The Farmers Mart Feb/Mar 2016 - Issue 44 | Page 58

Beacon Farm

The people who have made
everything possible for Paul to
farm and whom he looks up
to most are his grandparents,
Maurice and Joan. They
brought Paul up from him being
just six weeks old.
Paul farms alongside Maurice
who moved from Barton-leWillows in 1974. Maurice had
farmed with his father since
leaving school and has been
a dairy farmer since 1955. He
recalls buying his first cows for
£70 a piece at York livestock
market when it was based in
the town. He increased his herd
to 28 cows with milk going to
Northern Dairies in cans before
buying Beacon Farm.
‘Father gave me a nice
lump sum of money because
I’d worked 17 years for him
for £1 a week and I bought
this place that ran to 158

acres at the time for £57,000.
I brought the cows with
me and increased the herd
further. The man who’d had
it before me had put in new
buildings, parlour and bulk
tank but hadn’t been able to
make it work. I had a cowman,
John Fullerton, working with
me who was one of the best
cowmen you could ever have.
He was only with me for
around four years before he
passed away suddenly while
putting his boots on to come
to work one morning. When
I took the phone call it broke
my heart. I had another lad
Richard Morgan after John’s
passing and then Julie, one
of our two daughters and
Paul’s aunt, worked here after
leaving school and has always
helped with the cows and with
milking.’

But dairying is becoming
a thing of the past at Beacon
Farm. When I visited at the turn
of the year there were just 15
dairy cows left.
‘I’ve been a dairy farmer
for 60 of my 77 years. I’m
no sheep man, that’s Paul’s
thing, and I’ve always got up
and milked starting at 6 every
morning with Julie doing the
afternoon milking. Meal times
have always been meal times
– breakfast at 8; dinner at 12;
tea at 6.’
‘Our milk went to Dairy
Farmers of Britain until 2008
but I gave my notice before
they announced they were
folding and went with Chestnut
Dairies near Hornsea. I went
from 17p per litre to 28p for
12 months with never a paper
through the yard that made a
difference.’

Cattle are still a part of what
today is a 250-acre owned
farming operation that also has
a further 70 acres rented and is
still home to Maurice and Joan.
There’s a 40-50 strong suckler
herd that includes around 15
pedigree Aberdeen Angus cows
that were bought from breeder
Elaine Keith of Seamer with
heifers kept as replacements.
Their bullocks sell well at Malton
livestock market. They also have
some Simmental X cows that
came about from when