The Farmers Mart Dec-Jan 2020 - Issue 66 | Page 10

10 BENTLEY GRANGE FARM DEC/JAN 2020 • farmers-mart.co.uk PROGRESSIVE DIVERSIFICATION BEARS FRUIT Bentley Grange Farm, Emley, near Huddersfield, is home to a thriving Pick Your Own Fruit business with strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants and gooseberries, alongside the very successful Bentley Grange Feeds which sells a large range of pet food, animal feeds, bedding and accessories. BENTLEY Grange Farm has been farmed by the Moorhouse family for more than 100 years. Originally the farm was 120 acres with a mixture of arable, pigs and poultry. Farming has always been hard work and none more so when Chris’s father Mike, along with his brothers Brian and Paul, ran the farm and had to feed and support three families from a relatively small acreage. These days, diver- sification is one of the keyways for farmers to generate extra income and protect ever changing finances which can be a great source of stress and worry. The Moorhouse family were certainly at the forefront of diversifi- cation, as way back in the 1970’s Chris’s father and his brothers decided to get in early on what was becoming very popular - “Pick Your Own” fruit. Pick your own strawberries was highly popularised by Ted Moult in 1981 (he of later “Everest” fame!) - bet you didn’t know that. Very quickly the Moorhouse family signifi- cantly reduced the arable further and further as the fruit simply generated a much better return. Up to the 80’s, pigs were bought in as weaners and sold at bacon weight, the bacon market being continually volatile made revenues hard to predict and rely on, and also the poultry side was moving much more towards the larger units to sustain good revenues. So once again the Moorhouse brothers began to look at something else that could perhaps produce more sustained revenue. This time they came up with the idea of manufacturing animal feed and dog food. As with the fruit they started small and with hard work and continual development the business grew and grew. This meant they could get rid of the pig side of the business and also, later, the poultry as well. Bentley Grange, through careful thought, hard work and slow progression, had now developed a sustain- able business with the animal and pet food side generating good revenues which was vital when the fruit was not in season. In the meantime young Chris came straight into the farm to work after leaving school at 16, as back then you couldn’t go to college until you were 18. Chris actually found this immensely beneficial as he therefore had two years’ hands-on expe- rience before going to Bishop Burton College. Chris returned from college to resume work on the farm and develop his working knowledge and expertise, as sooner or later his father and uncles would be retiring. Sure enough, in 2008 that day came and whereas Chris’s father’s share was handed down in true tradi- tion, Chris had to buy his uncles out. Not being big borrowers, the decision was made to sell all but 25 acres of the farm’s land to help fund this. Once this milestone was passed, Chris settled into taking on the management of the business full time, although his father has always been available for help and advice. Following the fami- ly’s tradition, Chris has continued to develop the business in a steady and measured fashion. Sovereign Agricultural Services Ltd Sovereign have the complete VALTRA range backed up by first class service Full range of parts and accessories available Contact us for a test drive and to discuss your requirements Call 01484 603682 Proud suppliers of machinery to Chris Moorhouse Woolrow Lane, Shelley, Huddersfield, HD8 8LW Main Dealer for West & South Yorkshire | email: [email protected]