The Farmers Mart Dec/Jan 2014 - Issue 31 | Page 20

BRIAN & ROGER PEACOCK

Supplying quality makes
these Peacocks proud
Chris Berry talks with Brian & Roger
Peacock at Leake Hall.
Every winter without fail
there is an exodus of straw
from the east of England to
the west. Liveried wagons
carrying bales stacked
high make their way, often
gingerly when snow and
ice take a hold, on the A66
across to Cumbria and
beyond.
Peacocks of Thirsk are one
of the many family companies
that has been hauling straw
across country for years, but
that is not their only business
that gets them noticed further
afield than their base at
Leake Hall, Knayton in North
Yorkshire.

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They also specialise in horse
haylage and while they have
a heavy concentration of
customers within a 40-mile
radius of the farm, they have
also developed customer
bases in Newmarket, Scotland,
Ireland and Holland.
Agricultural contracting adds
a further string to their bow,
particularly in the world of
baling. They presently have
six balers – five square balers
and one round, but even that
is not everything that they do.
They have also made a name
for themselves in selling croppackaging products such as
balewrap, netwrap and twine.

THIRD GENERATION
AT LEAKE HALL
And then there’s the farm
itself. They fatten cattle and
sheep and grow grass in the
main, but also cereals for
feed and fodder beet. Arable
expert, Darren Moore of
Target Farm Inputs regularly
walks their crops. He advises
on keeping weeds and
diseases away and in so
doing contributes to crop
quality.
Brian Peacock is the third
generation to have farmed
at Leake Hall since his
grandfather Eddie moved
here around 70 years ago. His

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