56 GARROWBY FARM DEC / JAN 2024 • farmers-mart . co . uk
56 GARROWBY FARM DEC / JAN 2024 • farmers-mart . co . uk
Garrowby Shipley
Clive tells of some of the seminal moments he has had as the herd has grown in prowess and the bulls that have made a big difference .
“ We bought Glenrock Ventura , which had been a 24,000 guineas bull . I bought him secondhand for a fraction of that , to go on our commercial cows . He was the bull that really set our herd off and will always be remembered . Our logo for the herd is based around his silhouette .
“ We have had another legend , a bull called Plumtree Fantastic , who earned an absolute fortune in semen sales and lived until the ripe old age of 14 . He was a legend throughout the Limousin world and an influential bull throughout our herd .
“ I bought Grahams Rooney from Scotland a couple of years ago for 28,000 guineas to add size and length to our females . In May last year I bought a shapelier , thicker set Welsh bull Blaencwm Sam for 32,000 guineas . He ’ s been to Scawfell near Sellafield where they have a semen stud , to have semen taken off to sell to others . I ’ ve got him back now and have used him this autumn on the Rooney females .
The Garrowby Limousins also made a triumphant return to the agricultural show season last year .
“ I enjoy showing cattle and we returned to the Great Yorkshire Show taking two Rooney heifers , picking up 3rd and 4th in their classes . We ’ ve just had one heifer going to the Red Ladies Show and Sale in December .
Blaencwm Sam
“ We picked up 4 breed championships and an Interbreed championship in the summer with Garrowby Toffee . She was the first Rooney heifer to be available for sale at 18 months old and was Limousin breed champion at Driffield , Wensleydale , Reeth & Malton , where she also won interbreed .
Clive says that the arable operation across 160 acres at Garrowby is now managed by neighbouring farmers Adam Stones and Jimmy Nightingale .
“ We are going down a more regenerative farming route . Adam and Jimmy have a mixture of farming equipment between them and we pay them for what is effectively a stubble-to-stubble contract .
The arable enterprise is rotated across the farm with productive herbal leys , and our crops are predominantly wheat and barley .
“ We have our own grain store so we can market the grain ourselves , but everything from cultivation to harvest is done by Adam and Jimmy . We tend to use grass as a break crop between cereals . The barley we grow is sold to a feed merchant and comes back as a complete blend for cattle .
Clive says the sheep operation is still an important part of the farming operation . “ We have 700 breeding ewes . It ’ s a commercial flock with us tending more towards the Mule for ease of management . They are all put to Texel and Texel X Beltex tups .
“ Lambing starts at the end of March , beginning of April . We take on additional help in spring . We have Scotch Mules & North Of England Mules , based on the markets we buy out of . We sell onethird fat , two-thirds stores , with around 180-200 Texel X Mule gimmer lambs sold to return customers . What we don ’ t get as
Grahams Rooney
fat generally go as stores through Malton and York .
Clive is still looking for even further improved consistency of quality in the Garrowby Limousins herd in future .
“ Hopefully the new bulls we ’ ve introduced to the herd will click and continue to point the herd in the right direction . There ’ s luck involved as well as the planning , but I ’ m a firm believer in using natural bulling to get more consistency through herd than lots of AI bulls .
It seems to work for this herd . We do a bit of AI with heifers and embryo work , but we primarily use stock bulls we ’ ve purchased .
“ Another side that is now quite a big part of our income is the semen sales that you can get from having good quality , well respected bulls .
Lord Irwin is the owner / occupier of Garrowby Farm and employs Clive as Farm Manager .
If you would like to know more about Garrowby Limousins visit : https :// www . garrowbylimousins . co . uk /
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