The Farmers Mart Dec/Jan 2016 - Issue 43 | Page 55

Stepney Hill Farm
butchers and an apprentice
and has two part-timers on
Saturdays.
The livestock enterprise at
Stepney Hill Farm is a work in
progress that Ashley sees as
part of a 10-year plan.
“We currently have 120
breeding ewes comprised of
Wiltshire Horns, a hardy breed
that sheds its own wool; plus
Mules and Swaledales. We put
the Texel tup to the Mules. All
of our lambs go through the
butcher’s shops. We’re a long
way off being self-sufficient
though and still have to buy
lambs from other local farms. It’s
the same story with the pigs and
cattle but we are working on it.
AIMING FOR SELFSUFFICIENCY
‘It’s going to be another 10
years before we become selfsufficient in all our needs and to
achieve that, I need the sheep
flock up to 300 ewes and a
herd of up to 100 suckler cows,
while the pigs also need building
up. We are moving away from
Shorthorns and have started on
the Stabiliser breed. We need to
supply our shops with two and
a half beasts a week. At present
we’re buying from local supplier
Chris Beal of Yedingham through
Malton livestock market and
others. We use Chris Hodgson’s
CH Meats slaughterhouse in
Sutton on the Forest. Our pigs
are Mangalitsa and Kune Kune.
We ha