The Farmers Mart Apr-May 2020 - Issue 68 | Page 40

40 BEECH HOUSE FARM
APR/MAY 2020 • farmers-mart.co.uk
SHEARWELL POINTS
ALASTAIR’S SHEEP FARMING
IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Chris Berry talks with Alastair Jenkinson at Beech House Farm
JUST over ten years ago Alastair
Jenkinson made the decision to leave
behind a life of logistics for a life of, well,
logistics but this time not of the road
haulage variety but sheep farming at
Langbar, high up over Ilkley.
The catalyst was the sad passing away
of his father-in-law Stan Gray who had
farmed at Beech House Farm with his
wife Susan for many years. They had
been dairy farmers up until the foot and
mouth disease year of 2001 with a herd
of pedigree Ayrshire cows, and they
had switched to restocking with suckler
cows.
‘I had always enjoyed helping out
with tractor work when I was at home
at Sundays,’ says Alastair. ‘The rest of
the week, six days a week, I would leave
here at 6am and not get back until 8pm. I
wanted to spend more time with my wife
Julie and our children Rebecca (now 23)
and Stephanie (21). I’d wanted a change in
direction.’
‘I now farm it with Julie and Susan
and from starting with a few sheep we
have built it up to a flock of 650 breeding
ewes with currently 125 Swaledales, 225
Mules and the rest as Texel X. We’re now
putting a Beltex on to them to create a
better lamb with a better carcase and
an improved product to sell at Skipton
livestock market.’
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‘I’m a firm believer in supporting local
livestock markets and Ted Ogden at
Skipton has been equally very supportive
of what we have done with help and
advice. I’ve also had great support from
Andrew Atkinson, one of the mart’s main
buyers, on lamb conformation.’
‘I might not have come from years of
being a farmer or having grown up on a
farm, but I learn very fast, I’m not averse
to changing things as I go, I read a lot
and gather in as much knowledge as
possible.’
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Alastair is now at the
stage, a decade on
from having devoted
himself to the farm and
the growth of his flock,
whereby others are
starting to take notice
of what he’s doing. He
embraces technology and
now others are seeking him
out to ask his advice.
‘I’m very IT-based and I know
how much new technology can
help any business. I like statistics and
records and everything we do here is
electronically recorded.’
‘Shearwell Data does it all. It keeps all
my weighing data, treatments, move-
ments, liveweight gains, lambing, dam
and sire history. It’s a very powerful
piece of kit and goes with me wherever I
go on the farm. My records offer com-
plete traceability.’
‘There is a new generation today who
now know this is the right way forward,
but there are still some of the older
generations who I think are a little bit
frightened by it. Anybody who wants
to come and have a look at my records
will find they are right up to date. I take
my Shearwell data handheld on my
quad bike, I
can literally do whatever treatment and
record it straight on giving exactly the
dosage. There’s no scribbling of notes
and wondering where that bit of paper
has gone if you had to do it later.’
‘Because I’ve not farmed all my life I’m
not in the same position as those that
have but information technology helps
immensely. I weigh lambs on a regular
basis and that means this Shearwell data
alerts me when something is wrong such
as when there may be a loss in weight.
By informing me I can then look and see
what is wrong. It also means I can selec-
tively worm the sheep, so that’s another
cost saving.’