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2023 . The downside being you can only have a specified number of animals per hectare and you are not allowed to put fertiliser on some of the land . However , there has also been a massive upside in that the land has naturally regenerated and in so doing attracted a lot of wildlife including snipes , curlews and lapwings . The money from the scheme has meant they have been able to modernise old byres and erect new sheds , plant new
Humbleton Park , Darlington , Co Durham , DL2 2XX
Tel : 01325 464529 Fax : 01325 384282
AUCTIONEER , LIVESTOCK AGENTS & VALUERS
Agricultural , Tax & Compensation Claim Valuations Undertaken
Every Monday - Weekly Sales of Store Cattle & Sheep Monday Night - 6pm - Prime Sheep Sale ( Green Licence ) Every Thursday - Weekly Sales of Prime Cattle & Sheep
Scott Ferrie ( Storestock Manager / Director ) scott @ dfam . co . uk 07557 260 653
Paul Gentry ( Primestock Manager / Director ) paul @ dfam . co . uk 07940 330907
Wishing Judith & Helen Donald of Gibbs Neese Farm continued success
E : info @ dfam . co . uk | www . dfam . co . uk
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hedges , erect new fences and repair walls , plus Judith and Helen can ’ t remember the number of gates they have replaced and widened . Concreting of the yards is under way with still a fair way to go and they are building a cattle crush area to aid with scanning . One sure sign that Gibbs Neese is now bang up to date is the plethora of CCTV cameras around the farm , due to the fact that even all the way up here they have sadly had two quads stolen . They have had to replace them as they are invaluable for not only getting about but are also much better for the land than tractors .
Both Judith and Helen are very environmentally friendly , some of the hedges were put in as part of a stewardship scheme , there has also always been a footpath across the land which they have maintained . In general people respect both this and the land , however during the current crisis , even all the way up here , there have been issues with people leaving gates open and littering , there has been 3 cases of dogs attacking sheep in the last
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twelve years which sadly is getting to be too common occurrence , which is so frustrating given the hard work that has gone into the farm to maintain and upgrade the land .
What came across to me , talking to Judith and Helen , was that they have a common vision of exactly what they want and nothing and no one will stand in their way of making it happen .
Judith did say with a wry smile that she definitely will retire at the right time and hand over to Helen .
In the meantime , they have their programme of refurbishment and
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development . Although the land is now established , Helen continues to do soil sampling to keep improving the fields .
They still have Swaledales and mules as well as Leicesters and Texels . Helen has developed a closed pedigree flock of Blue Faced Leicesters – only buying in rams . You can see a very proud Helen in the photograph with her home bred Blue Faced Leicester gimmer lamb that won at Weardale Show . She has also had success at Masham Sheep Fair .
The suckler herd is now complemented with a Limousin bull and Limousin cross and Belgian Blue cross cows . The herd is currently BVD monitored they joined a scheme with castle veterinary surgeons who test a percentage of the sucklers calves each year , all heifers joining the herd are also tested . Cattle are sold from 10 to 18 months at Barnard Castle Auction Mart where Helen works part time and most of the lambs go to deadweight to
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