The Farmers Mart Jun/Jul 2014 - Issue 34 | Page 32

WOOD FARM

Woman power
at Wood Farm
Chris Berry talks to Claire
Sherry & Helen Sellers at
Shipton-by-Beningborough.
www.woodfarmbedandbreakfast.co.uk

Pleased to be suppliers to Woodfarm and wish Claire and Helen continued success

GREAT DEALS ON THE PICK UP OF THE YEAR FROM THE DEALER OF THE YEAR 2013

32

Jun/Jul 2014 FarmersMart

You don’t find too many
mother-and-daughter
combinations running
farms, and even fewer that
keep a hands-on approach,
but that’s how things are
at the 300-acre Wood Farm
just outside Shipton-byBeningborough.
Claire Sherry and her mum,
Helen Sellers, grow winter and
spring barley, winter wheat,
oilseed rape and grass. They
also run a herd of 200 cattle
that they buy-in at three to four
months old and rear through
to strong stores at around 14
months. As if that isn’t enough,
they also run a successful bed
and breakfast establishment
with three double letting
rooms.
When you add into the mix
Claire’s two children, Oliver
(11) and Abigail (9), you begin
to understand the complexity
of what she has to juggle
in terms of hard work and
commitment on a daily basis;
but the smiles on both ladies’
faces tell you that there is no
shortage of fulfilment too.

It is, however, a pretty safe
bet that how they farm today
was not how Helen envisaged
life would turn out when she
moved into the farmhouse at
Wood Farm with her husband,
Nigel 31 years ago.
“Nigel and I lived in the
village and his parents lived
here,” said Helen. “But when
the farm partnership was
dissolved, we swapped
houses and came to Wood
Farm. At that time we had a
dairy herd of 100 Friesians.”
Tragically, Nigel died of
cancer 18 years ago. One of

To read more, visit www.farmers-mart.co.uk