The Farmers Mart Dec/Jan 2016 - Issue 43 | Page 25

Great Newsome Farm barley this spring. It’s all fitting in nicely with the brewery as it means their own malt is used in their beers. “We’ve grown decent quality malting barley for three successive years now. It needs fewer inputs to grow than winter barley so we’ve reduced our winter barley acreage and are getting yields of around 3.5 tonnes per acre, so it’s been a real no-brainer. We also grow seed wheat – Istabraq – for Limagrain; and our oilseed rape varieties are Anastasia, Nikita and Artogo. We did just over two tonnes per acre of it last year.” UTILISING TODAY’S TECHNOLOGY The Hodgsons are also careful where they apply nitrogen and both use soil and satellite mapping as well as precision farming techniques to ensure they are doing the job right. “Gone are the days when you can plaster your land with any amount of fertiliser and pig slurry,’ said Jonathan. Laurence recalled that the farm ran to just 230 acres when his grandmother, Ida Mary Hodgson bought it. “My father, Cec bought a bit more acreage and then Doreen and I had the chance to buy a farm at Halsham that ran to 170 acres taking us to 500. We had horses, sheep, pigs and cattle at one time but the only livestock left on the farm today are pigs that we keep on a bed and breakfast basis for Easey’s in Ipswich. It’s only in the past 10 years that we have extended our acreage to 720.” Matthew runs the brewery with Jonathan and Laurence working on the farm side. They have a stockman (Carl) and a young man (Tim) who helps out during summer and part of winter. They also undertake some contracting for a farming neighbour. Great Newsome Brewery is now an expanding employer in the area with three ladies in the office including Doreen, Matthew’s wife Donna, and another lady called Rachel. There are four other members of the team namely: head brewer Nick Hopper, who started as a van driver; assistant brewer, Shaun McKinley who was a taxi driver in Patrington; ex-military man Nick Broadhurst; and Roger Williams, who lives in Hornsea but comes from Barnsley - and who the Hodgsons still struggle to understand! Matthew smiled: “He’s a right character but it’s taken us a while to work out what he says he and Nick are both great story tellers!” Interestingly, the Hodgsons now report that the turnover from the brewery is close to eclipsing the turnover from the farm - quite an achievement in just eight busy years! Great Newsome Farm, South Frodingham, Winestead, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, HU12 0NR Tel: 01964 612201 www.farmers-mart.co.uk Dec/Jan 2016 25