The Farmers Mart Autumn 2017 - Issue 52 | Page 10

Ainsty Farm Shop Abattoir & Meat Wholesalers We supply high quality beef, pork and lamb through an efficient distribution service where standards are second to none. We sell a range of fresh meats prepared in modern hygienic premises to customer requirements. Call us on 01904 728 246 www.atravesandson.co.uk Abattoir & Meat Wholesalers, 95 Main Street, Escrick, York, YO19 6TP 66312 - K E Bland - 8TH.pdf 1 19/09/2017 14:36:36 C M Y CM MY CY K E Bland Fruit and Potato Merchant (Est. for 55 Years) Supplier of quality Fruit and Potatoes to Fish and Chip shops, Caterers and Shops Proud supplier to Stuart & Lily Beaton of Ainsty Farm Shop CMY K Telephone 01765603049 - Fax 01765690837 K E Bland, Unit 1, Canal Side, Dallamires Lane, Ripon, North Yorkshire, HG4 1TT 10 Autumn 2017 www.farmers-mart.co.uk and about the farms and the farmers. We hang our beef for four to five weeks and we are in the Q Guild of butchers.’ Suffolk X Mules have been Stuart’s preferred option on lamb and they have a flock of 40 ewes lambing in March and April, but the numbers may change given Laura’s Wensleydales and an increasing belief in their crossing ability for lamb borne out by recent results. ‘We’ve been using a few of Laura’s and we purchase lamb locally too, we’ve just taken on Hampshire Downs in the past few weeks but Laura’s are going so well that we may increase the Wensleydale numbers and bring down the Suffolk X Mules a little.’ Laura started with Wensleydales after asking (Stuarts calls it nattering!) if she could have some as she’d seen a poster of them when she was just 10 years old. Stuart acted as chauffeur while Laura bought two ewes from show breeder, Mark Elliott of Ferrensby in 2012 and Laura was on her way. She now has 15 Wensleydales and buys her own tups. She bought Princethorpe Knockout from Graham and Lynne Calder in Rugby and has been showing the shearlings by him this year. Last year she bought a tup lamb from Nick Oliver and this year from Ernie Sherwin. This year’s show season has been young Laura’s best yet. ‘I’ve had my first breed champion and a reserve interbreed champion. That was really exciting,’ she says. ‘Last year I put one of my ewes to a Charollais X Beltex tup and had a really good crossbred lamb. We killed it out at 12 weeks and it tasted great, we had some for our tea! ‘I want to be a farmer when I’m older. I really like cattle