50 WRAY HOUSE & RISE CARR FARM FEB / MAR 2023 • farmers-mart . co . uk
ARABLE AND BEEF FARM FINDS NEW WAYS OF MAKING THINGS WORK
Chris Berry talks with Lucinda Douglas about farming at Marishes & being CLA North Regional Director
BEEF cattle , arable cropping , an anaerobic digester , a wind turbine and stewardship make up the farming enterprise across Wray House Farm and Rise Carr Farm in Marishes near Pickering where the Douglas family owns 700 acres and in total , with additional contract farming arrangements , they farm 1200 acres .
Brothers John and Will Douglas and their father Michael ( Mick ) all play their part in the farm ’ s success . John manages the day-to-day farming activities while Will wears two hats , one being his farming role alongside his brother and the other as a land agent with Savills , which in turn sees him involved on the legislative side on the farm .
Mick is responsible for the cattle buying , particularly as a regular around the northern livestock markets , purchasing store cattle that sees the Vale of Pickering-based farming business with between 700-900 cattle on the farm at any one time and around 3000 taken to finishing each year .
The farm employs three additional staff .
CLA North Regional Director Lucinda Douglas has farmed all her life and is Will ’ s wife . The couple met at Harper Adams .
“ We were on the same course and in the same year . It was a 4-year degree course in estate and land management and when we graduated in 2008 I came and joined Will back at the farm here in Marishes . We were married in 2012 , the wettest year on record back at my family home where my parents farm in Wensleydale .
“ The cattle are a real mixture and Mick buys
from various markets ”
While Lucinda ’ s role with CLA North today is extremely time consuming she also still finds the time to help out on her parents ’ sheep farm , which saw her starting the day on the farm one morning back in October last year before setting off for a Rural Conference I saw her speaking at by 9.30 that morning in Harrogate .
Lucinda ’ s career has included working for land agents Lister Haigh and Smiths Gore , where she worked in estate management for three and a half years including managing private clients , institutional land owners , government property . She then worked with the NFU for 8 and a half years , initially as a county adviser and the lion ’ s share as group secretary and insurance agent for NFU Mutual at Scarborough with two business partners .
Lucinda says that the farming undertaken by John and Will at Marishes is constantly evolving through new technologies , new ideas , cost saving models , greater maximisation of output and environmental land management .
“ John and Will have productive arable land and they aim to produce crops as efficiently as possible , but they ’ re not just reliant on arable cropping , because the cattle also play an important role .
“ Generally speaking the cattle that Mick buys are bought at 15-18 months and will be on here for anything up to 3-4 months . It all depends on their size when they are bought and when they ready , that is usually around 20-22 months . The cattle are a real mixture and Mick buys from various markets in the north and north east and Scotland . He is also a great supporter of Malton livestock market over the eventual move that has been on the cards for quite a few years .
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