IT ’ S a real family effort at Walton Lodge Farm next to the old Roman road of Rudgate that runs to one side of the farm .

This is where Richard Danforth and his two sons James and Ben farm 550 acres with a herd of 170 dairy cows , a beef enterprise , arable crops and an award-winning sheep set-up that has seen James on the sheep showing scene with his pedigree Charollais since 2017 .

James says his liking for showing comes from his grandfather Jack known as Ronnie from his mum Joanne ’ s side . Ronnie was herdsman for

dairy farmer Frank Abbey who was well-known for his showing prowess .

“ That ’ s where my passion comes from , as well as from my granddad Barry on dad ’ s side . I started with sheep in 2014 . It was me who brought them on the farm .

“ There was an opportunity for them to follow the dairy cows to utilise the grass that the cows leave behind as they are very good at cleaning up pastures and making a more dense sward .

“ I started with some Lleyn ewes , but when I went to look at Lleyn tups I didn ’ t like the shape

of them and someone suggested Charollais tups .

“ I bought a few pedigree Charollais ewes in October 2014 putting a Texel tup to them for the first year . The following year I found a Charollais tup I liked and had my first pedigree Charollais lambs registered in 2016 .

“ I started showing them at Tockwith Show in 2017 , had reserve champion and that was it . I ’ d got the bug .

James has since won the interbreed title at Otley Show in 2019 ; and last year was his best yet with reserve female breed champion , as well as several other highly placed sheep on his debut at the Great Yorkshire Show , followed by breed and interbreed champion at Masham Sheep Fair with the same ewe Vanessa that had done so well at Harrogate

“ I want to breed an animal that has style but also has correctness , carcase quantity , tight skin , length , width , a good depth for jigots and Vanessa is the ideal sheep .

“ She is structurally correct , had the carcase quantity I want , but also has style and personality . It ’ s hard to find that balance of everything and I ’ m not saying

she ’ s perfect but she ’ s the best I ’ ve bred so far . She was one of my first embryo lambs .

James says that flushing and utilising embryos is something he has now done for three years .

“ It has been a way forward for me . There ’ s a lot of risk involved and money . The embryos need to hold , but when you get something special like Vanessa it is all worthwhile .

“ I bought a shearling ewe and flushed her last July and she gave 21 eggs and 19 held . They are by Golden Promise out of Knocking Shocking . There ’ s big potential in embryos .

James says that his Lodgehill flock is by no means all made up of embryo sheep .

“ I currently have 35 Charollais ewes and 20 Lleyns . The Lleyns are also pedigree but their main purpose is now to produce Charollais lambs from embryos put into them . The Lleyns are fantastic mothers . They hold the lambs well , their maternal instincts are fabulous for rearing lambs and as they are smaller sheep they take up less space . They are very underrated for the job they are designed to do , but they are phenomenal at it .

Continued on page 54