The Farmers Mart Dec-Jan 2020 - Issue 66 | Page 48

48 GLEBE FARM DEC / JAN 2020 • farmers-mart . co . uk

FAMILY WITH THEIR FEET FIRMLY IN TWO RIDINGS

CHRIS Berry talks with the Kemps of Horsforth and Barton le Street .

Beef cattle , winter wheat , spring barley , beans , turkeys , pumpkins , strawberries , raspberries and Christmas trees – if it moves or if it doesn ’ t the Kemp family will find some way of growing it and trading it .

Rory Kemp grew up at Springfield Farm , Horsforth in the West Riding where his father became a tenant farmer around 1953 before purchasing Springfield in 1976 . Today Rory lives in the North Riding at Glebe Farm in the serenely idyllic rustic village of Barton le Street as well as retaining Springfield . Across the two locations he now farms around 1100 acres with 790 owned .

It ’ s very much a whole family enterprise with Rory , sons Joe ( 26 ) and Will ( 23 ) and his wife Diane all taking active roles .

‘ My father David wanted to be a dairy farmer and it was his father , my grandfather Joe who got him the tenancy . Joe was a first generation farmer who through his poultry business owned a company called Yorkshire Egg Producers in Drighlington . My dad started with 60 acres and finished up with 257 acres of which 167 were rented .’

‘ I went to Askham Bryan College and when I left there I answered an advertisement to work as a harvest student for Gerry Abbey who farmed at Glebe Farm where we are today . My father had gone from 32 cows to 84 by 1991 when he retired and we had grown to 125 Holstein Friesians by 1995 , but it was difficult farming on the urban fringe for quite a number of reasons , so I went looking for another farm . By chance I bumped into my ex-employer Gerry .’

‘ I had always been a dairy farmer up until then and the initial idea of moving farms was to take the cows to another farm . I asked Gerry ’ s advice .’

The upshot was that Rory came out of dairy farming , collecting his last milk cheque in May 1996 , and bought Glebe Farm , a bigger operation than he had originally had in mind .

‘ We would have needed serious investment in a new parlour if the herd had stayed where we were or if we had moved them here , but this is first and foremost an arable farm . I had paid 68p for milk quota and I had made it known if it was ever worth it again I would sell it and I did . It was the milk quota value along with the sale of the herd that gave us the chance to buy Glebe .’

‘ We had started a PYO at Horsforth in 1984 that was going quite well and continues to this day with just strawberries and raspberries now , but at one time we were growing lots of soft fruits . I left 30 suckler cows that my father looked after at Horsforth and converted some of the now redundant dairy buildings into a livery yard .’

R COVERDALE & SONS

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Proud Hauliers to Rory Kemp & Family

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Wishing Rory & family continued success for many years to come .

‘ THE MASSEY FERGUSON DEALERSHIP FOR YORKSHIRE & THE NORTH EAST ’

SAM JEFFREY

FODDER BEET SERVICES

Specialising in fodder beet & sugar beet , grass cutting , grass tedding , raking , baling , harvesting , planting & sales .

Proud to be working with Rory Kemp

Trading Hay & Straw for 20 Years

Tel : [phone] | Mob : [phone] Email : info @ coverdales . co . uk

Franks Curtis Ltd , Beansheaf Ind Park , Kirby Misperton , Malton , N . Yorkshire , YO17 6BG

📞📞07949 293432 | Malton , N . Yorkshire samjeffreyfodderbeet @ hotmail . com