WHAT started out simply as a desire for the family farm to be smart and well-presented , the way he ’ d seen some of his agricultural college colleagues ’ farms years ago , has seen Mark Downing develop a mix of business at Whincover Farm at Wath-upon-Dearne .

Today , his farming enterprise runs to 300 acres growing arable crops and grass over two farms with Whincover running to 160 acres and Chestnut Farm eight miles away at Sprotbrough being 140 acres .

Last year he was nominated for Arable Innovator of the Year in the British Farming Awards 2020 , but it is the additional mix of DIY livery stables , South Yorkshire Haylage Co providing for the equine market , Event Bales for hire and sports pitch renovation that has all emanated from that initial desire .

‘ Studying for a national certificate in farm management at Bishop Burton with just a handful of other lads on the course led by Colin Dennis was a brilliant grounding ,’ says Mark . ‘ We worked on the farm and got involved with many projects the farm was undertaking . It was a great

set of lads who have remained good friends and I remember , when I visited their places , how tidy they all seemed in comparison to Whincover .’

‘ I decided I wanted our farm to have just as much attention to detail . At the time it was storing a lot of junk , particularly in what had been the old stables that had housed my great grandfather ’ s Shire horses . In all honesty the only time we used them was when calving a cow away from the rest of the herd .’

Ironically their initial usage as stables became their new usage .

‘ Step by step I have changed what were the old stables and cattle buildings into today ’ s Whincover Farm Livery Stables that includes tack room facilities , a floodlit menage and plenty of

grazing . We ’ re now British Horse Society approved , which means we have to meet all sorts of criteria including risk assessments and protocols . It ’ s a major positive for us and they have been absolutely brilliant during the pandemic .’

Working more closely with the equine community then also brought about the move into haylage as another business strand .

‘ Dad and I had worked together for years , but over the past 10-15 I ’ ve run the job . We used to make a lot of small bales of hay and straw and my summers , as a kid , revolved around stacking them . I now run South Yorkshire Haylage Co which is all about supplying the equine market with quality bales whether for our clients at the livery or delivering all round South Yorkshire .’

Event Bales came about as another strand when Mark was approached to supply bales for spectators to sit on at Wentworth Woodhouse , which again probably wouldn ’ t have come along if he hadn ’ t started with smartening up the farm , which in turn led to the equine involvement .

‘ It has all built from there ,’ says Mark . ‘ We now receive regular enquiries , when not under Covid restrictions , and have expanded our range of hire to include picnic benches and trestle tables . We have supplied for weddings , festivals , country and western evenings , TV & Film sets , endurance races .’

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