The Farmers Mart Aug-Sep 2021 - Issue 76 | Page 44

around 12-13 months . Our heifer calves run out to grass until about 18 months and if we have shed space I will fatten them , or sell as stores .’

James wasn ’ t the greatest lover of sheep on the farm when he came home from university and says he was dead against them when he came back .

‘ We now have 150 breeding ewes with 100 being Lleyns and the rest Mules . We were looking for an easy lambing ewe able to lamb outside and the Lleyns have done well . They are a meaty sheep , and they are also hardy and can go up the hill . They are prolific and lamb easily . We put 50 of them to the Texel .’

‘ What we are trying to do is to produce everything off grass or as near to that as possible . That way we will improve our own carbon sequestration . We are also looking at going into herbal leys to further improve our biodiversity .’

‘ We also keep bees . I brought a hive back with me from a farm I was working on in Northamptonshire . We now have six hives and make our own honey that mum uses in the B & B .’

James talks of his pride in the ways he and his father have embraced regenerative farming and how they are working as a team .

‘ I really feel that what we are doing is something really good . I find regenerative farming really stimulating and I am enjoying being at the forefront of information about the way forward for farming through my roles with the NFU , through Future Farmers of Yorkshire and through meeting with others .’

‘ Regenerative farming as a topic and as a business is fuelling my passion . We saw a change with three months of adopting it . To see spiders , insects and wildlife all flourishing through what you have done and the sheep enjoying feeding off wildflowers as though it is an all you can eat buffet is hugely inspiring .’

‘ It makes you think that you are not just providing quality feed for your sheep , but that you are also doing a really good job of reconstructing the soil . Every time I have been in the fields to see that , I can ’ t help but smile . That ’ s how it should be . We can all do this .’