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“ I like building on what we have already and upping our game . We have bought better tups . We manage our own replacements and we will buy in 20 Mules each year . We ’ ve certainly been improving our livestock markedly over the past decade .
Tom says the cattle enterprise is another area where improvements have been and continue to be made .
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“ We used to have dairy cows many years ago but when dad came back from university , also Newcastle , he and my granddad decided to go out of dairy . That ’ s when we went sheep and sucklers .
“ Our herd is made up of Limousin X and British Blue X cows that calve during April and May . I want easy calving , easy births . All our calves are generally sold as stores through
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Skipton at around 500-600 kilos with some heifers sold privately . Our bull calves generally go at around 11 months , freeing up shed space . The heifers will go at around 16-17 months .
“ We sometimes sell heifers to neighbouring farms in the dale . It ’ s nice to think we have produced breeding heifers that then perform well for others .
“ Everything produced by our cows is sold . We don ’ t produce
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our own replacements , so we will buy-in new cows and heifers either through the livestock market or British Blue X from my fiancée Aimee ’ s farm .
“ It is all natural bulling , no AI , through our own bull . We produce what I feel is something for everyone , including some nice flashy ones .
Natural cattle manure and sometimes a sprinkling of fertiliser is all that the Carlisles use on their grass .
“ We make our own silage , but only one cut . It ’ s usually enough for the winter and we buy in straw from East Yorkshire . We cake the lambs to get that finish on them and all of our young stock of cattle gets caked once a day .
“ This time of year we have big straw pens inside . The suckler herd is in cubicles that are scraped daily .
The most recent addition to the farm has been a diversification into holiday accommodation via glamping pods . Tom tells of how it came about as they now have two that have been up and running since last summer .
“ It was initially my idea and Aimee has been an amazing
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help . It came about one night when I was knackered during the middle of lambing and I sat and watched a bit of TV . Going out of the EU I just thought we needed something else for additional income with the single payment about to go .
“ I visited other farms that had diversified , other glamping sites and decided on very high quality pods . It was tricky getting planning through being in the Yorkshire Dales National Park but we are really happy with how it has gone and we are looking forward to our first full season this year .
Coxons is in Mid Tier Stewardship and Tom says they are involved as such in ground nesting bird schemes and drystone walling replacements .
The Young Farmers Clubs movement has been and continues to be a big part of Tom and Aimee ’ s lives . Tom is a leader of Upper Wharfedale YFC and Aimee is involved with Coniston Cold YFC .
“ Aimee is from Hellifield where she farms in partnership with her dad , Gordon Beresford where they have cattle and sheep also .
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