The Farmers Mart Feb/Mar 2016 - Issue 44 | Page 42

Bayview Farm

Beef & bees
mean sweet
success at
Bayview!
»»BEEF AND BEES ARE A
somewhat unusual combination
but one that is working
very well for father and son
partnership, Dennis and David
Hanson of Bayview Farm,
Flixton, near Scarborough
in North Yorkshire and their
families.
Dennis is now semi-retired but
still enjoys some involvement
with the farm which they
acquired after buying land
around Flixton. They had a
smallholding in the area with
some cattle, pigs and sheep but
then later opted for Herefords
when they got the farm and the
grass they needed. Dennis is a
joiner by trade but his father was
a farmer with his two uncles, but
the farm was soldso although
he wanted that way of life, he
never got the chance to farm
there! He and wife Sue originally
ran various cafes then a pub,
and Sue now works at a local
restaurant and - as David says
“is still the driving force” behind
the family.

42 Feb/Mar 2016 www.farmers-mart.co.uk

David’s partner, Amy, is a staff
nurse at a local hospital and
the couple have a 19 month
old daughter, Lola, who not
surprisingly, takes up much of
what spare time they have!
Since 2007, when Herefords
were first introduced, the
farm built up a reputation for
breeding pedigree Hereford
cattle, supplying quality bulls
and heifers for replacements to
other farms. David is a trained
butcher who for nine years
ran his own shop in nearby
Hunmanby, as well as running
a some commercial cattle and
a small suckler herd for the
shop; so he is well aware of
the superiority of Herefords
which produce top quality beef
naturally from grass - of which
there is a plentiful supply at
Bayview Farm. This results
in naturally marbled beef,
succulent and full of flavour
which is why these cattle are
always in demand. In 2015, they
sold 80 percent of their bulls as
stock bulls much of it to award-