72 GARFIELD HOUSE FARM AUG / SEP 2021 • farmers-mart . co . uk
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John uses contractors for mowing , rowing up and baling and has two farm staff who handle the tedding , carting , wrapping and stacking of his silage crop .
He ’ s a first generation farmer from Sheffield , the son of a steelworker , and tells of his start in farming .
‘ I ’ d always liked animals and growing things . I had an allotment when I was 15 and a greenhouse where I grew tomatoes and chrysanthemums . I ’ d not been on a farm at all until I went hiking and camping in Foolow near Eyam in Derbyshire .’
‘ I got a summer job with dairy and sheep farmer Robert Purseglove on his farm where we had stayed and began milking his Ayrshires in the byre .’
John left school and worked for the customary number of months on farms in Derbyshire and in Berkshire before attending Harper Adams to study his NDA , which he looks back on with great fondness .
‘ They were the best two years of my life learning what I wanted to learn and meeting loads of wonderful people .’
John ’ s elder sister moved to Derbyshire with her husband and took on a small farm of 23 acres that started John on his farming ladder .
‘ I built up my stock on the farm . I had a herd of 20 breeding sows producing weaners , bought calves out of Bakewell market that I reared as stores , and a
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Proud suppliers to John Key of Garfield House Farm , wishing him continued success
Moor Lane , Full Sutton , York , YO41 1HX Tel : 01759 373062 / 01759 368563 ( evening ) Fax : 01759 372929
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