• JUN / JUL 2021
TUNSTALL MEAT COMPANY 59
Supplier of beef , pork & lamb to traditional family butchers & quality catering butchers .
The shop in Richmond , N Yorks
“ We are proud to have worked alongside CB Farms and Tunstall Meat Company for over 7 years supplying them with local quality meat products and providing a private slaughter service of their own superb quality farmed cattle , sheep and pigs .”
Call us today on 01388 488202 or email sales @ thompsonmeat . co . uk
Megan Mulholland Robert Hendrix
and Robert is now a director of TMC that also sees us fulfilling an increasing online sale .’
‘ Our business had been growing year on year but when lockdown came last year our sales went through the roof . The demand for local produce and local delivery was higher than ever before , and our nationwide sales took off too as people looked for what they really wanted , good quality , well reared heritage produce with real taste .’
Belted Galloways and Herefords form the heritage beef offerings . John has 10 pedigree Belted Galloway sucklers and 15 pedigree Herefords along with 25 Hereford X Friesians .
‘ We bull everything naturally ,’ says John . ‘ And we keep them out as long as we can . This last winter the Belted Galloways were out until early January and the Herefords until mid-December . We aim to have the Belties finished at around 30 months and the Herefords between 24-28 months which assures the marbling we ’ re looking for and therefore the flavour that our customers always comment on .’
‘ We ’ re producing all our own pedigree replacements . If demand exceeds our supply for the shop and online sales we sometimes top up with Belted Galloway and Hereford stores through great contacts we have made which ensures everything is to our standard .’
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For further information , please contact : Samantha Rainbow Kenneth Easby Ltd , Oak House , Market Place , Bedale , North Yorkshire , DL8 1AQ Office also at : Northallerton
Tel : 01677 422188 www . kennetheasby . co . uk
The sheep operation includes a pedigree flock of 56 Hampshire Down breeding ewes and a terminal flock of 80 Hampshire Downs put to the Texel X Cheviot tup .
‘ We lamb 35-40 pedigrees in December so that we have spring lamb ready for TMC with the rest of the pedigrees lambing in March and the crosses in March and April . We ’ re again providing all of our pedigree replacements and any surplus we sell to other pedigree breeders .’
Berkshires are the chosen breed for John and Helen ’ s pigs enterprise which currently runs to 14 sows of which 9 are pedigree and the rest Berkshire X .
‘ We keep anything from the litters that is good enough for breeding and tend to put the sows into pig in pairs . We are now one of the biggest Berkshire breeders in the country and as such we are very conscious of maintaining bloodlines .’
‘ Freight Train was one line that was down to only 4 boars left in the country , so we have worked with the breed society and other breeders and we have sold three this year and have helped take it to 11 boars . Their pork is succulent and really in demand , so I can see the breed growing again .’
John and Helen ’ s arable acreage is farmed on a contract farming basis .
‘ We take the straw for the livestock and put back the muck on the land ,’ says
John . ‘ We use cover crops and we are concerned with improving soil structure . We are using clover to fix nitrogen and increase protein ; we are putting kale into old pastureland as a break crop ; and we follow our 10-15 acres of kale that we grow for winter forage for the cattle with herbal leys . It all helps with our experimenting in cutting feed costs . The pigs are rotated around the grassland .’
‘ We went into Mid-Tier Stewardship in January and have wild birdseed mixture going in and grass flower margins . We are determined to do everything we can to be as environmentally sustainable as possible .’
Helen is a farmer ’ s daughter from Catterick . Her parents were arable and pig farmers .
Their farming team includes farmer ’ s son Sam Lumb , farm manager , who is from Keighley ; and assistant farm manager Megan Mulholland .