0Dt tel: 01723 870026 email: [email protected] Web: Www.grainary.co.uk

John Simpson


stones oF Marrick

Mile House Veterinary Centre

Darlington Road, NorthallertonNorth Yorkshire DL6 2NW

We are a mixed practice offering 24 hour emergency service.

We also do sheep laproscopic AI & ET

Tel: 01609 781673Fax: 01609 781680

e-mail : [email protected]: www.milehousevets.com

Website: www.edthevet.co.uk

all you need to do is take a look in their kitchen and you see just how much winning at agricultural shows is important to Keith Stones at nuncote nook Farm in Marrick. there are rosettes hung everywhere, but they’re not just there for show.

‘People come in here for a cup of coffee and the sheep are half sold already by the time they’ve seen all these. Most of our sheep are sold privately and once they’ve seen the rosettes that’s half the marketing done.’

Keith and Elaine have 180 acres which they own, plus they rent a further 130 acres next door. They run 90 suckler cows and 350 pedigree sheep, with a split of 100 Texels, 50 Suffolks and 200 North Country Cheviots, turning out 80-100 tups a year.

Keith took on the farm from his uncle, his mother’s brother, and

IT’S NOT ThE TAKING PART, IT’S ThE WINNING ThAT MATTERS!fARMERSMART TAlK WITh KEITh & ElAINE STONES Of MARRICK

Keith had helped him for around 10 years before his uncle’s arthritis took its toll.

‘That’s when I had my biggest shock,’ says Keith. ‘I’d been doing the work before but now I had the bills to pay. We’ve gradually increased our stock and worked really hard. Since the headage payments stopped we’re selling suckler calves as opposed to finishing cattle, getting them off farm earlier. We have also gone much more down the pedigree sheep side, producing higher quality sheep.’

They started showing their stock back in 1993-94.

‘We took a few fat lambs at first, then Cheviots, then the Texels from the Suffolk. We do around 6-8 shows a year including Westmorland, Reeth, Bowes, Eggleston, Nidderdale, Brough and Masham Sheep Fair.’

In common with many other sheep breeders Keith tells of how fat sheep sales have been just as good as pedigree prices in recent times:

‘Thank goodness that prices overall for sheep farmers have been good. Breeding sheep prices haven’t gone up, proportionately, in the same way as fat sheep prices, so we’re hoping prices will pick up. A lot of breeding sheep have been sold at less than fat

Keith & Elaine Stones of Marrick


stones oF Marrick

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Pleased to be associated with Keith and Elaine

Stones and wish them

continued success for the future

lambs have been making.’

Keith tells of how his farm and many other hill farms still could not survive without subsidy payments.

‘We couldn’t live here without them. That’s sad because we do work long and hard. At one time a couple of years ago we were losing £99 per cow and the highest performing farms were losing £66 per cow.’

Nonetheless Keith and Elaine are still here, and with the subsidies and better prices in the sheep and beef sectors they are not complaining. They know they live in a lovely part of the world and they enjoy their life with their five children – Ben, Tommy, Annie, Jack and Mary – aged between 16 to 8.

Their farm is on the renowned Coast to Coast Walk and they have developed a camp site just down from their kitchen, in the field below. Elaine runs an increasingly popular tea shop from their conservatory, called Elaine’s Country Kitchen.

‘The walk is the second most popular in the country,’ says Elaine. ‘I started the Country Kitchen 10 years ago and serve breakfast, lunch and evening meals for our campers and visiting walkers. We used to run a B&B here but our rooms are now filled with our own children! We serve our own beef, lamb, pies and cakes.’

Winning is clearly very important to Keith, but he does enjoy ‘the crack’ of being around everyone else for the social aspect of showing.

‘It’s a great social environment but we’re definitely doing it to shop window our stock. The reason I show is to market what we do. It’s not the taking part, it’s the winning that matters!’

Keith’s favourite moment in the show ring was when he took Reserve Champion at Lockerbie.

‘It was the main sale for the North Country Cheviot Society at the mart. For an Englishman taking Scottish sheep to Scotland to sell is quite a feat. They love us running up there with our cheque books, but it’s a bit different getting them to spend money on our sheep.’

Last year Keith achieved another rare feat. He had three breed champions at one show with his North Country Cheviots, Suffolks and Texels all taking breed championships at Eggleston Show.

‘I’ve also had three Supreme champions and a Reserve Supreme champion in 10 days with four different sheep, all females and all home bred. That was at Eggleston, Nidderdale and over both days at Masham Sheep Fair.’

Recently Keith has been utilising embryo transfer, through the services of vet Ed Bulman, to produce pure Texels from Mules.

The Stones’ Cheviot flock

Keith & elaine Stones nuncote nook Farm Marrick, richmond DL11 7Lg north Yorkshire tel: 01748 884266 Mob: 07702 688828 email: [email protected]


FarMer copley

Dalziel Ltd is pleased to supply Farmer Copleys

with their key ingredients and wish them continued success

Dalziel Ltd, Unit F1 Summit Park, Glasshoughton, West Yorkshire WF10 5HX Tel 01977 605590

Wharfedale Farmers Auction Mart LtdLEEDS ROAD, OTLEY, LS21 3BD

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AT OUR “FRIENDLY” YORKSHIRE LIVESTOCK MART- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -MONDAYS (Weekly) Pigs, Prime Sheep, Cull Cattle & Prime Cattle

THURSDAYS (Seasonal) Special Catalogue Sales of Breeding & Store Sheep

FRIDAYS (Fortnightly) Store Sheep, Dairy Cattle, Calves, Stirks, Feeding Bulls, Breeding & Store Cattle

SATURDAYS Farm Equip, Implements & Machinery(Monthly at 10am Jan - Nov) also Fur & Feather sold at 12noon

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We are pleased to be associated with Robert and Heather Copley of Farmer Copleys Farm Shop and wish them all the best for the future

the first thing you notice when walking into Farmer copleys Farm Shop is its style. the beautifully renovated cattle shed is draped in character; everything from the paintings on the wall, to the perfectly presented 10 and ½ metre meat counter has been chosen specifically to offer customer the very best.

Husband and Wife duo Robert and Heather Copley co-founded the business in 2003, when they purchased the modest shop and tenanted its small accompanying farm. On arrival Heather and Robert had very different ideas of what kind of shop they wanted to create. Robert wanted to develop what he called a ‘mucky carrot farm shop’ with a rustic flare, whereas Heather wanted to achieve a Fortnum and Mason styled shop.

Heather it seems had the winning vote in the style stakes and the couple has since created an award-winning shop with national recognition.

Before they purchased the small shop, the Copleys had vast experiences in the world of agriculture. Yorkshire man Robert grew up on a farm and Heather studied agriculture at degree level before going on to work as an agronomist for a number of years. The couple met in Dorset where Robert had moved to in order to work on various tenanted farms, feeding and breeding cows. In 2003, the couple moved back up north and began to fulfil their life long ambitions.

Heather tells us: “I always knew what I wanted to do; when we worked as farm advisers we knew

NOT A fARM ShOP, BUT A RETAIl EXPERIENCE!fARMERSMART VISITS fARMER COPlEYS IN PONTEfRACT

Rob and Heather Copley


FarMer copley

where to find a whole pig or a whole lamb from reputable farmers near to us. But we also wanted to be able to offer a joint of pork, free range chicken, some lamb and some free range beef each week. We didn’t want to have the same meats available for three months. So the idea was that if we couldn’t source what meat we wanted, the likelihood is that Joe-public couldn’t either.”

And source it they did. Martin Hare, who produces the lamb which is sold in the shop, has done so since the beginning, as has Tadcaster-based farmer Mark Burton who supplies the Copleys with their high quality pork. Heather and Robert are so intent in selling the very best in local meat, they often pay over the odds for certain cuts to ensure that high standards are maintained.

Once their feet were firmly on the ground, the couple began to turn their dreams into a reality. As a self-confessed cow man, Robert took on his natural role of farm manager and Heather began working on her dream project; “When we first started farm shops were in their infancy, there were a few good farm shops in the UK, but not in the kind of style that I wanted to create” Heather explains. “Everything you see here has been made bespoke by our on team. They’ve been really

good at interpreting my ideas, so that everything is exactly how we envisaged it to be.”

After only a couple of months the shop began to transform, with the first extension out went the 1.8 metre meat counter, out went the tiny till that was squeezed under the stairs and in came a 4.5 meter butchery counter, more staff, larger deli and EPOS till. This Robert deemed was still not large enough for demand especially after his research trips to the USA. So out with another butchery counter and in with the 10.5 meter counter, a coffee shop named MOO and a total retail space of 3100 square feet!, 180 acres of accompanying land, several open plan kitchens, and 32 members of staff. Farmer Copleys now bakes each delicious pie and pastry on site in front of their loyal customers. Somewhat refreshingly, Heather doesn’t see her customers as just that, instead she uses their wants and needs to develop new business ideas and introduce different product ranges. She tells us; “funnily enough, recently I was trying to do some market research with what I call my customer panel to see if they could think of any new things for us to incorporate, but they just kept saying, “No everything you do is fantastic!”

Winning awards is something

that Farmer Copleys seems to do naturally, but earlier this year they won what Heather describes as the ‘biggie’; the FARMA award for best farm retailer. Heather tells us that the application process was long and arduous at times, but was without doubt worthwhile; “After we’d been successful over the first few heats, they sent a mystery shopper over to take a look at what we were doing, which I think was brilliant, because in fairness, we can all turn it on for show day but its important to maintain those standards each and everyday, regardless of who comes through the door.”

“Winning the FARMA award was amazing because we were in front

of all our peers. There were a lot of the same people around us who had been there in the very beginning; giving us advice and helping us to find our feet. It was wonderful to feel like we’ve made it, to reach that level of recognition within the industry.”

Just what more could you want?

Farmer copleys ravensknowle Farm Pontefract, WF7 5aF tel: 01977 600200 www.farmercopleys.co.uk Special offer on internet sales for 20% off enter promo code Fc20


dales traditional butchers

Dales traditional Butchers Ltd has sat proudly in the beautiful market town of Kirkby Lonsdale for over 100 years, but only since 1999 has its reputation preceded it.

Just before the turn of the millennium, Mark Duckworth bought into the Butchers business along with three other organic partners. Unfortunately the business plan didn’t run as smoothly as Mark had intended it to. Other partnerships were formed but it wasn’t until Vicky joined Mark in 2008 that the business became a true family enterprise.

Mark explains: “The business was steeped in tradition when I first became involved, and that was always something I wanted to maintain. The butchers had been in the Dale family

for three generations, but Colin and Wilf Dale (the brothers who owned the butchers prior to Mark and Vicky) weren’t exactly interested and decided to retire.”

Mark Duckworth’s career as a butcher began when he was just 13: “When I first started I worked for numerous small butchers, market stalls and slaughter houses. But when I was 17 I was awarded the Youth Training Scheme (YTS) ‘Trainee of the year’ and I was one of the first butchers in the country to receive the Meat Managers Certificate in HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point)”

With such an accredited and experienced butcher at its core, Dales Traditional Butchers has managed

ThE MOST CREATIVE BUTChER IN TOWNMARK ANd VICKY dUCKWORTh TEll fARMERSMART ABOUT ThEIR WEIRd ANd WONdERfUl RECIPIES

to secure both local and national recognition as one of the countries most innovative business. So what exactly makes them stand out? The answer is simple; originality.

Earlier this year Mark was awarded the ‘Invent a Sausage’ award, an accolade which even he deemed somewhat out of his league-geographically that is. “As a Cumbrian Butcher I

Dalziel Ltd is pleased to supply Dales Traditional Butchers

with their key ingredients and wish them continued success

Dalziel Ltd, Chorley North Business Park, Chorley, PR6 7DE Tel 01257 226000

Lune Valley Milk & Cream

H. C. AIREY & SONS LTDABATTOIR & CUTTING PLANT

THE ABATTOIR, SNOWDROP VILLA, AYSIDE, GRANGE-OVER-SANDS, CUMBRIA, LA11 6JE

TEL: 015395 31237

SHEEP, GOATS, CALVES, PIGS, CATTLE, BOTH U/30 & 30/48MTHS

CMI, EBLEX & FARM ASSURED STANDARDS

WE PROVIDE A SERVICE FOR FARMERS, BUTCHERS AND THE CATERING INDUSTRY

WE ARE PLEASED TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH MARK AND VICKY DUCKWORTH AND JOHN AND CAROLINE WATSON

Mark Duckworth



was stunned when I found out I had won the Scottish competition.” The winning sausage on the day was Marks wonderfully unusual pork and caramel combination, a recipe which was shortlisted from a whole array of options, which also included a Pheasant and whiskey recipe. “We’ve also won others in the past; we won the national beef sausage competition in 2002, which started off with around 300 entries and went on through regional trials,” Vicky added. “The awards have helped us to build on our reputation; they

generate interest because people want to come, taste, and see what all the fuss is about.”

The team at Dales Traditional Butchers now comprises of Sean, who works on the manufacturing side of things, Ryan who is usually at the front of shop cutting (where we find him today) and Henry who works his magic making delicious home-cooked pies for the shop and helping with the catering company Mark and Vicky also run.

Conintued page 26


Mark tells us: “The outdoor catering side of things is one aspect of the butchers that I would love to expand on in the near future. Just last year we had a barbeque in the village to celebrate our 10th anniversary in Kirkby Lonsdale and to raise money for local charities” Vicky adds, “We raised a massive £1,200 for local charities as it was our way of saying ‘Thanks’ to the local community for supporting us over the years.. It was also great to see people socialising, whilst still enjoying good quality, locally sourced, tasty food. ”

Where investments are concerned, Mark and Vicky have recently installed three M-Series Avery-Berkel dual printer scales to help with both consumer demand and the daily accounts. Vicky explains: “We got them because they integrate with our account system, making things considerably easier. The system we had before was OK, but there was a lot of duplication involved as we had to input the shops monthly figures into our accounts package manually. The new system also helps with stock control.”

Two years ago, Mark and Vicky decided to join the Scottish Federation of Meat Traders after being recommended to them by a friend. Since leaving the English Federation they admit things have

improved substantially: “I found that the English Federation leaned more towards supermarkets rather than independent butchers. The Scottish Federation seems to help smaller businesses more; even their public relations team is amazing, because whatever you want, they’re there for you.”

When asked his favourite part of butchery, Marks answer is simple: “I enjoy trying to be creative, always improving on what’s gone before. I find that customers like people who try new things and work hard.”

Dales traditional Butchers Ltd 2 Market Street Kirkby Lonsdale cumbria La6 2aU tel: 015242 71278

at MWeigh we pride ourselves on the standard of our customer service, so it is always pleasing to receive positive feedback from our customers. Mark & Vicky Duckworth from Dale’s Butchers, Kirkby Lonsdale commented:

“We were unhappy with our existing point of sale package in our shop, so we approached MWeigh to see if there was a better solution for us. We were looking to integrate scales directly to our accounting system and for something that could accommodate growth in our business.”

“Merv Evans knew exactly what we were after and showed us a solution that was already up and running for another of his existing customers. We were very impressed with what we saw and decided to opt for MWeigh. We now have 2 x Avery Berkel M420T counter system scales with dual printers, 1 x Avery Berkel M100T pre-pack scale and the Avery Berkel MX400

Software with MX/Sage Link to our accounts package.”

The installation was very quick and the scales were up and running in a day. We would highly recommend any food retail business to MWeigh for their knowledge and service”

MWeigh stock the full range of the XM and M series scales from Avery Berkel; The XM redefines counter scales with communication and innovation. Until now you have had to choose between a PC scale and a basic model. But with XM, extra comes as standard, so you don’t have to compromise.

The M series retail system scales and printers feature M2 technology for faster operation, better customer service and reduced ownership costs. The MX range of software also offers retailers increased control over their scale networks.

www.mweigh.co.uk

MWEIGh SATISfIEd CUSTOMERS



watson

Agricultural Engineers

Main agent for IAE; Gates, Cubicles and Feed Fence.

CowCare rope scraper systemsNO.1 for cow welfare

General Sales, Service and Repairs

Tel:Broughton-in Furness01229-716575

Pleased to be associated with Caroline and Jon Watson

the story of Yew tree Farm is one you are bound to have heard of; draped in historical relevance, the beautiful farm house was once home to Beatrix Potter during the 1930’s and is one of the most recognised farms in the country.

Jon and Caroline Watson began their agricultural lives in Yorkshire, where Jon worked as a farm manager and Caroline worked for a national park organisation. The couple had always dreamed of having their own tenanted farm but after realising that there were very few tenancies available in the Yorkshire region; they decided to head North West. Caroline tells us: “when this farm came up, because my background is in conservation and is slightly tourism based, it was just the right sort of place.”

In 2001 the farm that Jon had managed was wiped out with foot and mouth. This meant that wherever the

ThE PICTURESQUE ANd ICONIC WORld Of YEW TREE fARMlUCIE CARTER VISITS CAROlINE ANd JON WATSON IN ThE hEART Of ThE lAKE dISTRICT

a major tick problem, which is quite common because the land itself has a really bad tick fell. So we had to get stock that was resilient to them.” To achieve such resilience, Caroline and Jon continued to buy in stock, this time in the form of Limousine Angus cross breeds.

Now with between 200 and 300 sheep and over 20 cows, Yew Tree Farm is as much a famous heritage site, as it is a fully-fledged breeding farm. “We were always aware of the story of Beatrix Potter and in a way that did add a little pressure when we got the tenancy. Beatrix owned Yew Tree in the 1930’s; in-fact we still have all of the original furnishings that she brought in; which is obviously a plus side to our appeal, and has brought visitors in year-on-year.”

Along with the farm and the guest house, Jon and Caroline also decided to introduce a tea room to Yew Tree Farm, which until last autumn proved overwhelmingly popular: “I took on the Bed and Breakfast as it had been run and then we opened the tea room, which is almost like a live-in museum. Recently however, because we’ve since developed ‘Heritage Meats’, the tea room became impossible to manage.”

A change, it seemed, was needed. Jon and Caroline knew that they needed a switch in focus: “We decided to rethink the whole input system, why not get some hardy animals that can live out most of the time. To resolve the issue we changed over to Belted Galloways for a few different reasons, and we also decided to go with Herdwicks.”

‘Heritage Meats’ was born soon after the Herdwicks were introduced, because the couple were so keen to

use their tasty meat to the best of its potential: “The next step for us was to basically create a website and build a white room so that we could actually do the processing here on site rather than using an outside abattoir.”

Heritage Meats now supplies to some of the best hotels and restaurants in the Lake District. They work closely with two Michelin star-rated chefs: “I’d say around 70% of our meat is sold wholesale to chefs. We’ve been getting fantastic results with customers feeding back to the chefs commenting on how good a product it is, and how they love the whole local provenance side of it. It also helps that our farm is steeped in history, because people look at the recipes and recognise that it has been reared on Yew Tree Farm.”

Aside from their highly successful meat manufacturing company, the Watson’s most obscure achievement came when a film production team knocked on their door. Caroline tells us all about the surreal moment: “We got approached by the filmmakers, who wanted to use our farm house as Hill Top Farm (Beatrix’s farm) for the ‘Miss Potter’ film. Although the film wasn’t a massive success, it still gave us a huge amount of publicity.”

Having overcome the pressures of running a world famous heritage site, and sustaining a thriving business venture, things are most definitely on the up at Yew Tree Farm.

caroline & Jon Watson Yew tree Farm www.yewtree-farm.com 015394 41433

couple eventually settled, they would need to source an entirely new heard. “That proved quite difficult,” explains Caroline, “because every one was doing the exact same thing and was in the same predicament.”

Caroline tells us: “Another issue we faced when we first arrived here was

Jon and Caroline Watson


news

All Plant Machinery: Skid Steer Loaders, MEWP’s, Telehandlers, Agricultural Tractors....and many more.

Abrasive WheelManual Handling

SSSTS (Site Supervisor Safety Training Scheme)SMSTS (Site Management Safety Training Scheme)

IOSH (Managing Safely)NEBOSH (general certificate)

Courses can be tailored to suit the clients requirements.

Birkwood Plant TrainingBirkwood House Farm Pontefract Road, CroftonWakefield WF4 1LN

Tel: 01924 860444Fax: 01924 864765

[email protected]

We have a stand at the Great Yorkshire Show on the 13th - 15th July 2010

We would like to invite existing and new clients to join us for light refreshments and a natter... we will have some special show

offers for people who make training course bookings at the show. Our stand will be on Avenue G (look for BPT Logo flying high!!!)

operating heavy duty farming machinery on a day-to-day basis isn’t an easy task; it’s one which requires great skill and concentration. For the last five years Birkwood Plant training has provided the relevant courses needed for individuals to handle machinery within the agricultural sector properly.

Mark Ramskill and his wife Sally founded Birkwood Plant hire in 2000, but after there own employees needed suitable training, they noticed a substantial gap in the market and

decided to diversify into plant training.

Birkwood now offer an extensive range of training courses suitable for all ages and experience levels, these include;

• All Plant Machinery: Skid Steer Loaders, MEWP’s, Telehandlers, Agricutlural Tractors and many more

• Abrasive Wheels

• Manual Handling

• Site Supervisor Safety Training Scheme (SSSTS)

• Site Management Safety Training Scheme (SMSTS)

• IOSH (Managing Safely)

• NEBOSH (General Certificate)

The courses take place at Birkwood’s very own 4 ½ acre training site in Crofton, near Wakefield, where real working environments can be replicated for training purposes. In addition Birkwood can personalise your training and come out to your farm where appropriate.

Birkwood will be exhibiting at this year’s Great Yorkshire Show and would like to invite existing and new clients to pay them a visit. Over the three days,

they will have various offers available for those who wish to book onto any course at the show; their stand will be on Avenue G.

www.birkwoodplant.co.uk

TRAIN ANd GAIN WITh BIRKWOOd

earlier this year Faulks & co. Ltd., who are famously known for their tyre rubber™ feed buckets, tubtrugs® and gorilla tubs® , decided to take a leap into unknown territory. the well-established company added a new range of quality hand tools, to their already impressive catalogue.

Under the brand “Wm.Faulks” the range is made up of over 60 products which fall into the following categories:

• Shovels, spades and forks (mostly steel)

• Manure, hay and bedding forks

• Cutting and chopping tools

• Hammers and driving tools

• Miscellaneous tools (inc. mattocks and squeegees)

Agricultural and contractor tools come in cool grey and natural materials such as Ash Wood and the equestrian tools

are also available in pink for the stable yard. Wm.Faulks tools are made to last and provide first class value for money.

Agents now required for Wm.Faulks tools.

Managing Director Dean Cox recently told FarmersMart that the success of the range was overwhelmingly strong. In fact the product range’s popularity has meant that the company now

has to recruit yet more agents in order to better the service for existing customers and attract new retailers to the brand through the best delivery and stock service in the trade.

For more information visit www.wmfaulks.com

A RESOUNdING SUCCESS!


gripple

created specifically for terminating end-post wires, the gripple t-clip is covering new ground, using a specially designed version of the world-famous gripple Plus system. With patented technology, the single-channel t-clip grips the wire with a spring-held ceramic roller, securing your fence speedily, effortlessly and neatly.

It’s the quick and easy way to start

and end your fence, proven to be at least four times faster than ungainly knotting. Simply twist the T-Clip onto the line wire, loop the wire around the end-post and push it through the entry hole - it’s as straightforward as that.

John Clayton of John Clayton’s Professional Paddock Care uses the Gripple T-Clip to terminate horse-mesh. The Lincolnshire-based

fencing contractor feels the product is a master-stroke of design. “I can’t fault it” he said. “As a product, it does the job perfectly.”

In the past, John would knot the wire around the fence-posts to terminate a run, but this was both laborious and time-consuming. “Our biggest consideration is time, so it’s a big plus. It used to be awkward when it came to the end-posts – the difficulty

GRIPPlE T-ClIP, IT’S ThE fUTURE!in knotting the wire often meant tempers would fray, but the T-Clip has eliminated all of that stress.”

On the 21st July, the T-Clip will be put to the test at the Driffield Show, the largest one-day agricultural event in the UK. Gripple is proud to be the official sponsors of the Contractor Fencing Competition, in which ten teams will be pitted against each other in a bid to win the £750 grand prize. Every element of fencing will be covered, from digging to joining, with around 45m of HT 8/80/15 net (with two lines of barbed wire) being erected.

Giles Moore, Regional Sales Manager for Gripple, explained how the competition always generates a lot of hype. “Contractors feverishly battle it out for the highly sought after title. When they use the Gripple Plus method to join the fence wires, it gives everyone a chance to see just how quick our products are. It’s set to be an exciting competition - the result really will be down to the wire!”

For more information visit www.gripple.com


elliots

GD Sheill And Son(Farmers, fencing contractors, forklift hire)

“rennieston edge”jedburgh

td8 6rpTel: (01835) 863627

Heavy Duty Grass ToppingPost Thumping

Fencing17m Merlot Forklift with Man Basket

Multi-size Baling & CartingPloughing with 4 furrow reversible

Unbeatable for QualityHardy Breed

Excellent MothersCheviot lamb is a good product,

Ready for the Market in the Spring

Members & breeders Tim & Hilary ElliotSectretary; Isobel J.McVittie

Telephone 013873 80222

www.cheviotsheep.org

Cheviot Sheep Society

Galloway National Show – Cumberland Show

17th July 2010The largest show of Galloways in the country

The Galloway Cattle Society, 15 New Market Street, Castle Douglas

01556 502753www.gallowaycattlesociety.co.uk

traditional South country cheviot sheep have been the backbone of the enterprise at Hindhope, Jedburgh for the elliot family which have farmed there for two centuries.

The 2,500 acre farm runs up to 1,600ft on the Scottish foothills of Cheviot where the breed of sheep originated, bred by the monks of Bowmont and subsequently making their way into the Highlands of Scotland where the North Country Cheviot was developed.

Tim and Hilary Elliot run Hindhope with their son, Tom, the fourth generation of the family. A true hill unit and part of the Roxburgh Estate, the land at the steading runs from 900ft above sea level in the Kale Valley, a tributary of the River Teviot, with only 70 acres of mowable land for hay and the rest enclosed hill.

A more recent addition to the livestock enterprise at Hindhope has been the herd of Galloways, founded in the 1950s and both the sheep and cattle, out of necessity, need to be easy care.

“The South Country Cheviot has evolved in the conditions on these hills. They are a hardy breed and they are outwintered and lambed on the hill,” said Tim.

“Last winter was the worst winter we have had in seven years and the prolonged covering of snow meant we had to feed them hay,” he added.

Today’s 1,200 South Country Cheviots all go back to the bloodlines of the original sheep. All the ewes are bred pure with 270 ewe hoggs retained each year as replacements and the remainder of the lambs sold store at six months old at the September St Boswells sale, or privately.

Around 200 draft ewes are also sold privately each year and potential breeding rams are carefully selected for use at home as shearlings and then sold as two shears at Lockerbie the following autumn.

As a result, only proven rams are sold and this year there are 10 for sale.

Rams have sold to a top price of £8,500 at the 2002 Lockerbie sale for Hindhope Sandy, by a Hislop ram bred by Sandy Fleming, Hislop, Hawick. Rams generally average between £450 and £500.

Cheviots have been bred at Hindhope for as long as the family has farmed there and Hindhope sheep were exhibited at the first Highland Show in 1832.

Tim Elliot remembers attending his first Highland Show when it moved around the country and it was staged at Kelso.

“It was a great shop window for the breed,” said Tim. Hindhope sheep have regularly collected the South Country Cheviot championship - including in the show’s 100th year in 1932.

The Elliots won the championship with a three crop ewe in 2006 and a two shear ram the following year.

Cheviot sheep from Hindhope have been exported all over the world, including Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Russia.

The easy-care attributes of the Cheviot with pressures on staffing and their abilities as a crossing ewes and producing good, spring lamb, are increasing the breed’s popularity.

At Hindhope, the sheep are low input and have minimal disease problems. To cope with the farm’s hard conditions, sheep are selected for their milkiness as well as for conformation which is passed on to commercial progeny.

The Galloways, which also carry the Hindhope prefix, fit the farm in a similar way. The herd’s 27 cows all calve outside on the hill in the spring and are only fed hay when outwintered.

hINdhOPE: A hAVEN fOR ChEVIOT ShEEPJENNIfER MACKENZIE hEAdS NORTh TO VISIT ThE EllIOT fAMIlY

Bulling heifers are sold at the November Carlisle sale at 30 months old with bullocks mostly being sold through Longtown Mart at 18 months old.

in 2009, heifers averaged £670 for nine sold while bullocks generally average £400 a head.

Current stock bull is Barlaes Youngster and recent sires have included Hownham Grange, Kilnstown, Burnfoot of Ewes and Tweedshaw breeding.

“The future for the Galloway is good. There are a lot of new buyers at the sales and there is increased interest because of their ability to graze rough grass in compliance with environmental schemes,” said Tim.

“Since the age for finished beef has been increased beyond 30 months this has been in favour of the Galloway which can be naturally matured outside producing far superior beef,” he added.

tel: 01835 840209

The Elliot family

FarmersMart Summer 2010�0

severn valley

in this day and age, where so much of our timber products come flat-packed in a cardboard box along with a set of confusing instructions, there are very few companies that can honestly pride themselves on being British through and through. Severn Valley Woodworks Ltd is an exception.

Founded primarily by Andrew Jenkins in 1970 and still the company’s Chairman, the business now has five Directors who work in a number of capacities, each with their own specialist forté. The team consists of Managing Director Simon Brown, Anthony Sterry, Nicholas Jenkins and Robin Simpson. Today FarmersMart meets with Director David Twigg, who tells us that the last decade has been a very dynamic period for this well-established business:

“We have developed the business hard over the last eight to ten years, into the diverse and highly successful business we have today, we trade under a number of different brands, each with their own market and significance.”

Severn Valley Woodworks is comprised of four major brands. The first of which is Challow, a thriving branch of the company which manufactures crop drying and storage products for the agricultural sector that allows farmers to monitor and control the warm air that is blown underneath the structure to dry the crop evenly. Challow is also responsible for the design and manufacture of bespoke, high quality timber structures.

Lingward is another of Severn Valley’s major brands and like Challow, sells and installs crop drying products.

Hutton is a brand which trades within the gardening and landscaping sectors, manufacturing garden furniture, arbours and a variety of planters including raised bed kits. Severn Valley bought Hutton Industrial Containers as it was formerly know as a business in 2003. Seven years and a significant amount of re-branding later and Hutton Garden and Landscaping Products as it stands today, continues to blossom. David tells us, “As a brand Hutton has had a

WOOd WORKS AT SEVERN VAllEY

complete overhaul, and throughout the recession, when certain trades have quietened it has really grown from strength to strength.”

The final and perhaps strongest brand is Severn Valley Woodworks. This brand is the front for selling large volumes of machined and treated softwood including decking, shiplap and a variety of cladding, flooring and fencing components.

Aside from the new Lydney site all of Severn Valley and its counterpart brands’ work is done at their Westbury-on-Severn site, which is where you’ll find three huge pressure treatment tanks, one of which is one

of the oldest in the UK, the company has a capacity to pressure treat 200 m3 of wood per day. The three tanks rely on Arch’s Tanalith E treatment, to produce the very best products. They deliver throughout the UK.

David concludes: “The six of us each have a fantastic sense of achievement; we don’t just have physical ownership of this company, but emotional ownership too.”

Severn Valley Woodworks Limited tel: 01452 760994 www.svw2000.co.uk

The Elliot family

FarmersMart Summer 2010 �1

ccM auction Mart

CCM Quality FoodsProfessional butchery service

Have your own stock butchered to your specificrequirements. Packed and boxed ready for freezer,

farmers markets or retail sale. Sausage/burger,bacon/gammon production.

Skipton Auction MartUnit 1, Gargrave Rd, Skipton,BD23 1UDTel: 01756 692909Fax: 01756 692908E-Mail: [email protected]

there has been a buoyant mood around the livestock markets for well over a year now and at Skipton auction Mart (ccM) that mood is certainly the case.

‘We have had one of the best prime hogg marketing seasons for many years and this has followed through into the early spring lamb season,’ says Ted Ogden. ‘In late June lambs were averaging between £4-£5 higher than the corresponding time last year.’

Ted believes this has come about from a variety of factors including less sheep being about through higher cullings of ewes, a hard winter for almost all farms and as a result a lighter crop of lambs.

‘Our opening sale of store lambs, to be held in mid-July will see us market

2500, whereas in mid-July last year that was nearer 3000. Part of that has come about due to the dry period on all farms through May and June which has had an effect on lamb growth and correct condition in some areas.’

The breeding sheep market is also holding up very well and Ted reports that prices of between £140-£170 for Mule hoggs with singles have been the norm this year.

Some farmers were talking of fat lambs making just as much as breeding sheep in recent times but Ted believes there is still suitable reward for producers of quality stock.

‘Jeremy Eaton and I recently attended the National Sheep Assocation’s South Sheep event held in Hampshire

SKIPTON’S fABUlOUS SPRING… ANd SUMMERChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh TEd OGdEN Of CCM AUCTIONS

and we were given every indication that many southern-based sheep farmers will be coming north to Skipton and other marts for their replacements this autumn. Prices are already looking healthy and it looks as though the producers should receive the right return for their efforts.’

Ted points to the export market and the exchange rate of the pound and the Euro being the two over-riding factors in the market place, which have led to the better prices over the past 12-18 months.

‘There is no doubt this has been the driving force behind consistently

Jeremy Eaton


ccM auction Mart

better prices than sheep farmers were getting, but we all must keep a close eye to the exchange rate because if it moves in the other direction it could have a negative

effect on the market trade.’

Cattle prices have also remained strong and have maintained their levels of last year.

‘Quality store cattle are selling well,

particularly young bulls. I have to say that whilst numbers may have dropped off for some markets we have kept to between 350-400 store cattle in each of our fortnightly catalogue sales throughout June and into July.’

Calves are also maintaining a strong weekly presence at Skipton.

‘We are getting between 50-100 rearing calves through every week including a great choice of either continental crosses or black and white bull calves for rearing.’

CCM is committed to offering the best facilities and as such has

recently completed the covering of all pen areas.

‘We have also re-tarmaced the access roads and the car park and we’re not finished by a long way yet. Everyone here is totally committed to providing the right service for all of our farmers and their stock. We believe Skipton is the market to buy and sell your stock and we are always delighted to welcome new customers.’

ccM auctions Skipton auction Market ted ogden 07855 958211 Jeremy eaton 07747 780481

Ted selling

FarmersMart Summer 2010 ��

bindloss

Farm Building Erection Specialist

DE & JE RaineBuilding and Joinery Service

Over 30 Years Experience

Excavation Site Clearance

Tel: 01931 715 223 Mob: 07860 119 781

4 Hopper Hill, Crosby Ravensworth, Penrith, Cumbria, CA1 3JN

We are pleased to be associated with Messrs Bindloss and we wish them continued success for the future.

the Bindloss family gets great satisfaction from working with their breeds of cattle and sheep to produce the very best quality livestock from their upland unit.

Shap Abbey in the heart of Cumbria runs to more than 6,000 acres, 800 acres of which is improved grassland (200 acres is owner occupied) and the remainder is enclosed fell with the tenanted land owned by United utilities and Lonsdale Estates. The family is helped by their stockman of 33 years Mike Benson.

Shap Abbey is run by Edward and Adele Bindloss with their three sons who are raising their young families on the farm - Aaron and his wife Tracey, who have Isaac, five and Sadie, three, and Tracey’s son, Nathan, 13, Simon and his five year old daughter Kenza and his partner Lisa and Adam and his wife Lisa and their children Ella, five, and Maya, two.

Farming is in the blood for the Bindloss brothers, who like their

interested in parading our own cattle or sheep in show grounds, our aim is to produce the very best animal we can and we get great satisfaction from working with the breeds on the farm to do that,” said Aaron.

The farm is in the Lake District Environmentally Sensitive Area Scheme, with inside land running from 600 to 1,000ft above sea level and to 2,100ft on the fell. The 32 miles of dry stone wall and fencing alone brings plenty of work.

The livestock enterprise is based on 2,200 ewes producing around 2,000 prime lambs a year and 250 principally three quarter bred suckler cows whose calves are sold as store cattle at up to 12 months old.

Of the ewe flock, 600 are the area’s traditional Swaledales along with 850 North Country Cheviots, 650 Beltex and 100 North of England Mules.

Swaledales are bred pure for two years and then drafted out while the Cheviots are bred pure for two years then along with the remainder of the ewes are crossed with the Beltex with all replacement ewes bred on the farm.

Edward Bindloss, the third generation to farm at Shap Abbey since 1936, is a firm supporter of the live auction system and is a director of Penrith and District Farmers’ Mart.

The 2009 crop of 1,983 prime lambs of all breeds on the farm sold at a minimum of 42 kg through Penrith mart up until April 2010 averaged £87.50. Just over 500 cast ewes averaged £57 a head and up to £136 for Beltex ewes. Five of their prime Beltex lambs won the 2009 Christmas Show at Penrith mart, making £200 a head to Penrith butcher Gavin Little. The top 400 lambs sold through

IT RUNS IN ThE fAMIlYJENNIfER MACKENZIE VISITS ShAP ABBEY TO TAlK TO ThE BINdlOSS fAMIlY

father were born at Shap Abbey an since leaving school have worked alongside their father there.

“I couldn’t imagine a life without farming. While we have never been

Beltex shearling rams


bindloss

• Dedicated farm vets

• Royal college certified vetsin cattle fertility, cattle health and production, sheep health and production

• Herd health planning

• Bull and ram fertility testing

• Full equine and small animal facilities

• Large car park

We are proud to support the Bindloss FamilyThe Veterinary Centre, Carleton, Penrith

Frame, Swift and Partners, Penrith

01768 862 454www.frameswiftandpartners.co.uk

J. Stobart & Sons Ltd.

Newlands Mill, Hesket Newmarket, Wigton, Cumbria

Manufacturers of Quality Farm Foods

Good palatable rations for all requirements

Specialists In Complete Diet Feeding

Retailers of Good Quality Raw Materials in Bulk (Mixed, Separate or Blended)

Molasses and Potale – mixed or separate also various Liquid Feeds for Cattle and Sheep

Concentrates for Home Mixers, etc.

Tel: Caldbeck 016974 78261

• Site clearance• Concreting• Drainage

• Stone-walling• Stone-facing• Plant hire

• Fencing• Paving• Building works

Specialising in all aspects of Plant hire, Groundworks and Stonework

Tel: 07834834642

Pleased to be associated with the Bindloss Family and wish them continued succes

Penrith averaged £107.

The aim is to sell to the local butchery trade and, as well as Gavin Little, purchasers include Cranstons and Neil Bellas, of Shap, who has had Beltex crossed kill out at 58 per cent.

The Beltex is now used exclusively as a terminal sire and Simon Bindloss has established a small purebred Beltex flock.

Each autumn a number of Beltex shearling rams are sold privately. Pedigree Beltex rams are bought annually at the Carlisle August society sale with prices paid at up to 2,000gns.

Shap Abbey is a hard farm and housing ewes at lambing as well as the summer calving cows helps with mortality and management.

Adaptable pennage in the livestock housing can hold up to 900 ewes or 1,400 feeding lambs.

Lambing is easier and lamb loss is almost nil while the design of the building makes feeding and bedding simple. Ewes and lambs are housed for a maximum of 24 hours before turning out.

When the weather worsens probably around October finishing lambs will be brought inside where they receive Stobarts blend - named Shap Abbey - which is also fed to the young cattle. Some lambs are finished off grass but prime lambs are sold through to the following April.

The housing not only enables lambs to be taken to a better weight but it also frees up grazing ground for tupping time.

Of the suckler herd, 85 per cent are three quarter Limousin-British Blue which the Bindlosses favour for quality calf production.

The cows are crossed with British Blue bulls which are all bought at British Blue Society sales in Carlisle.

Prepared to invest in the stock bulls, at the Carlisle May 2010 sale three pedigree bulls purchased averaged £4,800 and up to 10,500 gns has been paid for a stock bull.

“There is nothing better than looking over a field full of good conformation calves that the British Blue bull gives us,” said Aaron. “And, importantly, they give us good returns in the store ring when sold at up to 12 months old.”

All the store cattle were sold through

Penrith last year to average £847 for 235 sold. Several made more than £1,000 a head with some being bought as show calves which went on to success at both local and national primestock events.

At the 2009 Wigton Christmas primestock show the reserve champion shown by Alan Barnett, of Brinns, Shap, had been bred at Shap Abbey.

The cows calve from mid April until the onset of winter, being brought inside for calving where the latest piece of equipment, a CCTV camera, transmits signals via broadband to allow Aaron, Simon and Adam to monitor the activity and pick up any problems from home.

Calves are mainly sold in May and August/September. Last September calves sold through Penrith averaged £908.

All the herd replacements are bought in as heifers with calves at foot through Penrith and Carlisle marts, mainly from the same producers who include Mark Towers, of Ulverston and Robert Dickinson, of Askham, Penrith.

aaron’s mobile: 0771 5371158 email: [email protected]

Aaron Bindloss


carrs billington

carrs Billington’s Penrith branch hosted a machinery open day to showcase its wide range of manufacturers’ equipment available to customers across mid-cumbria.

Penrith is one of five main machinery branches for Carrs which are on target to sell £10 million worth of equipment including branches at Carlisle, Annan, Hexham and Morpeth.

The Penrith branch in Haweswater Road, managed by Jeremy Harrison has boosted its machinery sales team with the appointment in April of Dale Shepherd as machinery manager who is joined by Mark Harrington. Two apprentices from the local area have also been appointed - Bradley Norwood and

Sam Nixon, bringing the branch team of sales and workshop staff to nine.

Dale trained at the branch, starting in stores and moving on to machinery sales while studying at Newton Rigg, before working as north of England sales representative for Ritchie livestock and bale equipment and now returning to the Penrith branch.

“The open day was to show to both new and existing customers the range of machinery and equipment we sell and to highlight the full service we offer with after sale back-up,” said Dale.

Massey Ferguson tractors, from the 3600 to the 6400 ranges are the branch’s biggest sellers, followed

CATChING UP WITh ThE lATEST MAChINERY ANd Old fRIENdS AT CARRS BIllINGTON, PENRIThJENNIfER MACKENZIE ChECKS OUT ThE MAChINERY lINE-UP AT CARRS BIllINGTON’S PENRITh BRANCh OPEN dAY

Four year old Charlotte Holliday sees if her feet can reach the pedals of a Massey Ferguson compact tractor with her dad John, who farms at Hunsonby


carrs billington

For more information please contact:-Paul McUrich Tel 07810 040100

Station Rd., Bagenalstown, Co. CarlowTel: 059-9721929 / 9721992

Fax: 059-9721980International: + 353 59

Website: www.hispec.netEmail: [email protected]

Mixmax Diet Feeders- Unique Feed-Flo mixing

action providing a market leading mix

- Lower power requirement, low maintenance and excellent reliability

- Available in capacities from 10 - 24 cubic metres

Slurry Tankers- Available in models 800 -

3500 gallons

- Superior build quality with strong chassis frame

- Low profile spreading system to reduce nitrogen loss

Moor Lane, Full Sutton, York, YO41 1HXTel: 01759 373062 / 01759 368563 (evening) Fax: 01759 372929

Web: www.edwardstrailers.co.uk

www.edwardstrailers.co.uk

We are pleased to be associated with Carrs Billingtonand wish them continued success for the future

As well as allowing customers to check out the latest machinery, the open day also provided the opportunity for a “crack” and to catch up with old friends.

Mike Tuer from Crosby Ravensworth met up with Gordon Bland who sold him his first tractor. Gordon

retired from Carrs in 1996, having previously worked on the site when it was run by County Motors.

Visit www.carrs-billington.com

Left to right, James Thompson, of Teagle, Gary Eastham of Carrs’ Cockermouth branch and Joe Gasgarth, Carrs’ area sales representative, who notched up 30 years with the company in June.

Above: Claire Davidson, from Carrs Penrith branch, left, and Ingrid Lydon, from the Langwathby customer service department, test out a Krong BIG X 500 forage harvester.

by Krone with its massive BIG X self propelled forage harvester and BIG M self propelled mower and range of balers, rakes, mowers and tedders.

Also on display at the open day were Arctic Cat ATVs, including the 700 diesel model. The new Kioti Mechron Diesel utility vehicle and compact tractors, Hispec tankers, including disc injectors and trailing shoe, Schaffer pivot steer wheel loaders, BVL diet feeders, Teagle machinery, Ritchie livestock and bale equipment, the new livestock trailer from Graham Edwards Trailers, the new Running Gear rear discharge spreader and JPS slurry equipment were all featured.

Suppliers’ representatives were on hand to show the latest features of their products.

The store also sells a wide range of other products, from animal health to general farm supplies to feeding equipment.


MalcolM corbett

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LLEYN SHEEP SOCIETY SALES 2010

Society Secretary Gwenda RobertsTel: 01758 730366 ofÞ[email protected]

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Malcolm corbett finds the word ‘profitability’ interesting for farming. ‘this farm turns in a book profit every year, but that’s always been based on subsidy. So when farmers talk about profitability what does it mean?

It appears there is little way that Dyke Head Farm, like most hill farms, will ever turn a book profit without subsidies, but it doesn’t stop Malcolm from trying to make things work. His hill farm just out of Rochester in Northumberland runs to 420 acres, with another 80 at Otterburn further down the valley. Malcolm and his wife Anne took over the farm which Malcolm’s father first came to as a shepherd. They have around 600 ewes and 40 suckler cows. In recent times Malcolm has changed his breed of sheep flock and his cattle herd. He and Anne have two sons, Ross (31) and David (27) who works on the farm. Ross ‘earns more money than we do’ on plant hire, says Malcolm.

‘We traditionally had Blackfaces, producing the Blackface and a few Mule lambs, but because of the concentration of the Mule ewe lamb market we could not produce strong enough Mule lambs here. Blackfaces are always discounted in the market place too, so we looked for a more marketable breed of ewe. We have now taken on Lleyns. We breed some pure and put some to the Texel, then we cross the ewe lambs from the Texel X Lleyn back to the terminal sire. We are producing quality lambs which sell better in the market place.’

‘The cattle are different. I’m like a lot of farmers. We keep our suckler herds on farms like this despite the fact they are drastically unprofitable – and we

back them up with subsidy payments. One of the main reasons we keep cattle is that through the summer we need them grazing here to maintain the sward. The sward only grows for 8 to 10 weeks of the year. If you don’t graze it off you end up with a lot of roughage on your hill and the sward deteriorating.’

In order to try and make the most out of his suckler herd Malcolm has again switched breeding stock and methods:

‘Many years ago we had Galloways and we produced Blue Greys. Then we started with Limousin X Friesians. The Friesians declined in the UK dairy herd and on top of that the area we were getting our calves from now has a TB problem so in the future I believe we need to be self contained. We had one or two Limousin cows and decided to go into producing a pure bred Limousin herd. We’re using French genetics to try and make sure our cows have milk. They have a strong milking and maternal ability. Being self contained is a big thing to us and it now means we are self contained in both cattle and sheep.’

Malcolm sells breeding ewe lambs privately and sells all of their other lambs fat through a private agent to abattoirs. On the cattle side he’s keeping his pure bred Limousin heifers whilst he builds up the herd. He sells an odd bull for breeding to a local farmer whilst also finishing bulls to send direct to abattoir. The rest of the suckler calves go to Hexham Mart at 10-15 months.

‘Farmers of my generation are now realising that you can make

All ChANGE IN ThE NORThUMBERlANd hIllSfARMERSMART TAlK WITh MAlCOlM CORBETT Of ROChESTER

more money out of this game with less livestock. You’re certainly not encouraged to keep livestock. We are in the Entry Level Scheme. We went into it straight away and we are reasonably happy with it. It’s quite flexible and helps us get our modulated money back from the Single Farm Payment, or at least some of it. We also have a Roman fort, a grade 1 listed building on the farm so we are going into the Higher Level Stewardship scheme next.’

Malcolm was Northumberland County NFU chairman in 2001 during the difficult time of Foot and Mouth year. He has also served on the Hill Farming committee, was chairman of the North east livestock board and was vice chairman of the livestock board nationally.

Today he has roles both with EBLEX and the British Wool Marketing Board:

‘With EBLEX my job is to put over

what farming sheep and cattle is like on the ground. I am a big supporter of better returns in EBLEX. One of the ways we can be more profitable is by being more efficient. I am also a big believer in genetic evaluation and EBVs. We Signet record the Lleyn flock.’

‘Two years ago when the price of wool was low a lot of farmers were rightly disappointed with their wool cheques. There was a great deal of unrest and I was quite concerned about the future of the wool board, so I stood for election on the board and I’ve served on it for a year.’

Malcolm is a firm believer that all sheep farmers should back the wool board.

tel: 01830 520282


pk nutrition

each and every day, farmers up and down the country experience problems with their livestock; as nutritional issues and mineral deficiencies become increasingly common, there is one man, and one company that guarantee to help.

PK Nutrition was founded by Paul Keable seven years ago, although Paul has almost 25 years under his belt in ruminant nutrition. His company formulates and promotes mineral products with an expert level of care, research and scientific knowledge.

Therein lies Paul’s strength; He puts his customers first, and ensures their animals welfare is paramount. His business centres around honesty and face to face personal care.

Paul formulates his products personally from home and then tells the manufacturing companies, who he works closely with, exactly what product he wants to suit his specification. Paul insists that everything he sells must have a well over 90% customer satisfaction rate

to be distributed out to farmers. He explains: “In PK Nutrition’s trading area I come across major mineral deficiencies in both cattle and sheep, so using an ordinary mineral doesn’t cope.”

In their first seven years, Paul and PK Nutrition’s Scottish agent Hamish Campbell have continued to formulate products and have seen overwhelming results in farms across the country.

“A lot of companies are taking the science involved but not using the right level of ingredient because of the costs involved. Many companies then package the product as something that it simply isn’t, leaving farmers disappointed when it doesn’t work.”

“I concentrate very heavily on the ailments; I often deal with mineral and nutrition deficiency problems that are out of the ordinary and very severe. I carry out soil testing and forage analysis to develop a product which gets to the root of the problem. This testing is a crucial part of the

PROBlEMS WITh CATTlE ANd ShEEP? PAUl KEABlE’S ThE MAN TO SORT IT OUTlUCIE CARTER TAlKS WITh PAUl KEABlE Of PK NUTRITION

service and a part of building my relationship with my customers.”

For Paul, the important thing when developing an entirely new product is to study every aspect of the problem and use all the ingredients needed in their full capacity.

“I’ve been developing new products over the winter, in fact we’ve just brought out one to cure lameness in sheep; I looked at the science behind it and applied the necessary amount of ingredients needed to cure the ailment.”

Pauls’ interest in animal nutrition started in his younger years when he worked as a stockman in Scotland. He used his knowledge and experience to work for an animal health company for 17 years. Not one for sales figures and annual targets, Paul decided to go it alone when that company was bought out by another company which Paul felt was very sales orientated. He tells us: “I didn’t feel as though my customers would be best served by me whilst working there, so I

decided to leave my position as an agent.”

After taking what was a risky gamble at the time, Paul has never looked back and has gone from strength to strength.

PK Nutrition is very much leading the way in product development. Over his seven years, Paul has worked tirelessly to help farmers overcome often severe nutrition related problems. In many cases, where others have been unsuccessful at tackling a problem, PK Nutrition has managed to make new scientific-based discoveries, and formulate products for nutritional problems that many farmers were unaware were related to mineral deficiencies.

So if you’re a farmer, and you’re experiencing problems with your cattle or sheep, fear not and give Paul a call – remember he guarantees results.

Paul Keable PK nutrition 07771 861 307

Paul Keable with his partner Helen


low cornriggs FarM

• Herd Health plans

• Ultrasound scanning

• Mobile digital x-rays

• Endoscopy

• Foot paring service

• On farm educational days for clients

• Evening talks for farm, equine& small animal clients

OLD STONE VETS6 Skelgillside, Alston, Cumbria, CA9 3TR

Tel: 01434 381792Fax: 01434 381409

www.oldstonevets.co.uk

Pleased to supportJanet and Harry

Elliott at Low Cornriggs

Last Spring FarmersMart visited Low cornriggs Farm, a secluded and highly successfull farm and B&B, tucked comfortably within the Pennine Dales valleys.

As the saying goes, Janet and Harry Elliott have many fingers in many pies-homemade pies that is, and after years of successful award entries, 2010 has so far been no exception. Business wise, Janet modestly tells us that this year has been a triumph; “Since our last meeting we’ve been busy and we’ve won a couple of awards, including the taste of Durham awards which we were extremely proud of.”

Earlier this year, unbeknown to herself, Janet prepared her signature Hereford beef pie dish, for a gentleman who turned out to be the specialist judge for the taste of Durham contest. After which, she and Harry were presented with the ‘Quality Assured and Local Produce

AWARd WINNING QUAlITY fROM ThE fARM TO ThE fORKlUCIE CARTER CATChES UP WITh JANET EllIOTT Of lOW CORNRIGGS fARM

really raised the game in the last 15 years. And I think a lot of farmers who want dairy produce are sourcing it from Hereford bulls. Cattle in general are fetching a lot more money, in the 60’s it was nothing for an individual Hereford bull to fetch 10 or 15 thousand pound and similar prices are once again being reached today. The real beauty of Herefords is that because they’re a native breed you don’t have to worry so much about their welfare, you just leave them out. ”

Like so many modern farmers, the transition from the farm to the end produce is of primary importance to Janet and Harry, especially since Janet studied at Darlington catering college. She tells us: “I think it is essential to create your own local produce, people now are so aware of food miles and where food generally comes from. We sell our beef to

local people in 15 Kilo boxes and it’s very popular in all honesty, more often than not we have a very long waiting list.”

As the Summer months are now in full swing, Janet and Harry face their most busiest season. But after 22 years at Low Cornriggs Farm, they’ve certainly found the winning formula. Janet explains: “I think the secret to lasting long in both the farming industry and within tourism, is to work hard and simply be nice to people. I think people can tell when they come and stay with us that we genuinely love what we do.”

Janet and Harry elliott Low cornriggs Farm cowshill Bishop auckland DL13 1aQ tel: 01388 537600 www.cornriggsfarm.co.uk

Champion’ award by the acclaimed chef Kenny Atkinson.

But the awards didn’t stop there. Another of Janet’s passions was recognised in February, when she and Harry made the short trip to the Dalemane Mansion in Cumbria to compete at the World Marmalade Festival. Janet tells us; “That was a shocker; I was awarded silver, and scored 19 out of 20 for my homemade marmalade.”

Low Cornriggs Farm is as much a business as it is a livestock farm; as well as rearing Norfolk Black turkeys, Janet and Harry run the B&B, own and let two holiday cottages, are about to begin running a bird watching course direct from the farm, and also occupy fields of wild flower meadows, where groups of students regularly come to study.

And so we asked the obvious question, why do so much? “It can be difficult in farming,” Janet admits, “There’s not always an income coming in, which means you have to look at other options.”

For Janet and Harry however, the most vital part of their farm is the rearing of their precious Hereford cattle: “People may say why Herefords? And my answer is always the same, because they’re just so lovely and nice natured. A lot of women and older people keep Herefords, because they’re very easy to handle. It’s never crossed our mind to bring in other breeds onto the farm. I definitely think that Herefords are on the up! The quality of the breed is wonderful; they’ve

Janet Elliott


green FarM health

one of the county’s leading animal health and farm supply distributors, green Farm Health, ran a massively attended open day this spring.

Over 700 were present at the event which saw farmers coming to the new Thirsk Livestock Market and Agricultural Centre from right across the county.

Chris Jeffery of Green Farm Health was delighted with the response from all of the farming community, from the trade stands through to the farmers themselves – and many attended as families making the event a real family day out.

‘This was the first event of this kind and it now looks as though it will become an annual show and open day. Those who had trade stands have already contacted ourselves and the auction mart wanting to book for next year.’

Thirsk Livestock Market is going from strength to strength and the

BIG dAY AT ThIRSKfARMERSMART VISIT GREEN fARM hEAlTh AT ThIRSK lIVESTOCK MARKET

open day and show was held in conjunction with an auction mart sale day.

‘It’s just the right time to hold an event,’ says Chris. ‘Farmers have so much pressure on their lives as it is that it makes sense to hold an event such as this on a day when farmers

are already here. This way everyone can do their regular business of buying and selling stock at the market, whilst also looking at what they need for the future, plus looking at everything new on the market.’

Many of agriculture’s leading distributors and manufacturers

had a presence and all reported on useful business either being done on the day or set up for the future.

‘We also raised quite a lot of money for Yorkshire Air Ambulance during the day,’ said Chris.

Local farmer John Peckitt of Thirsk won a Bateman Lamb Weigher

Green Farm Health - Chris Jeffery


green FarM health

worth £550 for being the closest to guessing the weight of a pen of sheep.

Watch out for more open days and agricultural shows at Thirsk Livestock Market next year and make sure you place your booking if you want a trade stand!

green FarM HeaLtH tel: 01845 522611 email: [email protected] www.greenfarmhealth.co.uk

Peter Swales of Brockhills with a customer


robson tractors

the name robson had been synonymous with the sale of used tractors for many years as ga robson & Son, but in 2004 they made a move into a new territory, new tractor sales through one of the world’s leading manufacturers, Massey Ferguson.

Now, six years on, Robson Tractors are a two-site enterprise in Yorkshire, with their main base at Ings Lane, Carlton Husthwaite and their second site on the road between Malton and Pickering. They are now very much part of the establishment of new and used farm machinery dealers.

The world of buying farm equipment has changed somewhat over the past decade, with not just new franchisees but also internet sales and enquiries altering the traditional buying patterns, and partner David Franks tells of how that has affected their business.

‘When I first came across to see Tim (Robson) I had never seen anyone answering three phones at once. He had two office phones on the go, plus his mobile, and he was keeping up with all three conversations. I wasn’t working here at the time, I was working for another farm machinery dealer and had come across to buy a

NETTING EVEN MORE TRACTOR SAlESChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh dAVId fRANKS Of ROBSON TRACTORS

David Franks


robson tractors

combine. I made a tongue-in-cheek comment about whether he needed a hand. A couple of months later Tim said he had been approached by Massey Ferguson to take on the franchise and asked whether I fancied coming on board to work for him.’

David is now a partner in the business.

The Massey Ferguson franchise had come about because of the demise of Goughs of Hunsingore near Wetherby and when Mitchells, who had taken over from Goughs, and after John H Gill’s had relinquished their franchise too, also went out of the game.

David tells of how the internet has altered sales of tractors and all farm machinery sales: ‘We are now getting toward 50% of our sales coming from the internet. Certainly from the enquiry side I would say 50% of our overall enquiries are internet-based. We have been using the internet ever since I came here but I would say it is in the past couple of years that it has really clicked. It’s generally younger farmers who use it but it’s quite surprising how many older farmers are now enquiring through it much more. We sell at least one unit of used machinery, whether it’s a tractor or some other piece of kit, every day so I update the site every day too.’

That doesn’t mean that buyers don’t come to have a look at what they are buying though.

‘Farmers still come and you do need to be sat here all of the time. If I have to go out I make sure someone else is around.’

The Carlton Husthwaite premises, near Thirsk, are situated on Tim’s farm. The original plan had been to open up premises away from the farm but David is happy with the way things have developed.

‘It really doesn’t matter too much where you are positioned now because the internet far surpasses that. You always used to think you need to be on the side of a main road but that’s not the case as much these days. The internet is quite amazing. You always like to think that you know all your customers, all your farmers, in the area where you are situated but recently we sold a combine to someone not even 3 miles away, someone we’d never dealt with before.’

International sales have also been on the up thanks to the low pound. In recent times David has sold a combine to Bulgaria, tractors to Japan and Robson tractors do a reasonable amount of business in France, Ireland and the Nordic countries.

continues page 46


robson tractors

‘The biggest proportion of our sales is still in the UK and we have sold particularly well to the stockmen who have benefited from better prices recently.’

The Massey Ferguson franchise has proved very successful too. ‘We have sold in excess of 300 new tractors in our first 6 years. We offer excellent extended warranty packages which give customers a lot of confidence over a 5 year period. That’s the name of the game these days, the cost of ownership.’

Robson Tractors will be taking stands at several agricultural shows in North

and East Yorkshire this Summer including the Great Yorkshire, Ryedale, Malton and Driffield.

Why not pop on the internet, or on their trade stand, and see what they can do for you!

David Franks roBSon tractorS ings Lane, carlton Husthwaite thirsk Yo7 2BP tel: 01845 501602 email: [email protected] www.robsontractors.co.uk


brockhills

expanding and forward thinking farm machinery company Brockhills of Yorkshire has taken on the Krone UK range of hay and forage equipment.

‘I didn’t hold a grassland franchise,’ says Peter Swales of Brockhills. ‘I had been offered quite a number of them but when you sell the best tractor (Fendt) and you deal at the top end of the market you really need to sell top end farm machinery in every other area too. Everything I sell is quality and I only wanted to get into a grassland franchise if I felt it matched up with the kind of technology level I was hitting elsewhere.’

Peter was also concerned about spreading his workforce too thinly as he is always aware of looking after his customers in the right manner.

‘You must not drop your standards at any time and I needed to have the assurance that the back-up available from Krone UK was right and that

we could cope here. It wasn’t an easy decision because I never want anything to interfere with the back-up we give on Fendt.’

Fortunately Peter’s fears were allayed when one of his staff expressed a very keen interest to take the Krone side of the business under his wing.

‘As a result we are going to be very aggressively demonstrating the excellent KRONE Comprima round baler this season. I am extremely impressed with its build quality, performance and the back-up that I now know exists through KRONE UK.’

Peter’s main contact with KRONE UK is through farmer’s son James Duggleby who is their Northern Area Territory Manager and who tells of how Peter’s appointment as franchisee came about.

‘We went looking for Peter. I knew him prior to starting with KRONE UK and one of the things we identified before KRONE UK

split from AMAZONE last year was that we needed to employ farm machinery dealers who would not only do a good job selling our products but also provide their own excellent after sales and service. That was one of the key things that attracted us to Peter as his team’s record in servicing and looking after customers is well known.’

KRONE UK made a decision some years ago to focus wholly on hay and forage equipment and they sell a full range of mowers, tedders, rakes, self propelled mowers, forage wagons and self propelled forage harvesters, but it is their Comprima round baler and BiG Pack square baler that they are best known for.

‘The Comprima is our flagship baler and is the most unique round baler on the market. It is a chain and slat design which has evolved to replace a chain with a patented belt design which combines the benefits of both a roller round baler and a belt round baler. That means it can provide

KRONE UK GET TOGEThER WITh BROCKhIllSChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh PETER SWAlES & JAMES dUGGlEBY

high density bales and can bale in all conditions. The 5ft variable model is what our customers in Peter’s area seem to be favouring at the moment.’

Peter believes that the Comprima fits well in his machinery line-up and that the advancements KRONE UK have made to the technology applied to their machines will assist him in selling many balers in the future.

‘A lot of the leading balers on the market at the moment have not invested in their products as KRONE UK have done – and unless they start developing theirs I can see KRONE UK taking a larger slice of the market, certainly here in Yorkshire at any rate.’

The new KRONE UK headquarters are now just 40 minutes away from Peter’s premises.

‘We’re based at Micklefield, just east of Leeds,’ says James. ‘That makes us always on hand for all of our dealers in Yorkshire.’

Other KRONE UK dealers in Yorkshire are: Hardwick Engineering (Brompton by Sawdon); W. Scruton (Riccal); Guy Machinery (Skipton); Tommy Hearne (Burneston, nr Bedale); Northfield Agriculture (Halsham, nr Withernsea) and covering the northern end and into County Durham – Carrs Agriculture (Barnard Castle).

The last word goes to Peter.

‘Anything else I had offered, from various other grassland franchises, I really felt would have only been a stop-gap until I found the one that fitted for what we do here. I didn’t want a stop-gap franchise. I am now looking forward to a long partnership with KRONE UK and assisting them in making the most of their excellent hay and forage equipment.’

Watch out for more details of KRONE UK products in future issues of FarmersMart.

BrocKHiLLS oF YorKSHire www.brockhills.co.uk Dalton Lane, Dalton, thirsk, north Yorkshire Yo7 3Hr tel: 07792 510204

Peter Swales & James Duggleby


brockhills


david Findlay

Services we offer:Particle Size Reduction

Mill & Mix Service Grinding and Rolling Oil Seed Processing Hammer Milling Processing of Animal Feed Feed Processing Machines

We are pleased to be associated with David Findlay

www.feedservices.co.uk

Tel: 01759 318230Fax: 01759 318033


Weekly Sales of:- Primestock, Cast Cattle & Sheep, Rearing Calves, CropFortnightly Sales of:- Beef Breeding Cattle, Young Feeding Bulls & Store Cattle

Pedigree & Commercial Newly Calven & In-Calf Dairy Cattle & Dairy Young StockMajor Seasonal Sales of:- Breeding Sheep and Store Lambs

Inc: NEMSA Mule Gimmer Lamb Sales & MSBA Masham Gimmer Lamb Sales, Mule & Continental Gimmer Shearling Sales, Swaledale Draft Ewe & Shearling Sale, Pedigree Sheep & Cattle

Specialist Sales inc:- Poultry & Waterfowl, Working Sheep Dogs SKIPTON MACHINERY SALES (4X4’s Tractors & Machinery), Reclamation, Salvage & Furniture etc

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Farmstock Office:- Skipton 01756 792375Auctioneers: Jeremy Eaton (General Manager) 07747 780481

Ted Ogden (Farmstock Sales) 07855 958211Diane (Field Officer) 07834 050193

www.ccmauctions.com

SKIPTON AUCTION MARTGargrave Road, Skipton, North Yorkshire

Auctioneers & Valuers

in 1989, when David Findlay was a young farmer in the early stages of his career, he went to visit Dr. Mike tempest, a college lecturer of his to see what was then an unknown foreign sheep breed.

Beltex sheep were originally imported from Belguim, and were virtually unheard of in the early nineties in the UK, but once David got his inquisitive eye on them their profile was swiftly raised.

“I got eight Beltex ewes on their very first import into the country; I was instantly drawn to them,” David tells us. “When Mike showed me them I thought they were unlike anything I’d ever seen before. They had something different to offer; their shape and the quality they would add to the carcass of butcher’s lambs was astonishing. I am now the only

member of the Beltex society who has had the original stock for the whole 21 years.”

David and seven other keen Beltex breeders founded the Beltex Sheep Society in 1990 just one year after the first few ewes were imported. Twenty years on and the society now has an impressive 530 members which David admits is a real achievement; “It’s been exciting to be part of the breed since the beginning and being able to see it progress over the years. We’ve had disapproval in the past for the breed not being big enough, tall enough or mobile enough so it’s really rewarding to have seen them come full circle.”

Indeed they have. Over the winter months Beltex sheep won a number of prestigious prizes at shows and

A BElTEX BREEdER fROM ThE VERY BEGINNINGlUCIE CARTER TAlKS WITh dAVId fINdlAY Of BIRd RIddING fARM IN lEYBURN

David Findlay and one of his hopefuls


david Findlay

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auctions up and down the country, including the Royal Smithfield Show in Bath and both the Welsh and Scottish Winter Fairs. David tells us; “I think the recognition the Beltex are now getting is testament to 20 years of hard work and encouragement. People are beginning to realise that

Almost 8 years ago David decided to take the plunge and tenant the 290 acre farm. At first he also worked full time for Craven Cattle Marts at Skipton but as stock numbers have increased, he is now on the farm all the time.

David admits that unlike so many modern farmers, keeping Beltex sheep isn’t simply a hobby of his, but is “the main enterprise of what we do here.” But David isn’t just interested in Beltex sheep; he’s also an avid keeper of 100 black and white bulls and 70 suckler cows, which is similar to his father and brother who have over 100 sucklers on the family farm in Westerdale.

As a farmer still very much in his prime, David, like so many of you farmers out there, has seen the agricultural industry twist and turn over the last decade. He airs his views on the industry today:

“The last 2 years have been interesting for us farmers, because we’ve pretty much been immune to the recession. 3 or 4 years ago however, we had it really rough; the rest of the ‘real world’ if you like has had a bit of a shock, but farmers we’re already in a situation where things were tight. Personally these have been the best two years of our life, because of the interest rate

being as it is. But we’re becoming increasingly dependent on the exchange rate between the pound and the euro. If the pound weakens against the euro, our products are more exportable and there’s more demand. No one is going to make a fortune out of farming, but we have to value the lifestyle we have and the surroundings that we live in.”

Ever the optimist, David is looking forward to parading his beloved Beltex at the summer shows, which he sees as a marketing opportunity; “We’re showing at the Great Yorkshire, the Royal Welsh and at Wensleydale. For me, the shows give us a chance to promote Beltex tups, because at the end of the day competing at shows helps you to sell sheep. North Yorkshire County Show provided a great start to the show season with our children taking the Beltex championship and reserve Interbreed titles.”

Heres to the summer!

David Findlay Bird ridding Farm tel: 01969 640247

they’re actually very good for their size.”

Bird Ridding Farm is also evidence of David’s love for the Beltex breed. He and his wife Diane now keep 220 pedigree Beltex sheep, one of the biggest flocks in the country.

David’s passion for the breed was cemented in his early twenties, two-hundred miles south of the family farm in Westerdale whilst attending Harper Adams agricultural college. But in 1994 after successfully completing his HND, he travelled back up north to Leyburn to manage Bird Ridding Farm.

He tells us more about those early years: “It was an exciting time, especially moving away from my Parents and my twin Brother, who are still at the farm in Westerdale. Fortunately though, Mr Armstrong had attended the same college as me 30 years prior, so when I applied for the position of farm manager we already had something in common.”

David with his precious flock


towers at wray

We are proud to beassociated with

Frank & Daniel Towers

Riverside Business Park, Natland Road, Kendal, LA9 7SXProviding a comprehensive total farm animal service.

Fertility, nutrition, mastitis, worming and health planning adviceincluding NWDA health initiative and Dairy Co Mastitis plans.

Telephone: 01539 72269224hr emergency service

Also at: Tithe Barn Veterinary Centre, Kirkby LonsdalePart of the XLVets Group

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the red rose county of Lancashire has beaten the white rose of Yorkshire recently and in Yorkshire too. Dan towers (18) took the coveted title of Stockman of the Year in the prestigious Bishop Burton college Stockmanship competition in May.

Dan has just completed his first year of his NDA course and is presently working both on his father Frank’s farm at Curwen Hill in Wray and a farm in Lockerbie.

‘In the competition we were all given either a dairy heifer, beef calf or sheep to prepare and show. I got a Lleyn X Texel.’

Since Dan already runs his own flock of pedigree Beltex sheep, starting with them when he was 8 years old and has done a bit of showing, he didn’t need much in the way of

NO hOldING BACK AT CURWEN hIllfARMERSMART TAlK WITh fRANK & dAN TOWERS AT WRAY

That’s probably no great surprise as Curwen Hill Farm is best known for fattening cattle on its 520 acres. Frank runs approximately 1200 cattle at any one time on the farm.

‘I buy them in as strong stores at around 20 months plus from Lancaster and Bentham Marts,’ says Frank. ‘We finish at around 30 months, aiming at a 400 kilo carcase, and sell to various abattoirs and butchers, including to my sister-in-law Jill who has the local butcher’s shop in Hornby.’

Frank is proud of Dan’s achievement at Bishop Burton, but he is also made up that Dan has broadened his horizons since leaving school.

‘When he left school I think he just wanted to come home and get on with the farm here, but I persuaded him to go and work on another farm for 12 months. He went to

David and Rosemary Cornthwaite at Lockerbie and it has been a massive experience for him. He didn’t want to go to college either, initially, but he’s really enjoying it now. When I was driving him up to Lockerbie the first time he went he said ‘You’re holding me back dad’ but the past two years have been really enjoyable for him and given him great experience. I’ve just had to let him go back up to Lockerbie again. It’s all been great for him and has shown him how to get on with other people. He’s now looking at travelling to New Zealand and Australia in the future to get even greater experience.’

Frank also has a younger son Ross (14) and both Daniel and Ross run their own flocks.

‘We lamb 350 ewes and hoggs altogether, mostly commercial,’ says Frank. ‘Daniel and Ross have Beltex

training in how to prepare and show his animal. However, he had been looking forward to showing the beef calf rather than sheep.

Frank Towers


towers at wray

Specialising in Agricultural Grass and Feeding Equipment(New & Part-used) including:

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and Charollais. Daniel sells a few Beltex pedigrees and has built up to 40 breeding ewes. He sells his tups mostly at Bentham at the moment, and achieves good prices for them. The current crop of shearlings is looking really good this year. Ross sells Charollais X Beltex tups.’

But Dan doesn’t limit himself to sheep.

‘Last year he did 200 turkeys and 60 geese for Christmas and this year he has plans to do even more of both.’

He has his own idea of what makes a healthy, quality performing ram.

‘I don’t lamb early in the year. I go for March and let my sheep grow naturally as lambs and then into shearlings. I only give them a little

bit of cake in the last 6 weeks just before a sale. That way they do a lot better for the buyers because they haven’t been pushed hard early on.’

Dan purchased Woody’s Luke in 2008 as his stock tup from renowned Beltex breeder Stuart Wood who has just had great success at the Royal Highland Show.

In addition to the fattening cattle business Frank also sells around 40 beef X heifers with calves at foot, at Bentham Mart.

For More information curwen Hill Farm, Wray tel: 07932 691536

Frank with sons Ross and Dan Dan Towers


rickerby spring show

this year rickerby celebrate a colossal 130 years of business and in March FarmersMart attended their annual spring show, and what a memorable show it was.

The two day event showcased the very best of what the agricultural world has to offer. The turnout over the two days exceeded all expectation with over 1400 visitors on the Wednesday night and approximately 1600 over the Thursday.

We spoke with Western Area Sales Manager Martyn Henderson on the Thursday afternoon, who admitted the turnout was the event’s biggest yet: “It’s been an incredible success,

I’m thoroughly impressed with the number of visitors we’ve had, and we’re expecting even more later tonight! The event has proved more popular on an evening because most of our farmer visitors are out working throughout the day.”

This year’s event is the company’s ninth consecutive spring show, which means that 2011’s extravaganza will have to pull out all the stops to do the show’s tenth anniversary the justice it truly deserves. So how have things changed over the last decade? Martyn tells us: “The show has transformed in both scale and

ThE GREATEST SPRING ShOW ON EARTh! WE hEAd TO CARlISlE TO CElEBRATE 130 YEARS Of RICKERBY

continues page 56



ThE GREATEST SPRING ShOW ON EARTh! WE hEAd TO CARlISlE TO CElEBRATE 130 YEARS Of RICKERBY


atmosphere over the years; people now come with the intent to buy and generally for the ‘crack’. We try to make each year different, especially within the showing area, and we change the layout year on year so that the customers see things they never had before.”

Where anniversaries are concerned, Rickerby have another huge reason to celebrate. After 130 years, the business still remains very much in the family. Since 1880 four generations of the Rickerby family

have developed the ever-expanding company into one of the North’s leading agricultural dealers.

It all began with Joseph Rickerby, whose inventive spirit and vision saw him leave a secure job and opt for a more creative path. He began to design, patent and manufacture an entire range of range of farm machinery which he marketed primarily within the Carlisle area.

At the turn of the 20th century however, Joseph began to notice how the agricultural revolution as

it were, was making its way across North America and that many large machinery manufacturers were seeking markets by which to export. Seizing his opportunity Joseph secured lucrative contracts with such companies allowing him to extend Rickerby’s range of manufacturers and supply British farmers with the very best equipment from across the pond.

And now, in its 130th year, the company still has a Rickerby at it’s reigns. Paddy Rickerby has

modernised the company into the 21st century; expanding ranges and of course introducing the shows onto the yearly calendar. In 2004 Ken Conley, Allan Morris, Colin Potts, Alistair McRobert and Martyn Henderson became shareholders, each bringing with them a wealth of knowledge and years of experience.

That experience was clear for all to see at March’s show, where over 50 manufactures and 70 sponsors exhibiting over the two days. Martyn

continues page 56


We start them young here at FarmersMart



Claas present their exclusive Arion 400 Series


explains why the spring show was the place to be:

“We have special offers available throughout both days, which is a major incentive for those looking to purchase. Both Kramer and Class have brand new models on display, in fact Class’ exclusive silver model which is displayed in the main marquee, is the only one of its kind and was made especially to celebrate the 130th year of Rickerby.”

But it’s not all sales talk and cash converting, far from it. What’s most evident at the event is the relaxed environment; “People who come often say it’s the best show

to go for,” Martyn continues. “The buying atmosphere isn’t forceful or intimidating, it’s hassle-free and friendly. The event just wouldn’t work without two things, the staffing teams and the customers, because if they didn’t turn up the show would be a failure; they are crucially important to us.”

FarmersMart would like to congratulate Rickerby on its anniversary, here’s to the next 130 years!

rickerby, currock road carlisle ca2 4aU tel: 01228 527 521


Having a good crack


security

When you park your Fendt tractor and brand new silage trailer in a secure farmyard, you expect it to be there the following morning. the vehicle is locked but nevertheless well organised thieves gained access, through a gap in the back hedgerow. Both items were surreptitiously removed.

Whilst at a Farm Watch Meeting some three nights later, the three attending Police Officers were surprised to learn that the local constabulary had only provided a crime reference number. It subsequently turns out that on the same night as the meeting another new tractor and twenty thousand gallon tanker were whisked away without trace. On Sunday of the same week, at almost midnight, an International Tractor and sprayer were followed at midnight and successfully apprehended by a neighbouring farmer in the centre of a busy town.

Specialist agricultural insurance broker Harold Woolgar said “Tractor thefts have now reached epidemic proportions. There has to be a system devised whereby the Police have

a financial interest in finding the perpetrators of these thefts, be it by reward or bounty, or call it whatever you will.”

At the Lincolnshire Show last week Harold spoke with the Lincolnshire High Sheriff who is arranging a meeting between the Chief Constables of the Counties of Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire with a view to finding a way of rewarding the Police Force, when the thieves and the machinery are successfully recovered.

A Caterpillar tracked vehicle was stolen recently late one Friday evening. The owner only realised his loss at the Sunday lunchtime. Making contact with the local dealership, they very kindly opened their offices to search the computer system, and via the machine’s own engine management system, the vehicle was traced to a lay-by on the German/Polish border. There followed then a telephone call to the German Police, three men and a low loader were arrested and in due course the Caterpillar found it’s way back to the UK. Subsequently the

Police received a “10% of the vehicle value” reward from insurers.

Having just reviewed our own brokerage claims statistics, we have found that whilst fire claims which are normally considered to be the most risk on the farm, the total fire claims came to £146,000. Whereas the theft claims came to £650,000 in the same twelve month period.

If within the software installed on iPads allows the computer to act as a homing beacon, this which allows the Police to track the criminals movements via GPS until they are caught. Is there not a serious reason why similar devices could not be installed in tractors and loading shovels at the manufacturers?

Specialist agricultural contractor Andrew Nicholson said “my replacement Fendt tractor will definitely be fitted with the blue key integrated electronic ignition system which rather like Mercedes motor cars, will not allow the vehicle to be used without the correct computerised key in place”.

Container traffic crossing the world on ships is tracked through computers using GPS, where the records are updated every 15 minutes and gives a realistic location at each report. Experts believe that “real time services” such at Apple’s “find me” technology will soon become standard.

Harold Woolgar concluded by saying “it seems strange that we buy cars valued at £40,000 which have a tracker fitted, but at the same time spend £75,000 on a tractor and still feel we can leave them unprotected. A spokesperson for Agco stated that blue key technology is integrated within the more expensive tractor ranges but is currently only available on the Fendt”. Harold Woolgar suggested that if installed at the factory, the cost of such technology might be in the order of circa £200 per vehicle.

Harold Woolgar tel: 01427 873399

PROTECT YOUR fARM ANd KEEP ThE ThIEVES AT BAYhAROld WOOlGAR TEllS YOU hOW TO PROTECT YOUR MAChINERY

three men are due to appear in court following a police investigation into the theft of expensive plant and agricultural machinery.

A 47-year-old man, from Carnforth, Lancashire, has been charged with the theft of a New Holland 7030 tractor and Triffit trailer, handling a stolen John Deere 6920 tractor and perverting the course of justice.

A 25-year-old man, from Burton in Lonsdale, Lancashire, has been charged with the theft of a New Holland 7030 tractor and Triffit trailer, handling a stolen John Deere 6920 tractor, JCB 3185 Fastrac tractor and JCB Telehandler lift truck, three counts of fraud and perverting the course of justice .

A 37-year-old man, from Halton, Lancashire, has been reported for

summons in relation to offences of handling stolen goods.

Officers from the North West Outer Neighbourhood Policing Team, based in Otley, began an investigation after a tractor and trailer worth about £100,000 were stolen from the Arthington area in December last year. Their enquiries led to the stolen trailer being recovered from an auction house in Shropshire. In January this year, officers then mounted a joint operation with Cumbria, Lancashire and West Mercia police forces and executed search warrants at a number of locations in Lancashire, including a trailer dealership.

The men arrested were interviewed about the theft of approximately £300,000 worth of agricultural equipment and perverting the course

of justice.

Officers are reminding people that high-value farming equipment is a target for thieves and should be properly protected. They are also urging people in the farming community to be on the lookout for people trying to take details from tractor Vehicle Idenfication Number (VIN) plates to provide an apparently legitimate identity for a stolen vehicle of similar make and model.

Sergeant Neil Perkis, of the North West Outer NPT, said: “People should be wary of anyone they see trying to check vehicle details on their property. They should make a note of their description and vehicle registration number and contact the police either directly or alert us via the Farm Watch scheme.

“Anyone buying a tractor new from a dealership should consider getting it fitted with a tracking device which will assist the police in locating their vehicle if it is stolen.

“Those buying second hand should buy from a reputable dealer that they know and check all the vehicle identification numbers, including those on the engine and chassis. They should also be wary of a new looking VIN plate that does not match the condition of the tractor.”

More details in the next edition

ed note. as we go to press the case has been referred to Preston crown court.

TRIO ACCUSEd Of fARM ThEfTfARMERSMART hAVE BEEN fOllOWING ThE CASE


robert towers oF Farleton

Showing during the summer season is one thing, but for robert towers of camp House Farm, Farleton, near Lancaster it is the showing at fatstock marts which has greater overall significance.

Robert has sheep and cattle on his 200 acre lowland farm where 120 acres floods regularly, although you wouldn’t think so in June when I visited as his ox-bow lake was completely dry.

‘We have two rivers that join here and with the amount of flooding we sometimes get it can be very hard to farm. In one year we had 17 floods, but then some years we have none. This year we’ve had a couple and since the snow melted we’ve had hardly any rain. During a nice summer the land is really good, particularly next to the rivers.’

Robert has 85 pedigree Charollais ewes, 30 pedigree Beltex ewes and 500 commercial continental X ewes and he’s having a good year in the fatstock marts.

‘I enjoy showing sheep at the various auction marts. It’s really a shop window for selling my rams. Other farmers look at your stock in the pens and in the ring and ask who that was by. When I tell them it was by one of my rams and that I sell them they come and buy a tup off me. I’ve entered six competitions and won six so far this year.’

‘At two of the shows I’ve won champion and reserve. I started off at Bentham Easter Show and won as champion there, it made £148 and was a Charollais X Beltex lamb. The following week I went to Skipton and won both champion and reserve with pairs of lambs. The champion made £148 and the reserve £128.

WINNING TIME IN ThE ShOP WINdOWChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh ROBERT TOWERS Of fARlETON

Robert Towers

At Gisburn I won with best single lamb, another Beltex X Charollais that made £148; and following on from that I went to Skipton where they have a prime lamb show every month. I won the Easter show and then again the following month. They both made £125. In June I won again with champion and reserve. I get a lot of regular buyers who buy my lambs at market and currently some of my best ones are sold to George Cropper in Accrington.’

Robert also attends a number of agricultural shows, which he regards as a useful hobby.

‘I stick to the one day shows because


robert towers oF Farleton

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otherwise I’m away from home too much. This year I’ll be competing at Great Eccleston, Garstang, Bentham and Westmorland, maybe including Cartmel as well.’

‘I don’t breed the top lines of sheep because you’re paying thousands for the rams. I just want to produce a ram for a commercial farmer to use. I go to sell at Builth Wells every year and we sell at Chelford, Skipton and Bentham. We had a Beltex tup last year that topped the sale at Bentham. It was a two shear tup and made £1000, that’s best we’ve done. I don’t AI any of my flock.’

But changes are afoot at Camp House Farm on the sheep side. Robert is selling his Beltex sheep later this year.

‘They are a bit harder work and the Charollais are a little bit easier to look after, plus my daughter is currently studying for A levels and she was very interested in the Beltex sheep.’

Alongside the sheep Robert also runs 120 beef heifers which he buys in as suckled calves in October and November. He then sells as big store cattle at 22-24 months.

‘I buy them in as suckler bred heifer calves. I usually buy heifers and bullocks but last year I went for all heifers. I buy everything myself from Skipton, Bentham, Cockermouth

Robert Towers Charollais flock with Hornby Castle in distance

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Pleased to be associated with Robert Towers and with him every success for the future

and Kendal - usually selling 50 in September then wintering the rest for a second winter before selling. The heifers run better with sheep as bullocks need a bit of extra feed. We don’t finish any cattle on the farm.’

Camp House farm was originally owned by Hornby Castle Estate. His grandfather, Joseph, was the first farmer to buy a farm from the estate. Robert’s father, also Joseph, then carried on the farming enterprise that included a dairy herd. Robert (whose second name is, yes you’ve guessed it, Joseph) had just left school when the decision was taken to come out of dairy.

‘We used to milk 85 cows but in 1978 we sold them all. We had the decision to make over whether we got bigger or went out. That’s when we started with beef cattle. My top thing is sheep, but you need cattle and sheep to work on a farm.’

Robert’s wife Jackie helps out at lambing time and looks after the sheep before she goes to work and when she comes back. They have a daughter, Josie (17) who Robert says is also very interested in the sheep flock.

tel: 01524 221273


anne goodMan

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For anne goodman, of airyholme Farm in Hovingham, York, the art of farming is somewhat scientific. after years of research into the maintaining of rare breeds, anne has now perfected a method of production and genetic control.

Anne explains: “I began using signet recording over five years ago. After foot and mouth we needed a new way of doing things. Recording allows you to weigh the lambs at 8 weeks and scan them at 20 weeks. I started it with partial sponsorship from the rare breed survival fund and we also worked closely with Defra, who seemed to realise that these rare breeds were of genetic importance and needed to be appreciated. I’ve used the recording on the majority of my animals; in fact the ewe that was champion last year had an index of 186 which placed her in the top 10% of the Leicester breeds.”

As vice president of the Leicester Longwool breeders association, Anne began using the signet technology to gain a better insight into the Leicester breeds. She explains, “When it

comes to rare breeds, there’s less competition, you actually work in collaboration with other farmers. I mean we worry about polar bears becoming extinct, but this industry is experiencing similar worries. Thankfully however, the rare breed survival fund was set up in the 1970’s to prevent breeds of British livestock becoming extinct.”

It’s evident when meeting Anne, that the variation of breeds she keeps at Airyholme farm is her main concern. As well as Leicester Longwools, Anne also breeds Shetland sheep, a breed which holds a significantly interesting history.

Flitwick Flock as it stands is now one of the biggest occupiers of Leicester Longwools in the country; Aside from selling and showing her sought after rare breeds, Anne has another, perhaps less typical outlet for her produce. Unlike many Shetland breeders, Anne’s wool doesn’t go to her local wool marketing board, but is instead bought locally from her community.

As far as Anne is concerned, the future

SUSTAINING & SUPPORTING RARE BREEdSWE VISIT AIRYhOlME fARM TO hEAR hOW ANNE GOOdMAN fAVOURS ThE UNdERdOGS

for rare breeds looks promising: “We don’t know what the coming years have in store, but these rare breeds could produce genetic information that is vital for the future of farming, and it’s vital that we maintain those genetic lines.”

anne goodman 01653 628275 Hovingham, York

anne goodman and her late mother Delia have been clients of toft Lodge Veterinary centre in easingwold since they moved to north Yorkshire in 1992. We have worked together over the years to optimise the health and performance of the Flitwick flock, including nutritional advice, breeding programmes, blood sampling, vaccination and anthelminthic programmes.

Toft Lodge are partnered with Bishopton Veterinary Group, also in Ripon and Pateley Bridge. We believe that farmers deserve vets that are 100% committed to farm animal medicine. In order to offer the level of service that we believe in, all of our ten vet farm team work exclusively with large animals. Two

of our team hold the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Certificate in Cattle Health and Production.

Both Toft Lodge and Bishopton Veterinary Group have provided a continuous service for the local farming community for over 50 years. Our farm vets offer a complete service for all farm species including dairy & beef herd health schemes; embryo collection & transfer service; flock health planning; fertility, nutrition, mastitis & milk quality advice; bull & ram fertility testing; and a full range of farm-based skills training. Our three dedicated pig vets provide a complete service for pig producers throughout the North East and beyond

TOfT lOdGE VETS:SUPPORTING ThE fARMER fROM START TO fINISh

Anne with her lamb


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the unique vision of a Massey Ferguson centora combine making its way down the grand canal in Venice greeted Massey Ferguson’s dealers and distributors to a special harvesting congress in the city.

After its impressive entrance the

Centora combine moored up on its floodlit barge alongside the Palazzo Pisani Moretta, where delegates gathered to learn more about Massey Ferguson’s and AGCO’s continuing commitment to developing class-leading harvesting machinery.

GRANd ENTRANCE IN VENICE fOR Mf CENTORA COMBINE

Five years ago Martin Richenhagen, AGCO Chairman, President and CEO pledged he would deploy all the resources necessary to ensure the company becomes a world leader in harvesting technology. The recent launch of the new MF 9820 Delta ‘hybrid’ combine is just one element in a continuing line of new products, which demonstrate how that commitment has been put into action. Huge investment in research and development and intense activity have seen the introduction of a host of new products, including the MF 2100 Series large square balers, built in the company’s Hesston factory.

At the same time Massey Ferguson’s combine range has expanded to include an impressive array of new and recently introduced machines. There is now a choice of seven different five and six straw-walker

combines in the Activa and Beta ranges as well as four Centora models, which are unique in providing eight straw-walker separation.

As well as investing in developing new harvesting equipment, AGCO has also acquired a substantial stake in Europe’s most modern and efficient combine production facility in Breganze, Italy - making this significant investment specifically to support the strategic aim of taking a leading position in the European harvesting business.

The developments, however, do not stop here. As Martin Richenhagen told delegates to Massey Ferguson’s “Momentum” Harvesting event, this is just the start – there’s still a lot more to come, he promised.

www.masseyferguson.com


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01386 49155

novel features of the new agrimaster Kn range of linkage mounted flail farm and estate mowers include the rear height control roller positioned unusually close to the cutting flails to reduce scalping on uneven ground. also, a specially developed cowl configuration that ensures the cut material is thrown over and behind the roller to increase mowing capacity without increasing the power requirement. this also eliminates build-up of material on the roller for more accurate cutting height control.

Standard features of the new KN range include the ability to manually offset the mower by 280 mm and an over-run gearbox to prevent tractor p.t.o. shaft wind-up. Either 540 or 1,000 rpm p.t.o. speeds can be selected with power to the rotor shaft being transmitted by 5 wedge belts.

Recommended retail ex works price of the KN260, 2.6m cutting width (tractors 60-80hp), is £2,850 +

NEW TEChNOlOGY flAIl MOWER fROM AGRIMASTER

VAT and £2,980 + VAT for the KN280 2.8m model (tractors 70-120hp).

Further details from the UK importer Weaving Machinery Ltd call 01386 49155 or email [email protected]


grahaM edwards trailers

this Summer sees the launch of yet another great new trailer from graham edwards trailers! Hot on the heels of their early 2010 launch of the Ultimate cattle trailer comes the Ultimate Sheep trailer which will get its first outing at this year’s great Yorkshire Show.

The Ultimate Cattle Trailer has come about from the changes in width restrictions bringing UK trailers into line with the rest of Europe.

‘The width of a trailer behind a Land Rover or any other 4x4 vehicle was 2.3 metres up until April, but that has now been increased to 2.55 metres,’ says Matt Edwards from the Full Sutton manufacturing base in Yorkshire.

‘We already made a model to the specifications of the European legislation, but we have now enhanced that to make it our ULTIMATE Cattle Trailer. It is as wide as our Demount range, but with the stability of the wheels at the side. What we have done is to put together an introductory special with quite a few extras added.

UlTIMATE TRAIlER – IT’S A WIdE ONEChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh MATT EdWARdS Of GRAhAM EdWARdS TRAIlERS

You can still buy a basic version, but the De Luxe version includes a drop-down front vent, an electronic tag to make it less stealable, LED lights, a spare wheel, a slam shut gate and Bradley coupling. It’s a package that our customers really like and we’re doing very well with it.’

The manoeuvrability for animals inside the trailer has also been vastly

improved.

‘Inside the width was around 5 ft 8 ins and that always made it a little restrictive for turning round cattle internally. Now the same container, but with wheels on the side, gives an internal width of 6 ft 3 ins.’

The ULTIMATE CATTLE TRAILER is available right now under the cattle trailer number GET14WTRI.

graHaM eDWarDS traiLerS Moor Lane – Full Sutton – Stamford Bridge, York Yo41 1HX tel: 01759 373062 email: [email protected] come and see us at gYS stand 008


young FarMers

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at a time when young people are often viewed by many as yobs and thugs, members of Yorkshire Young Farmers, aged between 10 and 26 are aiming to change perceptions by inviting the public to their Yorkshire county Show which demonstrates all that is good about youth in the countryside.

Their annual flagship event, now in its 8th year was held at the Nidderdale Showground, Pateley Bridge on the 6th June and was organised by the members themselves to a highly professional standard. In addition to all the attractions you would expect to find at a traditional country show such as Main Ring Attractions, children’s rides, trade, and craft stands, the show had over 80 competitions ranging from tractor handling to tug of war to cookery to keep visitors enthralled and amused.

The show also gave members a chance to promote some of the issues they feel passionate about to the public. This year’s chosen theme was the promotion of local food networks and

CREAM Of YORKShIRE’S RURAl CROP GAThER COUNTRY ShOW

aire Valley young farmers are counting on a tasty pig to accumulate cash for charity as the club competes in a countrywide challenge styled around the apprentice television programme.

National healthcare charity Sue Ryder Care has thrown down the gauntlet to young farmers clubs across England and Wales to show their entrepreneurial flair by launching a new competition.

In the “Rural Apprentice” contest, the charity, which provides palliative and neurological care – the local home is Manorlands, Oxenhope - has offered each club a £50 investment fund and challenged them to use their imagination, hard work and entrepreneurial skills to devise and run schemes which will create a big return for the charity.

Aire Valley Young Farmers Club, which meets at East Morton Institute, Bingley, has being given

the pig by local farmer and club leader Andrew Emsley of Emsleys’ Farmshop, Yeadon. The pig is been cared for by the daughters of Andrew who are members of Aire Valley, Lisa and Anna. Pennine Feeds a local agricultural feed supplier has kindly donated all the pig food for the animal.

Aire Valley hopes to be crowned victorious once more in this worthwhile competition, in 2009 the club won the then Yorkshire competition with their calf Tin Tin, and raised an impressive £2266!

YOUNG fARMERS COUNT ON PIGS TO RAISE ChARITY fUNdS!

Peter Gratton at the Showfield

in addition to accommodating some of Yorkshire’s finest home produce stalls in its food marquee some members took part in Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food’s ‘Pass it on initiative’ and giving it a local produce slant by cooking a recipe where everything used comes from within just a few miles of Pateley Bridge.

Peter Gratton, Show Manager, said: “The show is popular with people of all ages and backgrounds largely because of its unique format. Over 1500 young farmers from across Yorkshire competed and all of them with a smile on their face, giving up their time for free to put on a great event.”

Emma Wordsworth, life member


MEET OUR NEW TEAM MEMBERS

russells

If you’re looking for a tractor with that something different this year you should take a look at the Special Edition BLUE POWER which will be our main feature at this year’s Great Yorkshire Show and at all of the other shows we attend. It comes in Maserati Blue and also includes the front grill and exhaust cover in

chrome. There is a special roof decal too. It has Trelleborg tyres and is the most stunning tractor available this year. This follows a year when the T7000 Auto Command has swept the board with major awards including the Tractor of the Year 2010 title.

BlUE POWER COMES TO YORKShIRE

PaUL BingLeY

Paul joins our sales team and has an extensive agricultural machinery background. He has an impressive knowledge of the farm machinery sector right through from tractors to combines and all manner of agricultural equipment. Paul is based at our Selby branch.

angUS SnoWDen

Angus joins us as our new company demonstrator. He brings a wealth of agricultural experience. This is one of the most important positions in the business, ensuring that all our customers understand and receive the full benefit of each machine. Angus will be driving our demonstrator combine this season.

RECO began distributing the Strautmann range of products within the UK in January 2010 and have already achieved a large number of sales through their extensive network of dealerships across the UK. The Strautmann machines are supported by the 364 days a year parts availability service from RECO, along with warranty and service back-up offered by RECO and carried out through their dealers.

The key dealership for the Strautmann range of Loader Wagons, Mixer Wagons and Muck Spreaders across North Yorkshire is Russells Ltd, who will be displaying a Forage Wagon on their stand at the Yorkshire Show this year.

Malton 01653 698000

Eden Works, Old Malton, Malton North Yorkshire YO17 6RD

northallerton 01609 771727

Darlington Road, Northallerton North Yorkshire DL6 2NH

Boroughbridge 01423 324848

Milby Road, Boroughbridge York YO51 9BL

Selby 01977 663353

Selby Road, Eggborough DN14 0JT

www.russells.uk.com

Once again we will have a stand at each of the following. Please come and see us, we are always here to help:

great YorKSHire - BoroUgHBriDge MaLton - DriFFieLD - rYeDaLe - egton

StoKeSLeY - niDDerDaLe

COME & SEE US @ ThE ShOWSANd WE’VE JUST TAKEN ON …


rookes oF beadlaM

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 associated with Beadlam Grange Farm Shop and wish them continued success for the future

Pleased to be associated with Beadlam Grange and wish them continued success for the future

Wholesalers of CaterinG food in the north

Yorkshire Quality foods ltd10, racecourse road

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north Yorkshire dl10 4tG

Tel 01748 850850

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Market Place,Easingwold,York, North Yorkshire, YO61 3AG

Tel/Fax: 01347 821279

Pleased to supply Pork Pies to Beadlam Grange Farm shop & Tearoom and wish them every success for the future

ensuring the future of your farm and that your offspring have a strong base to continue is a fine maxim. all too often this can be difficult to achieve. However what Mark and Jenny rooke have found is that by striving for that goal they have given their own lives a real shot in the arm.

Their farm shop and tea room business, which they set up just three years ago, is thriving and a flurry of awards has come their way. What’s more, they are enjoying it even though it’s hard work.

Their farm is Beadlam Grange just two miles east of Helmsley heading towards Kirkbymoorside on the popular tourist route from Thirsk to Scarborough (A170). On the face of it you would think it was an ideal location for what they had in mind but they have taken nothing for granted.

‘There was a time when we were really paddling about going nowhere,’ says Jenny. ‘So we started thinking about

WE lIKE MEETING PEOPlE…ChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh ThE ROOKES Of BEAdlAM GRANGE fARM ShOP & TEAROOM

diversifying. We had run a B&B and we had established a little caravan site, but we then thought about our good situation here near Helmsley, on a good road. We had first thought about marketing our own beef through a farm shop. Then we started looking round other farm shops and realised we really had to do a tearoom and serve food as well.’

The result has been that the proportion of the overall business, through the farm, farm shop and tearoom has swung dramatically since they opened as Mark explains:

‘The revenue we’re getting through the farm shop and tearoom now

makes up 65% of our turnover. That’s quite a change. We’ve kept the farm pretty much the same. We have a suckler herd of around 65 Limousin X cows and we farm around 300 acres. We grow 150 acres of crops including fodder beet for the cattle and winter beans. This has always been predominantly a grassland farm, but we also now grow 40 acres of Miscanthus that goes to Drax power station. It’s a bit of a daunting crop to start with as it takes time to establish and you feel like knocking it out after the first year, but it will increase next year.’

The idea of starting the farm shop and tearoom was to secure the

Mark & Jenny Rooke in the Tea Room


rookes oF beadlaM

• Profiled 6 Sheets• Gates• Barriers• Steel & Timbers

We are pleased to be associated with Beadlam Grange Farm Shop

and wish them continued success for the future.

Manufacture & Erection Of Steel Framed Farm & Industrial Buildings For Your Individual Requirements.

Tel: 01751 431 774Friars Hill Farm, Sinnington, York, YO62 6SL

Steel Framed Buildings

ErnEst LEng & son LtdEstablished Over 40 Years

V L & M C ROOKESSuppliers of Bacon, Cheese, & Cooked Meats

Tel: 01904 608240Fax: 01904 608241

Pleased to be associated with Beadlam Grange Farm Shop

and wish them every success for the future

future for Peter (22) and Helen (26). Interestingly though Peter is more interested in the traditional farming exploits whilst Mark and Jenny are pouring heart and soul into the farm shop and tearoom.

‘Peter hasn’t a lot of interest in the farm shop side but I’m not bothered because he’s quite happy on the farm and getting more involved with running it. I want to be less involved with it and to give him more responsibility, making his own decisions, his own mistakes. The farm shop and tearoom is actually keeping us in business. Without it we wouldn’t have been able to continue to work. Jenny and I thrive on this side of the business. It has given us real enthusiasm. It’s bloody hard work but we both like meeting people. This job wouldn’t suit every farmer. A lot of my friends say to me ‘How do you cope with all those people?’

Daughter Helen helps out in the shop when she can as she also manages a kitchen design business in Harrogate. She is engaged to Mark Nicholson of Kirkby Malzeard

and they intend to marry next year.

The Rookes have never been strangers to trying new things. They recently installed a biomass boiler burning wood waste from Ken Jackson (of the Singing Farmers). Mark tells of his heating bills for the farm, farm shop and tearoom being just £3 a day in winter and £1.50 a day in the summer.

Their awards include UK’s Best New Farm Shop and Environmental Farm Retailer of the Year at the FARMA AWARDS (The National Farmers Retail & Markets Association) and a Local Food award from the Countryside Alliance.

They haven’t finished either!

‘This Summer we know we’re going to be a lot busier. We’re going to have a little catering trailer in the fold yard providing hot pork and beef baps during the summer holidays. We also have a local potter coming to use our premises. She has a lot of ideas for rural crafts and she will be running her business from a converted cow house on the farm. This is getting

to be much more of a destination for people to come, rather than just being somewhere people come for their meat.’

FarmersMart congratulates Mark and Jenny on their achievements so far and wishes them every success in the future!

The farm shop

inForMation Mark & Jenny rooke Beadlam grange Farmshop & tearoom Pockley, York Yo62 7tD tel: 01439 770303 email: [email protected] Web: www.beadlamgrange.co.uk


duMbretton FarM

andrew and aileen ewing have established themselves at Dumbretton Farm near annan through a number of businesses since moving from northern ireland 15 years ago.

They sold 126 acres in Omagh, Co Tyrone, and bought 400 acres in Dumfriesshire which logistically proved ideal for providing lairage facilities and an export testing station for Ireland, the UK and Europe.

Now that their son Andrew, 16, is joining them to work on the farm, the focus is shifting to build on the numbers of commercial cattle run alongside their Fairywater Limousin herd, which was originally established in Northern Ireland.

Keen stockman, Andrew junior has been showing cattle since he was nine and among the accolades he has collected has been the young handler championship at Dumfries Show three years in a row.

The farm’s separate lairage facilities were approved as a control post last year, the only one in the area, providing a stopping off point for pedigree cattle and sheep being imported or exported from the UK, Ireland or Europe.

Continuing disease threats such as bluetongue and foot and mouth have meant that the Ewings need to constantly keep up to date with the latest legislation and movement requirements and Aileen handles most of the paperwork.

As well as accommodation, the facilities include handling areas to allow vets to make checks on animals.

Among recent residents at Drumbretton was a batch of young Highland bulls from the Outer Hebrides destined for Germany which were undergoing rigorous health checks before being exported.

Hand in hand with the facilities on the farm, Andrew senior has operated a specialist livestock business, concentrating on pedigree beef and dairy cattle as well as sheep.

While the export testing buildings and the rest of the farm are separate by necessity, herd health is uppermost with the Ewings and they are members of the SAC’s premium health scheme, testing for Johnes,

IBR and BVD, as well as testing for TB.

The Ewings have been Limousin enthusiasts for 25 years and now numbers of pure bred animals have risen to 50 cows.

However, the herd’s only original bloodlines due to the foot and mouth cull in 2001 are through Fairywater Barbie and her full sister, yearling heifer Fairywater Darcy, which were both embryos at the time. Their dam was flushed to Daim in 1992.

Barbie was Limousin champion and reserve interbreed beef champion at the 2008 Cumberland Show and after being on a recent ET programme is now back in calf and due at the end of the year. She was also breed champion at Moffat Show in 2008.

Other show ring successes have included the heifer and junior female champion Limousin at the Royal Highland Show in 2007 with Graham’s Bella.

Keen to invest in the best pedigree genetics they can afford, the Ewings in partnership with Northern Ireland breeder Joseph Rafferty paid 29,000gns for Ampertaine Abracadabra, a Sympa son, from James McKay in 2007 at the Carlisle society sale.

dIVERSE BUSINESSES AT dRUMBRETTON

The Ewings

JENNIfER MACKENZIE TAlKS TO ANdREW ANd AIlEEN EWING ABOUT ThEIR CATTlE ANd hOlIdAY COTTAGE BUSINESSES IN dUMfRIESShIRE


duMbretton FarM

For All Your Contracting Needs…

We are pleased to be associated with Andrew Ewing and we wish

him continue success for the future

KirtlesideHollee

Kirkpatrick FlemingLockerbieDG11 3NF

Tel: 01461 800 322Mob: 07775 680 940

- Ploughing

- Spraying

- Grass Seeding

- Bruising

- Combining

- Part Of Whole Forage Harvesting

- Whole Crop Silage With Proved Claas Mill

- Combining Drilling

- Fertilizer Spreading

- 360° Digger Work

- Crimping

- Rear Discharge Muck Spreading

- Part or Whole Bailing Service

- Hedge Cutting ETC

Semen has been taken from him for use on the herd and for sale and there are two promising crops of calves on the ground to him.

The latest stock bull, purchased for 17,000gns at the February 2010 Carlisle sale in partnership with Gary Bell, of Lockerbie, is Ironstone Diego. He is undergoing semen collection at UK Sires in Kelso and he will be used on Abracadabra sired heifers. Semen is marketed through the Limousin society’s Semenstore.

Pedigree cattle are selected for their muscle and shape and the herd is performance recorded. Both bulls and females are mostly sold privately, many to repeat buyers.

Conformation is also an important factor in the commercial beef herd comprising 50 Limousin cross British Blue cows which are put back to the Limousin bull.

The cattle are sold store and the top calves are shown at Hexham, where Andrew won the young farmers

Christmas show two years ago with a 14 month old black steer which sold for £1,200, and at Longtown and Carlisle.

At the farm, Aileen lets three holiday cottages, one of which was an original cottage and the others were converted from a redundant barn with the help of a diversification grant.

The cottages, which each sleep up

to six people, have three star rating from the Scottish Tourist Board.

They are proving popular with visitors from all over the UK and it is convenient for guests attending weddings at Gretna Green only seven miles away.

Bookings can be made on line at www.selfcatering4you.co.uk


FarMstar

time can easily play tricks on everyone and it doesn’t seem too long ago that one of the county’s leading tractor and farm machinery dealers didn’t have a presence in the east riding of Yorkshire.

In reality Case dealers FARMSTAR whose head office is in Marr, have now had premises in Market Weighton for over a decade and have been at their present site for eight years. Brian Bannister has managed the operation in East Yorkshire throughout that time and his team has built a solid reputation for sales and service during that time.

‘We have a fair mixture of farming operations that we serve from here. It’s not all arable farming and pig farming by a long way. There’s a real mix of everything from sheep, bullocks, beef, pigs and arable. We

fARMSTAR : PUTTING ThEIR CUSTOMERS fIRSTChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh BRIAN BANNISTER Of fARMSTAR AT ThEIR OPEN dAY

have some really big arable farms in the area as well as a lot of well-run family farms and many of them have turned to our services and our farm machinery over the years. At Farmstar we always pride ourselves on providing the best sales and service operation of any farm machinery operator in the country. We work hard to make sure we look after every customer because we recognise how important they are to us.’

Brian reports on a strong start to the year.

‘From January onwards it’s been going pretty well. Sales are at the

very least on a par with last year and with the livestock farming side having enjoyed a reasonable time of late we have done particularly well with them.’

Of the current crop of Case tractors, which Brian believes to be the best line-up Case has ever produced, he points out the most popular line so far as the Market Weighton centre is concerned.

‘I would say the CASE PUMA, which goes from 165hp to 210hp, is the most popular tractor at the moment. It is our best seller. It is interesting that a few years ago a 120hp tractor would have been the biggest seller.

“ WE WORK hARd TO MAKE SURE WE lOOK AfTER EVERY CUSTOMER BECAUSE WE RECOGNISE hOW IMPORTANT ThEY ARE TO US ” BRIAN BANNISTER


FarMstar

Why choose CNH Capital?Because CNH Capital:• Is your one-stop financial partner• Is a global specialist of Agricultural and Construction Equipment finance• Offers a complete range of financial services• Provides competitive and flexible schemes• Proposes customised finance solutions.

Ask your dealer together with your CNH Capital Representative Phil Holmes on 07872 635984 or the CNH Capital Sales Centre on

01268 885400 and they will introduce you to a vast array of financial options.

CNH Capital sales centre is at your service to provide you with all the information you need, Monday to Friday (8:30am - 5pm) on 01268 885400

The financeengine behind your

businessThe finance

engine behind yourbusiness

Funding For new / used equipment - Cars - CommerCial VehiCles - groundsCare equipment

ContaCt andrew wellsTelephone : 01904 449025 Mobile : 07825 232523

Brian Bannister with a Case Puma

It is a sign of the times. A lot more farmers have gone down from using two tractors on a farm to just one higher powered tractor which can get the job done more quickly.’

Throughout their time in the East Riding FARMSTAR have supported the Driffield Show and this year is no exception.

‘Everyone in the farming community attends this wonderful show and it is always a pleasure to be there meeting our customers,’ says Brian.

Today’s FARMSTAR in Market Weighton now has 13 full-time employees on site. They have also

recently completed their extended workshop area which has been undertaken gradually over the last few years.

‘We always put our customers before ourselves,’ says Brian. ‘That’s why it’s taken so long to get it finished, but we’ve finally done it.’

FarMStar Becklands Park industrial estate Market Weighton east riding of Yorkshire Yo43 3ga tel: 01430 875900 Mob: 07970 915950 www.farmstar.co.uk


Harrison and Hetherington Ltd.The UK’s leading livestock auctioneers

Pedigree and commercial livestock auctioneers

Tractors, machinery and commercial vehicles sales

Specialist livestock sales and events

Private treaty sales

Professional valuations

T: 01228 406200 F: 01228 406201www.livestock-sales.co.uk

Laversdale TimberCompany Limited

Laversdale Timber, Airport Ind Estate, Crosby on Eden, Carlisle, CA6 4NWEmail : [email protected]

Tel : 01228 573503

• Round & Square Posts & Strainers• Decking • Sleepers• Log Board • Plywood• Wire Products • Delivery• Crash Barriers • Gates • Square Sawn • Firewood

Timber• Large Stock • Pack Discounts

Pleased to be associated with Chris Armstrong, all the best for

the future

chris arMstrong

For over three century’s the Bluefaced Leicester, or Hexham Leicester as it’s sometimes known has proved incredibly popular in england, predominantly in northern england. one northerly gentleman in particular fell in love with the breed after his grandfather was given one as a wedding present one year and that was the start of the Broomhills Flock.

Chris Armstrong moved to the Broomhills Farm in the mid sixties along with his brother John and their parents, the family had always been in farming but couldn’t resist setting up shop in the picturesque village of Longtown in Carlisle.

Forty Five years on and Chris’ adolescent spirit remains. He and John continue to call the diary farm home and now have families of their own. John’s Wife Hilda is responsible for the farms accounts

and his Son Stuart who was born on the farm is now heavily involved in the day-to-day running of things. He works predominantly with the diary cattle and out on the fields spraying.

Despite being an extremely well established diary farm, Chris’ interest in Leicester sheep means that Broomhills isn’t so easy to classify. The Leicester’s now occupy several acres of the land and recently managed to achieve record sales at Carlisle Auction Mart.

But thing weren’t always so easy, when foot and mouth came forty-two of Chris’ precious ewes and all the lambs were taken in the cull. Over the two years that followed however, Chris’ passion remained, so he visitied the Carlisle sale and bought six ewe lambs and began to build the flock back up.

ONE MANS lOVE fOR lEICESTERS

Despite his Leicesters being what he calls a ‘Hobby’, Chris has experience major success; “We

entered one of the Leicester lambs named ‘Hubby’ into the sale last year; it was her first outing so

lUCIE CARTER VISITS ChRIS ARMSTRONG ANd hIS fAMIlY IN PENRITh

Chris and Stuart Armstrong


chris arMstrong

we weren’t expecting much. But surprisingly she managed to sell for a massive £6000, which was just phenomenal. We sold another five of the Leicesters for an average of £1,800 each, which again, was a real achievement.”

Broomhills Farm now stretches across a colossal 360 acres, 100 of which are rented by the family; the dairy herd now consists of 170 Holstein Friesians and followers. Throughout the recession the diary farm has managed to stay afloat because of its long-standing relationship with its client Meadow Foods who the family have supplied

for over twenty years.

Now in his sixties, Chris shows no signs of slowing down; As well as reaching record sales at various auctions he also judges at local shows and is an avid member of the Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Society.

chris, John and Stuart armstrong Broomhills Farm tel: 01228 791295


Bank Top Mart, Clifton Road, Darlington, Co Durham DL1 5DUTel: 01325 464529 Fax: 01325 384282

AUCTIONEER, LIVESTOCK AGENTS AND VALUERSWe wish George Bolam Foods Ltd continued success & all the best for the future

------------Weekly Sale of Prime Cattle and Sheep Every Thursday

Weekly Sales of Store Cattle and Sheep-------------

Agricultural, Tax and Compensation Claim Valuations Undertaken------------

Details Telephone: 01325 464529Stephen Aitken (Manager & Auctioneer): 07778 501552

Andrew Armstrong (Auctioneer): 07766 914075David Thornton (Fieldsperson): 07850 767478Tracey Waite (Fieldsperson): 07867 974688

Wishing Ken & Sue Bellevery success in the future!

Berwick upon TweedTel: 01289 331 904 Fax: 01289 331 530

KelsoTel: 01573 225 213 Fax: 01573 226 214

Main Dealer

We have also major franchises for Sumo - Flexifarm - Fleming - Krone - NC and many others

bell

Sue and Ken Bell of West throphill Farm in Mitford, Morpeth are all too familiar with the stress and anxiety caused by the lambing season. Fortunately for FarmersMart, we’ve caught them towards the end of this busy period, on a beautiful spring morning.

Ken Bell insists the tough season does have its benefits: “Lambing time can be rewarding, but we’ve had really bad rain over the last couple of months which has made it an awful lot harder. At the start of lambing we had around 500 sheep, but there’s not as many now

WhAT A TRANSfORMATION!fARMERSMART VISITS ThE BEAUTIfUllY dEVElOPEd WEST ThROPhIll fARM

because a few have died, as they do of course. As my father used to say ‘I’ve finished lambing, but the sheep haven’t’. But in all honesty, when the sun is shining and you go down that field and see a ewe standing with a pair of lambs, there’s nothing better.”

The most prominent element of West Throphill Farm is its appearance; what was once a ruined and retired listed building is now Sue and Ken’s perfectly renovated farm house.

Sue tells us: “The house is a conversion from one of the old horse buildings; when we were given the farm over fifteen years ago the outhouses were practically falling down. They would have cost a fortune to re-do entirely so we decided to convert it in to our home, and move the farm sheds up the yard. We’ve been able to update the cattle sheds and some of the machinery. One of the more recent buildings was completed

on the 24th of March, and on the 23rd the sheep were already in. I think we’ve now got to place where everything is just about right; we’ve built it up to be a comfortable and well manageable farm.”

Ken and Sue’s love of farming has been present since they were children, and although Sue worked for many years as a farm sales representative, it was her love of livestock that managed to reel her back onto the farm: “I continued to work in sales when we first started here, but it was a full time job and I knew that I couldn’t do both, so I eventually gave all my time to the farm.”

West Throphill Farm was originally rented by Sue and Ken, but after Sue’s Father sadly passed away, they were given the opportunity to inherit the 300 acre farm out right. Ken tells us: “We didn’t have very much when we came here you see, roughly about 50 sheep and


bell

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12 beasts. So we’ve expanded the farm both in terms of its livestock and its scale; as well as the acreage we own, we also rent an additional 60. We now have around 40 suckler cows, and we run 500 breeding ewes. We sell the lambs when fat at Darlington Auction Mart and we keep around 60 ewe lambs for replacements. As well as the livestock, we also grow 80 acres of corn, mainly wheat and barley and use the most of the barley for feed.”

As the majority of Sue and Ken’s time over the last fifteen years has been spent developing and

eventually transforming West Throphill Farm, they, unlike so many modern farmers, don’t show their breeds at the ever-popular livestock shows. Sue explains: “It is very much commercial cattle that we have here; just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, traditional farm. Because we keep both Limousine cross and Belgium blue cross breeds, our focus is really on producing the best animal and making good sales.”

Ken continues: “We have stuck with those breeds because you get an easy enough calving cow; when I started working on the farm when I was 17, I remember seeing

four cows lying in the back of the shed; they couldn’t get up because of difficult calving, since then I’ve always opted for the easy-calving breeds.”

As a self-confessed traditional farmer, Ken is very much in support of all things conventional: “In today’s society, I think the farmers are loosing control. The farmer as an individual can’t really do what he or she wants to do. You can’t plough a field without permission, or spray a field unless you’ve got a ticket.”

In their invaluable spare time, Ken and Sue retreat back to a traditional

way of living; Ken enjoys vintage ploughing, whilst Sue continues to ride, as she has done since she was just three years old. Recently however, Ken did indulge in a modern treat; he bought Sue a brand new Massey Ferguson tractor for their silver wedding anniversary, which should come in handy when the couple’s next development looms.

Ken and Sue Bell West throphill Farm Mitford, Morpeth tel: 01670 772277

Ken and Sue Bell


property

lANd MARKET UPdATEBY ANdREW BlACK, dIRECTOR Of SAVIllS (l&P) lTdat the time of writing, we are close to the end of June and in the middle of the traditional farm selling season, which tends to run from May to mid-July.

This year farms have been slower coming to the market but nearly everything should be in the public marketplace before the Great Yorkshire Show. I often hear the comment at this time of year that there is a lot of land for sale. This is purely due to the bulk of the farmland activity for the year taking place in

this narrow period. Overall, statistics for 2010 so far suggest that this will be another year of very limited supply nationally and also in Yorkshire. Fully equipped commercial farms are extremely rare and continue to attract interest on a national basis when available. This Spring we have reached another milestone, with £8,000 per acre being achieved in a number of sales across the county, creating a new benchmark. This rise vindicates the research predictions that land values would

continue to rise despite the lack of profitability in many sectors. The current strength of the market is a result of limited buying opportunities and a move towards perceived safe investments in times of volatility in the residential markets and on the stock market. This is backed up by an increasing number of investors seeking to purchase farmland for the Inheritance Tax advantages. The recent Emergency Budget could further restrict the availability of land for sale for vendors who would

be paying 28% CGT depending on the ownership structure, whilst encouraging those able to take advantage of rollover relief to continue to invest in farmland. What we really need now is improved profitability to help underpin values at these levels.

Set out below are some of our current instructions, in addition to which there are a number of opportunities for private deals or sale-and-lease-back purchases.

Savills (L&P) Ltd, 13-15 Micklegate, York Yo1 6JH t: 01904 617800 F: 01904 617801

www.savills.com

For further information or a free no obligation appraisal of your property, please contact:

andrew Black MRICS FAAV

Tel: 01904 617831 07967 555697 E: [email protected]

Sarah Hinchliffe BSc (Hons) MRICS FAAV


tom Watson BSc (Hons) MRICS FAAV


Sheriff Hutton Park

Approx 170 acres On behalf of LPA Receivers Guide £4,500,000

Sandhall estate

Approx 646 acres Main house, 5 cottages, Grade 1 land Guide £5,000,000

Hunters Hill, nether Silton

Approx 70 acres Compact residential estate Guide £2,500,000

Land off Pottery Lane, Strensall

Approx 35 acres For sale as a whole Guide £175,000

Little Spigot racing Yard

Approx 1.9 acres Access to Middleham Gallops Guide £795,000

Land east of Wetherby Services

Approx 70.4 acres For sale in 4 lots Excess £8,000 per acre


FarMS & LanD MarKet

Our experience in North Yorkshire is that land prices are remaining firm and that both land and forestry have become a shelter for putting reserves.

The farms which are coming on to the market are generally coming up through retirement. We are finding that there are many who are holding on to their farms for longer due to the changes on Inheritance Tax and the recent Capital Gains Tax increase. However, Entrepreneurial Relief is assisting too.

The countryside market remains selective with only the occasional farm coming up for sale, which is usually in demand due to limited supply.

rYeDaLe SHoW 2010

We are delighted to continue our association with Ryedale Show and once again we will be entertaining customers on our stand at the show.

fARMlANd & fARMS fOCUS BY PETER ElWESS Of CUNdAllS

property

NEAR MAlTON, NORTh YORKShIREa VerY SUBStantiaL WoLDS FarMHoUSe ProViDing eXtenSiVe accoMMoDation oVer tHree FLoorS, togetHer WitH a range oF traDitionaL & MoDern oUtBUiLDingS anD LanD.

in all approximately 40.6 acres (16.4 hectares).

The accommodation includes: three reception rooms, farmhouse kitchen, seven bedrooms, two bathrooms & four attic rooms.

Range of brick/stone & tile outbuildings set around a covered yard, Dutch barn & other buildings,

Land amounting to over 40 acres in total.

fOR SAlE BY PRIVATE TREATY

hAWNBY, NEAR hElMSlEY, NORTh YORK MOORS NATIONAl PARK

A rare opportunity to acquire a unique lifestyle property comprising spacious four bedroom house, together with purpose built kennels & cattery, extensive grounds, set on the edge of a beautiful and largely estate-owned National Park village.

Accommodation within the house comprises: sitting room, dining room, living kitchen, utility room, two ground floor bedrooms (both doubles), one with en-suite, house bathroom, first floor landing, two further bedrooms (large doubles) & shower room.Excellent, purpose built kennels & cattery providing 25 kennels & accommodation for 12 cats. fOR SAlE BY PRIVATE TREATY

LiFeStYLe BUSineSS oPPortUnitY

Peter Woodall, who is still a consultant with Cundalls, celebrates his 40th anniversary as show secretary this year and will be retiring from his position at the end of the show.

Our involvement will continues next year as Alan Tate-Smith takes over from Peter.

Ryedale Show 2006

Peter Woodall


east Fourstones / arMstrong

JC & C MaCDonalDFertiliser spreading & Crop spraying

ligHt BirKs, Haydon Bridge, HeXHaM ne47 6BX

JCB For HireDrainage & roaD repairs

CoMBine HarvestingBest Wishes For the Future from JC & C Macdonald

tel: 01434 688 948 / Mob: 0780 2698856

Piggy HireProprietor : Ken Pringle

Telephone in first instance: 07860771874Office No: 01661 832991


Muckspreader Hire

Grass Cutting

Silage Leading

Baling Work and Wrapping

Grass Overseeding (also grass seeds supplied at competitive prices)

Competitive Fencing work of any kind undertaken

the armstrongs at east Fourstones near Hexham have expanded their farming enterprise into agricultural contracting.

Robert and Anne Armstrong were joined on the tenanted beef, sheep and arable farm two years ago by twin sons William and Stephen after they completed their HNDs in agriculture at Harper Adams University College in Shropshire.

The 23 year old brothers saved the money they had earned during their year’s work placement while at college - William on a large arable unit in Essex and Stephen working on a vast arable and vegetable growing estate in Nottinghamshire - and invested it in equipment for the new venture.

As well as purchasing a Kverneland five furrow reversible plough they also chose to buy less usual equipment in

PlOUGhING A NEW fURROW AT EAST fOURSTONESJENNIfER MACKENZIE MEETS ThE ARMSTRONG fAMIlY WhO ARE AddING CONTRACTING WORK TO ThEIR BUSINESS

order to provide a specialised and increasingly sought after services.

They have a Veenhuis Terraject Disc 10,000 litre slurry injector with 6.5 metre workwidth. “It is 80 per cent more efficient to inject slurry and it is likely to be a future requirement in NVZs,” said Stephen.

The injector can be used on both grassland and arable land and it has less taint of the grass meaning that the ground can be stocked sooner than after spreading with a conventional spray plate system.

The unit can spread 40,000 litres an hour and has a swinging draw

bar which prevents the machine following the same track as the tractor to minimise ground impaction and damage.

Their other purchase is a Welger high capacity small square baler for both hay and straw which is coupled with a Cook hydraulic belt driven bale sledge which can handle wider swaths of grass.

“We have already had a lot of interest in the baler from both farmers and people wanting small bales for horses which we also sell ourselves,” said William. They also carry out fencing work and offer tractor and man hire.

Robert and the twins


east Fourstones / arMstrong

P & P MACDONALD & SONSAgricultural Contractors

07711207185

We are pleased to support the Armstrong family and wish them continued success in

the future

● Silage and Wholecrop● Round Baling● Complete Arable Operations● Fert & Lime Spreading● Hedge Cutting

An earlier diversification 10 years ago took on board Anne’s passion for horses and includes a DIY livery for six horses, an outdoor school and a mile long uphill training gallop which is regularly used by racehorse and point to point trainers and top event riders in the region.

Both William and Stephen share their mother’s love of horses and this year William has been putting East Fourstones on the map winning prizes at shows with a skewbald cob both under saddle and in hand.

William and the six year old 14.1hh

gelding Mr Foxtrot was third in the in hand class and fifth in the ridden classes on their very first outing at the Northumberland Show, followed by a fifth place at Richmond and a third place in hand at the Royal Highland Show.

The 340 acre farm has been run by the Armstrong family since 1936 and quiet and easy to manage Hereford cattle have featured for 40 years.

Seventy acres is cut twice for silage and barley for home use is grown on 60 acres while the rest of the

farm is grazing ground for up to 290 head of cattle.

These include a herd of 27 suckler cows, 16 of which make up the pedigree Fourstones Hereford herd. Eventually all the cows will be pedigree Herefords and currently seven are home bred.

All the cows - the remainder are Angus cross Limousin - are put to the Hereford bull. Crossbred calves along with Hereford-sired dairy bred calves, mainly December to April born, which are bought in are finished at 22 to 26 months old and sold direct to Waitrose for its Hereford beef scheme.

“We have had Hereford cattle from since they first came into the area. Prior to foot and mouth we had a Bluefaced Leicester flock but after 2001 we decided to concentrate more on cattle and we established the pedigree Hereford herd with cattle bought from John Douglas’s Ervie herd at Stranraer,” said Robert.

“The Hereford was just what we were looking for - they are so quiet and have a good temperament which is a big consideration when moving stock as we have a railway and a busy road crossing the farm. They are low input cattle and selling the majority to Waitrose makes us as much money as if we had Limousin

crosses,” he added.

The Armstrongs also favour the superior eating quality of the Hereford beef and continue to buy their beef from the home of the Ervie herd.

Each year the family shows cattle at the Carlisle May Hereford society sale and this year two heifers in calf to stock bull Free Town Casanova made 1,400 and 1,500gns each. They were by Ervie Standard Lad and Fourstones Paul.

Recently two females from East Fourstones went to help re-stock the herd run by the Elms private school near Hereford which had been lost to TB

The farm has dry, light land which allows the hardy Hereford cows to be outwintered before calving from the end of March and into April. In the spring the land is then ploughed out for cropping.

The farm also used to carry a Mule flock but now to ease the summer grazing, draft Mule ewes are bought in in the autumn and sold the following May with Suffolk sired lambs at foot at Hexham Mart.

Stephen armstrong can be contacted on 07833 197820 and William on 07920 884065.

Anne with her boys


andrew ManField

MAY & DAWSONWadsworth RoadKelleythorpe Industrial Estate

East Yorkshire YO25 9DJTel: 01377 256000Fax 01377 255444

SUPPORTING ANDREW MANFIELDPROVIDING AGRONOMY SERVICE TO FARMERS IN YOURAREA

20-24 Park Street SelbyNorth Yorkshire YO8 4PWTel: 01757 703731

www.jwpcreers.co.uk

Specialising in all areas of business advice to rural enterprises

AgricultureAccounting and Bookkeeping

Audit and AssuranceCorporate Finance

Tax ComplianceTax Planning

PayrollSuccession Planning

Please contact Stephen Headley

Foss PlaceFoss Islands Road

York YO31 7UJ

Tel: 01904 624155

When you think about farming you don’t normally connect the phrase ‘traffic control’ with it automatically.

Controlled traffic, auto steer and satellite technology or all part of the Andrew Manfield armoury on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds. He farms at Hessleskew Farm, near Sancton where his arable farming enterprise runs to some 200 hectares, including land that he rents from neighbours.

‘We grow wheat, primarily group 2 and 3 wheats; malting barley, both winter and spring; oil seed rape, winter oats and vining peas for Bird’s Eye in Hull. We also have a small contracting operation, a straw business, taking from our own and neighbours’ farms for sale later in the winter, and we do a little bit of contract spraying. Our most significant crop in terms of finance though is the seed potato.’

Andrew is always looking at how

things can be improved and he sees controlled traffic as one of the economical ways of utilising farm machinery.

‘We’re in a nitrate sensitive zone here which is why I became aware of potential problems with the relatively high levels of nitrogen we were applying. There is a growing body of evidence that there is a good effect from combining a source of ammonium with a source of nitrate in most crops. Another little contracting business we have is fertiliser injection and we are working on systems of injecting ammonium fertilisers. The idea is to create a more efficient use of nitrogen and a better uptake on cereal and rape crops. I became aware of fertiliser possibilities at a chance meeting I attended with the Controlled Traffic farming group. This is one of my other interests, where we restrict the wheelings of machinery to confined areas in the fields.’

MEET YOUR NEW TRAffIC CONTROllER

The principle is simple enough. Rather than having all manner of wheelings right across a field you keep to the same wheelings all the time. This is brought about by using the same width machinery and auto steer technology.

‘It’s like having imaginary tram lines across the field every 6 metres and that way large parts of the field, up to 70%, are never trafficked at all which means there is less damage to the soil. What we’re trying to do is match the implement widths so that we can use the same tractor wheelings for all operations, including combining, baling, spraying and chasing bales off the field. It really can save cultivation time and a great deal of energy in terms of diesel and wearing metal.’

Andrew talks of the proportion

of land normally trafficked being extremely heavy and how his system is helping.

‘Wheelings can sometimes be close to 100%. We are already seeing good benefits in soil quality through restricting these. Everything that we are doing is made possible by precision farming and particularly what is known as RTK Auto Steer Systems. RTK stands for Real Time Kinematics and the systems can follow a track to less than an inch and return to that track with perfect accuracy day-in, day-out.’

Whilst many farmers are already using satellite technology Andrew believes that auto steer technology is the way forward.

‘What we’re doing is a development of satellite technology systems. Many

Andrew Manfield

ChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh ANdREW MANfIEld Of SANCTON


andrew ManField / bentley butchers

Tel 0113 271 0039Unit 8 Manor Mills, Millshaw, Beeston, Leeds LS11 8DB

Please ring the above number for prices & deliveries

We are pleased to support Bentleys Butchers & wish them continued success in the future

Suppliers & manufacturers of natural sheep & hog casings

who have already started with auto steer systems are using systems that are purely satellite based and they can give a good degree of accuracy, but crucially they cannot give the degree of accuracy you need to do the kind of things that we’re doing. The key is the RTK element so there is radio or mobile phone link to a base station located within working distance of the machine and acts as a fixed reference point which can correct errors from pure satellite-based systems.’

Andrew is concerned more with how his crop can be bettered, rather than cutting down on costs.

‘It’s more about getting the optimum crop. It’s always dangerous to think of purely saving money. It’s very easy to get into a negative mindset of ‘cut, cut, cut’. Yes, we do want to save money but we want to invest where there is longer term benefit and we can grow the business. With less wheelings the crop and the yield can be improved.’

Andrew is so convinced of the future of auto steer and controlled

traffic that he has recently taken on a distributorship for the Dutch make of RTK auto steer systems, in partnership with his neighbouring farmer and cousin, Peter Southwell, and he is now trading as RTK SOLUTIONS in the UK.

‘I have travelled extensively in countries such as Germany and Holland, looking at how they farm. A friend of mine from Northern Germany, Christophe Bommes, who has done a lot of work with fertiliser spoke wheel injection and also has a strong interest in precision and controlled farming techniques, introduced me to SBG INNOVATIE who are the Dutch manufacturers of our new distributorship. I was so impressed. Their accuracy was within 2cms because they were using both implement and tractor steering systems.’

Whilst he acknowledges that getting all your machinery to fit the same widths can be tricky if your current implements don’t quite match up he tells of what he needed to do initially.

‘Everybody’s situation will be different. We didn’t change the most expensive bits such as the combine and the tractor. Essentially we changed a drill and a cultivator. By the time we had swapped one implement for another second hand implement that fitted the wheelings we didn’t have a lot of extra money to find.’

Andrew is married to Tina and they have two sons Ben and Aaron who

are both in their early 20s.

Watch out for further new ideas from this innovative, forward-thinking arable farmer from the East Riding of Yorkshire.

andrew Manfield rtk Solutions email: [email protected] Web: www.rtksolutions.co.uk

There are so many butchers’ these days that pride themselves on their locally sourced meat, and rightly so. Bentleys Butchers is a little bit different though, not only do they offer their customer’s top of the range meat farmed nearby, but they offer an extensive range of weird and wonderful exotic meats.

Shop owner Steve tells us: “We can source virtually anything; wild boar, crocodile, ostrich, kangaroo and even rattle snake and it all sells. Our locally sourced meat is our biggest seller however, I think because of how traceable and tasty it is. We have used the same two farmers for over 15 years now; John Penny up at Rawdon and Richard France in Heckmondwike. Using those two ensures I can source exactly what I need without going out of this area.”

Steve bought Bentleys Butchers 20 years ago after being made redundant. Having butchered all his life in Howarth, the small shop in Pudsey was just what he needed to turn his fortune around and he’s never looked back.

“I knew it was a big risk to take but I could see potential here and we’ve since built it up from a one man band to a well established business. We extended into next door last year because I knew that we needed to expand the shop in size in order to accommodate everything.”

Everything and everyone it seems: the 14-strong staffing team at Bentleys now consists of shop manager Martin, trainees David and Dale, shop assistants Pat, Danni, Stacey and Margret and a team of bakers and pie makers.

The business of pork pie making is in itself a major trade in modern butchery and Bentleys are up there with the best. Steve explains: “Pork pies are most definitely our best seller, especially since we’ve won so many awards for them.

We have been entering competitions for five or six years now, but recently we’ve won big. In 2008 we were awarded National Champions and we won the pork pie appreciation society award back in March.”

SOURCING ThE BEST IN lOCAl ANd EXOCTIC MEATfARMERSMART VISIT BENTlEYS BUTChERS IN PUdSEY

Since their expansion, Steve and his team are optimistic about the coming months; “I think nowadays there’s more people coming back to their local butchers, because as a society we are more aware of the how supermarkets work and the food miles that are involved. I mean they’re dragging food all over the country nowadays, which people are appose to because they’re able to buy real quality on their door step.”

ChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh ANdREW MANfIEld Of SANCTON

Bentleys Butchers 0113 257 9893 www.bentleysbutchers.co.uk

All smiles at Bentleys


robert patchett

Maintaining standards on the farm as well as paying off his long term debt is robert Patchett’s definition of happiness.

Robert lives at Thorpe Grange Farm, Broomfleet, on the banks of the Humber. His farming enterprise also includes Faxfleet Grange Farm and runs to some 1000 acres of arable land plus 100 acres of rough grass.

Approximately half the cropping acreage is down to winter wheat, with vining peas and oil seed rape making up around 170 acres each and 100 acres of winter barley. He also grows 40 acres of naked oats.

‘They are grown for a limited but very good local market. There is a human consumption market but ours tend to go into poultry feed and to a bird seed supplier.’

Robert also fattens about a dozen cattle a year.

‘We have about 14 acres of permanent pasture and we graze on an ancient monument site to keep it tidy. It’s a Knight’s Templar site and Hull University are starting to investigate it further.’

The family roots in the area go back to 1904 when Robert’s great grandfather came to Faxfleet as a tenant. Today the farm is a limited company with Robert, his wife Melanie and children Alex (24) and Sassi (26) as directors.

Robert went into the Entry Level

ElS – A GOOd ThING OR A STRAITJACKET?ChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh ROBERT PATChETT Of BROOMflEET

Stewardship scheme in 2006. He’s happy with the way things have been going on the farm as a result, but feels there is a degree of flexibility needed.

‘Like a lot of farmers I’ve always had a keen interest in conservation. The field margins idea has been good, providing a wildlife corridor,

Robert Patchett with tractor


robert patchett

protecting the watercourses and hedges. Water quality is going to have to be improved and I see grass margins around ditches as being a way of achieving that. A scheme that pays us to have those margins is well worth having. There has been a noticeable impact on wildlife. We certainly have more hares and the local owl group are very interested. We now have quite a few barn owls and have several nesting boxes. There is also an increasing number of roe deer. I just wish the ELS was made more flexible. The simplest deviation from an agreed management scheme requires written authority, but usually you need to make a decision there and then without having to wait around for clearance. I think they have made the scheme a lot less attractive than it could have been. It sometimes feels as though you are in a strait-jacket. We had to write to get permission to spray willow weed off and it took ages. It was all just red tape. We should have just been allowed to get on with it.’

He’s not one for holding back if there is something he disagrees with or sees that it can work better. Being situated where his farmland is Robert has a natural concern over what is happening with flood defences and the long term strategy. He is on the Market Weighton Drainage Board committee and back in 1997 was invited to go on to the consultation panel with the Environment Agency to work at developing a long term strategy for the Humber Estuary flood defences. He’s concerned about how decisions are made.

‘There are big issues in Holderness and the Humber Estuary. There’s a reality that rising sea levels are going to be a problem and that has a knock on effect for all farmers along the Humber. I do feel that when these things are looked at by civil servants there is a danger that they may be continually covering

their backs and doing things by the book, which means they may tend to negate imaginative thinking. I’m not saying these people don’t know what they’re doing, it’s just that you can have the best people in the world but if you tie their hands behind their backs there’s nothing they can do.’

Robert has previously been a county chairman of the NFU for York East and was also a representative on the Cereal committee.

tel: 01430 440391

“ lIKE A lOT Of fARMERS I’VE AlWAYS hAd A KEEN INTEREST IN CONSERVATION... ”


harris oF little sMeaton

J. B. WalkerHaylage Supplier * Farmer

Tel: 07801 689282pleased to be associated with martyn & glynis Harris

‘it’s a native breed and we should be getting back to using native breeds that have been bred for the areas of our country rather than bringing continentals in.’

That’s what Martyn Harris thinks. He and his wife Glynis are not full-time farmers, but

they have developed a reputation for producing quality Hampshire Down sheep from their home base of Salutation Farm, Little Smeaton, just 7 miles north of Northallerton.

Their one and a half acres at Salutation Farm was originally

purchased to assist Martyn’s landscaping business, which he has run for 26 years and recently saw him plant the garden at BBC Gardeners World live this June for local garden designer Heather Appleton – which won an RHS Gold Medal and Best Small Garden. Glynis works as a Review

hAMPShIRE dOWNS PERfORM WEll IN YORKShIREfARMERSMART TAlK WITh MARTYN hARRIS Of lITTlE SMEATON

Officer within the Complex Needs Social Work team in Stockton on Tees.

‘We needed the farm for the landscaping business and this had room to put up a building to house our forest products such as bark chips, but because we had the field here we decided to keep some livestock.’

Martyn and Glynis chose the breed because they saw it as a docile type, but they have found that there is a great deal more to it than that and both are now active members of the Hampshire Down Breeders Association. Martyn is a council member and Glynis is Northern Area Secretary.

‘We have learned so much about the breed since we started with it in 1999 with 3 lambs and it has also improved very much in recent times. It used to be seen as a fatty sheep, but not now. They are a very good terminal sire and their meat quality is excellent.’

Martyn sees the Hampshire Down as a breed that is very much on the up at the present.

‘The breed has done a great deal in recent times. Ten years ago you couldn’t sell a Hampshire Down ram, now they are selling at Kelso. That’s a mark of how far we have come. ’

The Harris’ also keep Lleyns and Mules. It’s all a part of showing just how successful the Hampshire Down ram can be. Martyn gets involved with the shows and sales

Glynis and Martyn Harris


harris oF little sMeaton

The Terminal Sire forHardy vigorous lambs Lambs Quick to suckle A Fast Finish off Grass

For full details & list of breeders contact: Richard Davis 01494 488 388

e-mail: [email protected]

HAMPSHIRE DOWN

side of the organisation which sees them exhibiting at events such as North Sheep and Scotsheep, where they exhibited with crossbred lambs recently. They now have 20 breeding ewes, 8 pedigree Lleyns and 6 Mules.

‘We’ve crossed both with our Hampshire Downs. That’s to show farmers just what the terminal sire will do for them. Commercial farmers want to see a sheep with a tight skin.’

The couple had goats prior to moving on to sheep.

‘The goats were time consuming, because of their milking, but the sheep are our thing. Having them, showing and being involved with the breed is exciting, especially at the moment. At first it was just nice to have them in the field but through what we have done we have met some really great people too and everyone is just so friendly.’

Martyn and Glynis have won a breed championship at the Great Yorkshire Show and the Suffolk Show. Just prior to this issue’s deadline they showed for the first

time at North Yorkshire County Show and took a first with a shearling ram.

They also have Beef Shorthorns

which they bought last year.

‘It’s the World Conference for Beef Shorthorns this year, which originate from County Durham. It’s

starting shortly and people from as far afield as Uruguay and Brazil are coming. The conference has not been held here since 1989.

The Harris’ farming enterprise may well be part-time, but it is expanding. In addition to their acre and a half at Salutation Farm they also have a further 15 acres ‘on loan’ at Norton and 7 ½ acres at Lower Dinsdale.

‘We are looking to buy more land and move so that the sheep are right next door – and we are also looking at perhaps starting a farm shop or holiday accommodation. We will stock the shop with our own beef and lamb.

Martyn & glynis Harris tel: 01609 881117 Mob: 07976 250172 email: [email protected]


newby hall FarM shop

All requirements for Self-Employed, Sole Traders, Partnerships and Limited Companies including:

Annual Accounts Taxation V.A.T. Payroll ProÞt Forecasts

DISCOVER HOW WE CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS TODAY

Tel: 01904 687500Fax: 01904 687510

Email: [email protected]: www.townends.com

Fulford Lodge1 Heslington Lane

Fulford, YorkYO10 4HW

We are pleased to be associated with J C Lister (Farms) Ltd

and wish them continued success for the future

Mark Maxwell first clapped eyes on newby Hall Farm Shop in 2006. it was an impromptu encounter which took place during his interview for the Shop Manager role; sensing that Mark was the perfect man for the job, David Lister of Jc Lister Farms and Peter greenwood, representing the newby estate, insisted he come with them to see what was to become the award-winning farm shop.

Mark told me: “I came up for the interview in January 06’ and met with David and Peter. I instantly realised that we had the same dream of what a farm shop and indeed a community should be like. I didn’t know if a shop even existed or not, but right at the very end of the interview, on that cold and rainy day, they brought me here. Because of the state of it, they were worried that I’d turn it down, but I absolutely loved it; for me it was the blank canvas I’d been looking for.”

To say a lot has changed in the past four years would be a considerable understatement. What was once a disused and damaged glass house is now a beautifully presented, well crafted Farm Shop, complete with a five metre meat counter and bespoke furnishings. Mark admits that it was always a deliberate intention of his to create a unique and practical space. He and David with his farm team spent months transforming the derelict building and designing each individual display counter using the very best materials.

Walking into Newby Hall Farm Shop, it’s hard not to feel welcomed. Not only are the experienced staff friendly and inviting, but the shop has everything you could ever want from a local farm shop. Products available range from fresh vegetables to specialist jams and even jewellery. What really draws in the crowds at the farm shop is its multi award winning famous meats.

NEWBY hAll fARM ShOP: ThE hOME Of QUAlITY ANd COMMUNITYlUCIE CARTER TAlKS WITh ShOP MANAGER MARK MAXWEll

Reared on the Lister farms & Newby Hall estate, by a small team of dedicated enthusiasts, the meat is fresh, tasty and perhaps most importantly traceable. Mark explains: “The main brief was to ensure that the shop was based around the sale of JC Lister’s own

world class pork, beef & lamb. We wanted the meat counter to be the main focus, so much so that when you walk through the door you couldn’t miss it. The local customers were very quick to pick up on the quality & taste of such a premium local product. In fact it has been so

Mark Maxwell


newby hall FarM shop

successful that 66% of the shops income is generated through the sale of its own meat. We allowed the butcher a lot of room, and kept the chopping block in front of the customer because to me, that theatre if you like, is essential for customers to make that connection.”

Mark admits that over 60% of the business lends itself to the meat produced on David’s farms and that every stage is overseen: “The longer the chain, the more likelihood there is for error. If you know the people involved and you’re comfortable talking to them, then you can overcome any problems that may arise, before they impact on the Customer. The beef that we eventually sell are taken straight from the farm by David across to Horner’s at Kilburn, which is the local abattoir, (about 6 miles away). The cattle are all Aberdeen Angus, traditionally grown on grass & forage, if you see any black cattle near Newby Hall they are probably David’s. The beef is usually hung for 3 weeks before it comes here, and we’ll continue to hang it in our refrigerated store until the butcher says its right, no matter who wants it. The sheep are also home reared around the farm shop grazing along the banks of the picturesque river Ure”

As an expert in the food production industry, Mark began his career working for the well established nursery Frank P Matthews Ltd,

Rural Business’ at the Ackrill Media Group Business Awards, fighting off stiff competition from some of the regions most successful businesses. Marks attitude towards the win, is characteristically modest and wonderfully grateful: “It was never our intention to compete in awards and it’s been the customers that have always nominated us. The best rural business award has, without doubt meant the most, because they didn’t just look at the shop as a commercial business, they looked at the work we do within the community.”

For both David and Mark, the future is filled with optimism and investment. Where JC Lister Farms is concerned David and his brother Richard continue to develop the farm not only by size, but by the products they produce. Mark tells me more about one project in particular;

“They’ve just built a fantastic, state of the art piggery, which has been a huge investment. They really are leading the way in modern farming. They have their own breeding stock & finish all the progeny. They also have their own feed mill which ensures a good local diet for the pigs from the farms cereal production. Some of the gilts go for export to Belgium. The pigs in the farm shop are mainly Large White x Landrace x Hampshire x by Duroc. This produces a strong

healthy pig with exceptional eating qualities. The extra marbling in the meat, ensures the best texture and cooking properties, which help increase the taste & flavour. Their work on the farm also means that we’re able to feed the information right back through to the customers in the shop, so they know they’re getting the very best pork around.”

In addition to David’s work on the farm, the farm shop itself is set to reach new heights in the coming months; plans are now in place to extend the shop to include a tea room around the back of the current building. The extension would mean that customers could enjoy a relaxed atmosphere, and also learn a thing or two. Mark explains; “I want the tea room to run almost like a food group, we’re having professional chefs come in to give presentations so that customers can learn how best to cook and enhance the meat we sell.”

With so much forward thinking it’s easy to understand just how JC Lister Farms and Newby Hall Farm Shop have become so successful.

newby Hall Farm Shop and Jc Lister Farms Ltd 01423 326 452

where his passion for fruit growing really took off. He then worked self employed for a number of fruit farms around Herefordshire, Gloucestershire & Avon and became more and more involved in supplying farm shops.

“Those experiences really helped when I first became shop manager, because I knew exactly what people were after. In fact when I first started here, I set myself a target of finding 100 good suppliers within the area over a two month period. Surprisingly however, I ended up with a list of over 300 suppliers, which just shows how high the standards of suppliers are around here.”

As a trio, David, Peter and of course Mark have one common incentive, to involve the community in everything they do. Mark insists; “Over the years we’ve hosted hog roasts, school trips, & supported many sponsored walks and local charity events. I think it’s essential to integrate local people into whatever we do; I don’t think we’d survive without them.” The farm shop is also involved in the Jenny Ruth Project, which means that for one day a week, adults with learning disabilities are employed by Mark and the team to develop their skills and indeed their C.V

Throughout the last four years, Newby Hall Farm Shop and JC Lister farms has propelled in local recognition and status. Earlier this year the business was awarded the coveted title of ‘Best


david walker

in many ways David Walker of newton Farm in Huby near York is your everyday farmer. He’s up and out by the crack of dawn each morning to attend to his beloved animals, and he learnt all there is to know about farming from his father whilst growing up.

A product of generations before him, David has been a farmer for as long as he can remember; when asked if he’d ever considered another career choice he answered simply, “No, not at all. This is all I’ve ever know.”

David moved to Newton Farm 44 years ago, when he was just 13 years old. Although he’d lived on another farm prior to the move, he hadn’t experienced the responsibilities of actually working on one. But with adolescence came duty and David soon became aware of what being a full-fledged farmer really meant.

A TYPICAl fARMER WITh A KNACK fOR WINNINGlUCIE CARTER VISITS dAVId WAlKER TO hEAR hIS TRAdITIONAl STORY

David Walker


david walker

Thirsk Farmers Auction MartThirsk Rural Business Centre

Blakey Lane, ThirskNorth Yorkshire YO7 3AB

Tel: 01845 523165Fax: 01845 526604

e-mail: [email protected]

For more information visit www.thirskmarket.com

Pleased to be associated with David Walker and wish him continued success for the future

He tells us: “My family moved here in 1966, at that time it was my Father Ken and his three bothers who managed the farm. But I gradually learnt the ropes and soon after leaving school I began working here full-time, it all happened naturally really.”

It was during those days as a young and inexperienced farmer that David began exploring which breeds were available to him. The land at Newton Farm is relatively flat, which broadened the range of animals he could consider keeping but David, it seems, had his eye on one breed in particular. “My dad and my uncles had kept cattle when we first arrived here. But I decided to introduce Longhorns about five years ago, I immediately took a shine to them because of how docile they can be.”

As a breed, Longhorn cattle are renowned for their stature and presence. Its main qualities include the ease of which it is calved, the quality of milk it produces and the

length and leanness of each body which is unlike any other cattle breed.

The longevity of the breed has also been of major influence on David as he’s expanded his herd year on year, he tells us; “I’ve found the animals to be very consistent over the years, it’s very rare that I’m in need of a replacement which has helped in recent years as things have become a bit tougher in the industry.”

Over the years David’s love for the Longhorn breed has continued to blossom, and despite being a very traditional farmer on paper, he has embraced the showing culture and allowed his herd the spotlight they deserve. Last year David’s most successful bull ‘Newton Storm’ began its winning streak at the Great Yorkshire Show where it was awarded overall breed champion. Soon after that prestigious win Newton Storm went on to 1st prize in its class at the Northumberland County Show.

Not one to break the generational mould so to speak, David now runs Newton Farm with his Nephew Andrew at his side and his sister Silvia at the reigns. David’s son Graham has also shown an interest in the farm from a young age, and although he has is own full-time job away from the farm, he continues to help David throughout the show season.

David tells us: “Graham helps where he can, but it’s never been a real passion of his, which is absolutely fine. But Andrew on the other hand

is a farmer at heart I think. It’s been great to pass on my knowledge over the last few years and watch a novice become an expert.”

The Summer is an exciting time for David and all at Newton Farm, its filled with the prospect of more exciting wins at the Cheshire Show, Driffield and of course the Great Yorkshire; Fingers Crossed!

David Walker newton Farm 01347 810811


williaM laMbert oF hawes

Famous for the Best Breeding Sheep Sales in the North

Contact Office 01969 667207 Raymond 0797 4126397 John 0777 2125045

Fax 01969 667220 www.hawesmart.co.uk

Pleased to support William and Claire Lambert

Auction Mart

‘if i was just looking at the facts and figures of what you can make each hour of the day i’d have to pack up dairy farming tomorrow, because it just does not pay at the moment.’

These are the words of William Lambert who lives at Raygill Farm, 1000 ft above sea level at the top of Wensleydale, just a short distance out of Hawes going towards Bainbridge. The farm runs to some 200 acres and he keeps 85 dairy cows.

‘I’ve lived here all my life and my family has lived here for over 500 years. The way I look at it is like this. We live on the hilltop just outside Hawes and we have lovely panoramic views of the dale. If I didn’t farm what would I have to do to live here, because I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.’

William farmed with his brother and his father, but today it’s just himself

and a bit of casual labour on the odd night when he can’t milk.

‘It’s changed tremendously from when I was a boy. We had sheep and a few beef cattle as well as dairy cows. We don’t have sheep anymore but we have three of four times the cows we used to have. My father died about 14 years ago and that was the time we split up the family partnership. My brother is now farming on a rented farm near Lake Semerwater. He’s in the estate agency business too, another family business. I don’t mind sheep but I always leaned towards dairy and breeding cows and I was the one who always milked them. I’ve done it since I was 10 years old and it was the obvious choice for me to stay on the home farm which had the dairy herd – so I’ve never moved.’

Like many other farmers William is a great believer in thinking that times will eventually come good – as they seem to have in sheep, pigs and

OPTIMISM IN ThE dAlESChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh WIllIAM lAMBERT Of hAWES

beef cattle in recent times.

‘I am an optimist and I do believe things will turn around in a while and it will become profitable to be a dairy farmer once again.’

If that gives an impression that William leaves things to chance nothing could be further from the truth. He was one of the lead instigators in getting the group of dairy farmers together to supply Wensleydale Creamery following the demise of the Milk Marketing Board and he is still chairman of the group 15 years later. The creamery has been successful but pressure on prices has eroded much of the good

work done in the early years.

‘They are being squeezed so hard that they cannot afford to give us any more than anyone else making cheese,’ says William. ‘Supermarkets don’t recognise that it costs just as much for the milk to go into cheese as it does to go on your cornflakes. Unless they do realise it then a lot of dales farmers will be forced out of business because they simply cannot afford to reinvest, expand or modernise. We’re getting around 23.8ppl compared to 25-26ppl for the bigger liquid milk producers. We can just about exist at 24ppl but dairy farmers up here in the dales

William Lambert, wife Claire and youngest daughter Rachel


williaM laMbert oF hawes

WHARFEDALE TRACTORS Ltd.

UNIT 1 – RIFFA BUSINESS PARK – HARROGATE RD POOL-IN-WHARFEDALE – OTLEY – NORTH YORKSHIRE LS21 2XB

Tel: +44 (0) 113 2841117 Fax: +44 (0) 0113 2843110E-Mail: [email protected]

We are pleased to be associated withWilliam Lambert

and wish him continued success for the future

have not been able to reinvest very much in the past 10 years. We have bucked the trend a bit here at Raygill and we put in a new parlour nearly four years ago. We borrowed money to do it and it’s put the pressure on now that the milk price is still poor.’

William believes that without Wensleydale Creamery the writing would be on the wall for dairy farms in the dale.

‘There are a lot less dairy farms already and a lot less cows. There are far fewer calves going through the auction mart. I think it would be virtually impossible for any dairy farm to survive without Wensleydale Creamery. Dairies want very big dairy farms close to big roads where they can pick up with an articulated lorry. They want to pick up large amounts from individual farms.’

As well as supporting his fellow dairy farmers through his chairmanship of the group that deals with the creamery William has also been one of the mainstays behind the restoration of Gayle Mill. The mill received a

great deal of publicity when it was shortlisted to win funding in TV’s Restoration programme presented by Griff Rhys Jones.

‘A good friend of mine, Tony Routh, came to me one day and asked whether I would like to join him as a fellow director. I’ve always been fascinated by old machinery and became chairman of Gayle Mill Trust. Tony and I have restored nearly all of the Victorian woodworking machinery at the mill which was originally a cotton mill in the mid 1780s. In 1879 it came to the end of its time and they took the water wheel out, put a turbine in and converted it to a sawmill. That’s when all this wonderful machinery that’s in there today was installed. We have now put it back into a fully working sawmill. It is all intact and driven by the turbine. We make bespoke things, one-offs. We can’t compete with the big modern manufacturer making a 10ft gate but if you want something that’s 7ft ¾ and a bit that’s where we get the orders. It now has three lines to it – it’s a sawmill, a visitor attraction

and a learning and training centre.’

In the end they didn’t win on the TV programme, but it did publicise the mill and visitors are still coming as a result.

‘It’s not doing particularly well just at the moment though because there is no public funding for the training side of the mill like there was a few years

ago.’

William’s other passion is stick-making. He started making sticks when he was 12 years old and specialises in carving farm animals in the horn on to a hazel shank. He has handled some extra special commissions including a unique pair of sticks for HRH Prince Charles and Camilla.

‘It was a very short notice job,’ says William. ‘I put a pair of sticks together for them using the Great Yorkshire Show rose design, but adding some unique touches with a nice piece of stem at the front of the stick and some leaves wrapping around the nose of the stick and the rosebud on the top. I was introduced to them in the line-out.’

He also spends every Thursday evening going underground with a group that explores the old lead mines of Swaledale and Upper Wensleydale. It’s a hobby that usually ends up in a pub!

William is married to Claire who works for the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Growing Routes team funding diversification enterprises. They have two young daughters – Fiona (13) and Rachel (10).

tel: 01969 667328


yorkshire steel buildings

three years ago Yorkshire Steel Buildings was born and now, 36 months later, they have just completed their 100th new build.

‘It has been a fantastic achievement,’ says Jonathon Jessop. ‘We started with the aim of putting up one new building every week and since we celebrated putting up our 50th only last year we are now right on-line with where we wanted to be.’

Of course putting up farm buildings is one thing, but earning a great reputation is probably more important than the numbers.

‘We are now receiving repeat orders from those who we have already worked for and that has to be good news. We would like to think that we are now up there in people’s minds when they are considering putting up any new agricultural construction in the county.’

Their 100th new farm building is a 90ft x 45ft x 20ft high grain store for farmers CWJ Fall & Sons Ltd., on a mixed farm between Bedale and Snape. Jonathon reports that a great deal of their business is coming from the Yorkshire area.

‘That’s good news for us in two respects. Firstly, we are called Yorkshire Steel Buildings, so the Yorkshire connection is working well, plus it means that if we work locally we can be very competitive on quotes. At a time when steel and timber prices are extremely volatile quotes have to be carefully presented and monitored almost weekly in order to remain competitive.’

Yorkshire Steel Buildings’ work is heavily concentrated on agricultural buildings but they will undertake and have undertaken a number of other interesting jobs as well as some prestigious agricultural buildings.

‘We were delighted to put up the new building for Pateley Bridge Auction Market, but in recent times we have also put up a swimming pool building for a private client and a factory extension at Teesside Airport. We also moved an aircraft hangar from RAF Dishforth down to Hampshire, totally re-erecting it down there, so our work can be varied. At present we are putting up a number of new livestock buildings of all types and sizes, plus we are finding that we are getting work from the nitrate

CENTURY fOR YSBChRIS BERRY TAlKS WITh JONAThON JESSOP

vulnerable zone areas. There is up to a £10,000 capital grant available for new builds in what are known as ‘dirty water’ areas and that has brought about a lot of interest.’

The Yorkshire Steel Buildings team includes Jonathon’s brother Nick Shepherd leading an erecting team a team of 3-4, Jonathon is involved with the foundations work, office side and purchasing, and they have 2 full-time fabricators and 1 full-time painter.

‘We are now pretty much running at capacity,’ says Jonathon. ‘We are happy with the way the business has developed and there are certainly a lot of our logos now seen on farm buildings right across the county.’

The 100th building has a special silver-coloured commemorative plaque, making it even more distinctive.

Farmers Mart congratulates Yorkshire Steel Buildings on a successful first three years. Here’s to the next 100 new builds!

Yorkshire Steel Buildings Jonathon Jessop Mob: 07718 984010 nick Shepherd Mob 07734 246245


FarMing people

SPECIAlIST AdVICE NOW AVAIlABlE ThROUGhOUT ThE NORTh

Farmway Limited is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Tolson as Forage Specialist. Richard will be responsible for developing sales of speciality fertilisers and mineral blocks in Durham and Northumberland.

Richard joins Farmway’s Forage Services team having worked at Blagdon Estate as a herdsman and developing their integrated farm retail business.

Commenting on his appointment, Richard said, “I am delighted to join Farmway’s Forage Services team and look forward to working with local farmers to help them improve the quality of their forage by using their existing assets and enhancing them with the latest technology.”

www.farmway.co.uk

AGRICUlTURAl ENGINEERS APPOINT NEW PRESIdENTPeter Leech has been appointed the new President of the institution of agricultural engineers. Peter has been customer Support Manager for John Deere in the UK & ireland for many years and has just recently been promoted to the position of regional training Manager for Deere & company, covering training within the region of europe, ciS, north africa and the near & Middle east.

Peter became President at an official ceremony at the Institution’s annual conference at Cranfield University in May this year, and his Presidency will last for two years.

Commenting on his new role Peter said “It is a great honour to be appointed to this important and distinguished role and a great

time to be leading a dynamic and growing Institution. With an ever expanding world population and increasing demand for alternative energy solutions there has never been greater need for inventive, professional land based engineers and a professional Institution to support and represent them.”

United oilseeds has today announced the appointment of two new area managers to its local support team in order to provide improved ground-level support to the company’s existing membership.

The new appointments have been made in order to improve the level of service and support that members of United Oilseeds receive in terms of crop marketing assistance as well as agronomic advice and seed selection guidance. Nigel Watson joins United Oilseeds with a proven track record in agricultural machinery sales throughout the North of England, and will provide area manager support in West, South and East Yorkshire. Having studied at Nottinghamshire College of Agriculture, Nigel gained 14 years of experience working as an area sales manager for Massey Ferguson Implements.

Nick Mecrow joins United Oilseeds

EXTENdEd TEAM INCREASES SUPPORT fOR OSR GROWERS

VINTAGE VEhIClE ROAd RUN

as area manager for Essex and Hertfordshire. Nick has a wealth of sales and marketing experience in both the arable and feed sectors. After graduating from Seale Hayne with a BSc honours degree in agriculture, Nick spent 17 years at BOCM Pauls working his way up to the position of national dairy market manager.

Chris Baldwin, Managing Director of United Oilseeds commented: “Nigel and Nick’s combined expertise will add a greater depth to our existing team of eight area managers who are on hand to offer independent and impartial agronomic and marketing advice to the company’s members.”

Nick Mecrow and Nigel Watson

lIVESTOCK VET RECEIVES ThE RABdf PRINCESS ROYAl AWARd

Proceeds from the carrington rally Vintage Vehicle easter road run have been donated to Lincolnshire integrated Voluntary emergency Services (LiVeS). in a presentation ceremony held recently, road run organiser Malcolm robinson and route Marshall Paul Slinger handed a cheque for £584.50 to LiVeS’ clinical Director, Dr Yvonne owen.

On receiving the cheque Dr Owen said: “It is fantastic that local organisations continue to support LIVES in providing emergency care across the country.”

“We are delighted to be donating the proceeds from our annual Road Run to LIVES,” commented Malcolm. “You never know when you are going to need help from these wonderful volunteers.”

LIVES responds to over 10,000 emergency calls every year. Based in Horncastle with representatives across Lincolnshire, the volunteer medics and First Responders are responsible for saving many lives in the vital early moments after an accident or heart attack.

Professor christianne glossop was presented with the royal association of British Dairy Farmers’ Princess royal award by Her royal Highness at Buckingham Palace earlier this year in March. the honour was made for her outstanding services to the industry.

Christianne, who is currently chief veterinary officer for the Welsh Assembly Government, has spent her 30 year career dedicated to improving the health and welfare of livestock. Latterly, she has become involved in devising and implementing TB control and eradication measures after working as a veterinary officer for Animal Health in the Gloucester division, where she dealt with large scale herd TB breakdowns following FMD in 2001.

“There I saw first hand the devastating effect this disease can have not only on farm businesses, but also on farming families,” she explained. “As chief veterinary officer for Wales I

have responsibility for developing policy aimed at raising standards of animal health and welfare in Wales. When I took up the post in 2005, I recognised the significant challenge of TB in the Welsh cattle herd. I was determined simply to be a vet when it came to tackling this issue, applying the basic principles of infectious disease control.”

RABDF chairman, David Cotton commented: “Christianne’s award recognises her continued drive, enthusiasm and determination in the face of strong opposition, to move the issue forward and help the long term health and welfare of British livestock.”

Accepting the award

Peter Leech on the right


FarMing people

WEST hIGhlANd WAY WAlK fOR COlINcatherine and alex Forsyth recently walked all 96 miles of the West Highland Way Walk in honour of their son colin who tragically lost his life in February last year.

From the 12th May to the 19th of May 2010, the couple walked come rain our shine to celebrate their son’s wonderful life. During the walk, friends and family were updated on the charity’s website www.colinscharity.org, to hear how

the couple were getting on.

With an overwhelming outpour of public support, Catherine and Alex have to date raised a massive £7000. They would like to give a special thanks to the customers at Weighing Solutions Ltd for their generosity and kindness.

FarmersMart would like to congratulate the Forsyths’ on their courage and success.

as the majority of you will now know the President of the Driffield agricultural Society sadly passed away at the beginning of March.

David’s death is a great loss to the farming community and I am sure you will wish to join us in extending our sincere sympathies to Wendy and family.

dAVId fOSTER STUBBINGS

organisers of Yorkshire’s annual charity Farmhouse Big Breakfast have handed over a total of £4,462 to the arc-addington Fund, a national aid organisation that helps maintain the economic and social fabric of UK farming communities.

The 2010 event was staged over three days in January at Scaife Hall Farm, Blubberhouses, hosted by on-farm accommodation providers Chris and Christine Ryder.

It was organised jointly by REAL Food and Farming, which promotes and supports the Yorkshire Dales uplands and the communities and businesses that depend on them, and local members of Farm Stay UK, Britain’s biggest network of farm-based accommodation providers.

A total of 164 farmhouse big breakfasts were served up, with Barclays Bank stepping in as main sponsor, coupled with support from local and regional suppliers and individuals. The money raised goes

towards ARC-Addington Fund’s Strategic Rural Housing Scheme, which provides housing for farmers and their families who have to leave their farms for a variety of reasons.

Fund director Ian Bell OBE said: “In the last 12 months, we have invested £1.2 million in Yorkshire alone in support of farming families – for example, people finding it difficult to cope following a fatal accident at one end of the spectrum, through to assisting retiring farm tenants who require help through our shared equity scheme.”

YORKShIRE BIG BREAKfAST PROCEEdS ASSIST hARd-hIT fARMING fAMIlIES

John russell was one of the true gentlemen in the world of farm machinery. He was well respected and well liked throughout the industry by both farmers and manufacturers alike and always had time to smile.

He began his working career with David Brown tractors based at Meltham and worked on the demonstration team before moving on to the sales side and covering a large proportion of the West coast and Wales.

John joined the family firm in 1968 (as the seventh generation of the business) and later took over from his father, George, as chief executive. He retired in 2003, when his son Paul took on the chief executive role, but was still working six days a week up until this year having taken on the role of company chairman.

His commitments included membership of the Great Yorkshire Show Council for the Yorkshire Agricultural Society and he spent 47 years with Ryedale Lions Club. He was a founder member and was involved in all aspects of Lions activities, whether social or charitable work. He was awarded the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award in recognition of his service. As well as this John was also chairman of the local Abbeyfield Society and Lady Lumley’s Foundation and was instrumental in the building of a new sports facility for the school in the 1980s.

During his tenure Russells grew from its one-site operation in Kirkbymoorside to a multi-site business that now covers quite

a large proportion of Yorkshire. This was quite a change from the first Russell business that saw the family start as travelling blacksmiths in the 18th century.

John played football for Kirkbymoorside in his younger days and enjoyed watching sport, gardening and spending time with his three grandchildren. He leaves his wife Pam, son Paul and daughter Karen.

He passed away (aged 71) as a result of a heart attack on 6 March this year after having been diagnosed with lung cancer in September of last year. He had just received his fourth bout of chemotherapy. He will be sadly missed by many in the agricultural community and FarmersMart sends its condolences to his family.

JOhN RUSSEll

OBITUARIES


ONE fOR ThE BOYS!!If you would like to win a fantastic new coffee table book all about the history of your favourite tractor called the Bigger Book of John Deere please answer the following question:

What year did John Deere start?

Answers to Lucie Carter: The Farmersmart Office 1, 40 Stockhill Road Greengates Bradford BD10 9AX Email: [email protected]

Competition entries must be in no later than 31st of August 2010.

£50 M&S VOUChER COMPETITION

competition winners will receive a case iH Puma 210 and a new Holland t7060 tractor manufactured by Britain’s. For your chance to win answer to following questions and send to Lucie Carter, The Farmers Mart, Office 1, 40 Stockhill Road, Greengates, Bradford BD10 9AX

1. What make is the combine on the front cover?

2. What is the make of blue tractors beginning with n? (2 words)

3. What colour are John Deere tractors?

4. What colour are case tractors?

5. JcB fast-tracks are what colour?

6. What colour are Zeter tractors?

7. Valtra tractors are silver and _____?

8. What colour are Fendt tractors?

9. What make are blue tractors beginning with L?

10. What colour are class tractors?

Bonus question (just for fun)- Do you know the colour of the original Little Fergie?

lAST ISSUE’S KId CORNER SOlUTION

congratulations to Sam ogden (age 10) from owlett Hall Farm, Lancaster who won our Spring Kids corner competition.

F N H O O X S A E P S

R X W H E A T P E N E

H H D O N B E E K G I

U X X R N E E H W I R

B P O T A T O E S B R

A C X G X C B O B A E

R S A T O A W A T R B

B F X R X R C H T L W

A E X X R T H E C E A

T P G E R O O V E Y R

W O R A R D T N O W T

A W A L T O N S B Y S

Congratulations to Jane Cooling from Hall Farm, Old Sharlston, Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The answers to our last competition were:

1) 6 2) 30th March 3) 1881

For a chance to win £50 M&S vouchers just answer the following questions:

1) in which year was the Westmorland Show established?

2) Who supplies Farmer copley’s with their tasty lamb?

3) Which award did Dan towers receive at this years Bishop Burton Stockmanship competition.

Send your answers by the 31st of August to:

the FarmersMart competition Unit 1 40 Stockhill road greengates Bradford BD10 9aX

or email: [email protected]

coMpetition


contractorS gUiDe SUMMER 2010

Thomas Dirom

Tel: Tom on 07787 565298

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If you would like to be included in our Autumn 2010 Guide please contact Ben Walton on 01274 610101.

TEL: 07595 070 834 OR 01904 738 245

RICHARD BURNISTON & SONAGRICULTURAL CONTRACTORS & ENGINEERS

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Fax: 01759 372929Web: www.edwardstrailers.co.uk

www.edwardstrailers.co.uk

email sales.marr@ farmstar.co.uk

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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

Documents

FarmersMart - Summer 2010