The Farmers Mart Jun-Jul 2019 - Issue 63

54 MILL CLOSE FARM JUN/JUL 2019 • farmers-mart.co.uk Stephen and James with young bulls Millclose Eric & Ernie ‘We are now almost exclusively a catering butcher apart from a handful of local Co-op stores and others that have been loyal to us. We sit high in the market place supplying prestige hotels, private schools and top end restaurants right across the north of England. It’s all about managing where the price point fits and finding the right custom- ers. We have a team on the road, the phone and knocking on doors to make sure we don’t miss a beat.’ The farm operation includes 120 acres of winter wheat this year using the variety Skyfall to go to Warburtons on contract for milling; 33 acres of barley fed back to the cattle; and 50 acres of oilseed rape. Rawburn Elsie RO67 ‘Our land is light loamy with a lot of stones,’ says Stephen. ‘It is good free work- ing land that will produce around 3 and a half tonnes per acre for both wheat and barley and we have top quality grassland. There is all this talk of tree planting being a great way of storing carbon but not enough is also being said of grassland doing the same. My cattle will also convert grassland, which is another way of getting rid of carbon.’ ‘I’m thoroughly enjoying being back whol- ly on the farm side. It has been a real bonus having James come back and run Yorkshire Dales Meat Company. I had increased the suckler herd to 100 cows in the past cou- ple of years, but I’m now aiming to reduce Rawburn Ebony RO91 the commercial herd and concentrate on breeding with the pedigree Aberdeen Angus which we set up in 2017. We’ve had an Angus commercial herd for 20 years.’ ‘I bought 26 pedigree cows from re- nowned Kelso breeder John Elliot’s Raw- burn and Linton Gilbertines herd to get us under way and currently have two working pedigree bulls Linton Gilbertines Mr Prince and Linton Gilbertines Result. I now have six young pedigree bulls by Rawburn Boss Hogg, Rawburn Dingo and Rawburn Loui- siana of which three are currently for sale and are all in the top one per cent on EBVs. I had twin bulls out of a cow I paid 8000 guineas for at Stirling.’ ‘Our aim is to breed functional cattle with high EBVs. The top female in our herd is Rawburn Elsie RO67 and has a combined terminal sire index and self replacing index of 123. We purchased her at Stirling in 2017 for 8000 guineas. We also purchased Rawburn Ebony RO91 the same day for 6000 guineas. We currently have 11 females with combined EBVs of over 100 and flushing Elsie and Ebony using Rawburn Makka Pakka, Rawburn Elysium, Rawburn Fastball and Shadwell Earl. We have managed to harvest embryos from all four bulls which are available to purchase. The aim is to sell on to other pedigree and commercial breeders including cattle for export in the next year.’ ‘Our main stock bull is Linton Gilbertines Mr Prince N706, a Peter Pershore EO52 son purchased for 4000 guineas in February 2015 at Stirling who currently has some very impressive stock in our commercial herd and has a combined terminal sire index and self replacing index of 114. Linton Gilbertines Result SO80 is another young stock bull purchased privately from John Elliot in 2017 who has quality calves at foot in the commercial herd. We also have some exceptional pedigree bull and heifer calves in the herd by Rawburn Louisiana, Fastball, Dingo and Boss Hogg.’ Stephen would like to show his Aberdeen Angus stock at next year’s Great Yorkshire Show. He was close to doing so this year. ‘One of the cows is absolutely stunning and a potential show cow. I used to show dairy cows and I’m aware of the work that goes into it. Next year I would love to be able to show some of my homebred heif- ers. In the meantime, I intend to take one of the Boss Hoggs to Stirling in autumn and if anyone wants to buy some good Aberdeen Angus bulls come and knock on my door!’ The next Knox generation is also under way, although Elliot at one and a half years old has a long way to go just yet. For more information about Stephen’s Aberdeen Angus herd or Yorkshire Dales Meat Company contact 07710 957466 or 01748 810042.

The Farmers Mart Jun-Jul 2019 - Issue 63 | Page 54