34 DANEBURY MANOR FARM JUN / JUL 2023 • farmers-mart . co . uk
34 DANEBURY MANOR FARM JUN / JUL 2023 • farmers-mart . co . uk
“ I went on a part-time course at Askham Bryan College and from 18 into my mid-20s I ’ d be buying and selling farm machinery as well as some farm work for James Stockdale . I began trading as GM Stephenson and have been VAT registered since I was 18 .
Martin tells of how he and Deb got to where they are today , which had always been their dream to have the size of farm they now have .
“ Deb and I bought the 40-acre Southfield Farm at Flixton in 2003 , which became the base for GM Stephenson . It was an ex-pig farm . We diversified into storage units . We bought more land in the village and a garage at Sherburn , which we sold a few years later . We subsequently bought other buildings and land as we went along thinking that one day we might be fortunate to have enough we could sell at the right price to be able to buy a complete farm .
“ In 2016 we sold Manor Farm Buildings , which we had bought some years earlier , and we sold some land in the village at back of houses to people that wanted a bit more land . What we sold helped finance buying Danebury Manor Farm .
“ We ’ d bought some land at Kilham , so we already had about 200 acres including the 40 acres tenanted which we managed to carry on from my father . In about 2016 we sold some bits and pieces and now we farm 600 acres altogether of which Danebury Manor runs to 450 acres .
Seven years ago Martin and Deb achieved their ambition and now have the mixed farming operation that they
have been working towards . Martin tells of how the farm is today .
“ We have about 450 acres of arable cropping and 150 acres of grass of which we take three cuts of the 70 acres of silage grass , the rest being grazing . We finish between 700-800 cattle every year .
“ We feed every grain that we produce on this farm and grow wheat and barley , and peas and spring barley as companion crops .
“ This year we have 200 acres of wheat , 100 acres of spring barley , with the remainder in the spring barley and pea mix as a break crop . Peas are a good protein source . We drill the peas and spring barley together . This is our second year of doing it that way .
“ We came out of rape three years ago . The main reason was that we wanted to produce something we could feed and what we now grow also means we get the straw from the peas and barley mix .
“ We ’ re not quite wholly self-sufficient as we still need to buy in some barley . We have a healthy yield on our wheat which generally comes in at around 4 tonnes per acre on typical Wolds land of chalk with some flint in it .
Martin says they have been moving away from the plough in the past two to three years .
“ Some Wolds farmland is quite abrasive and to plough it and work it all down can be quite expensive from a fuel and wearing metal point of view . I really don ’ t see the need to plough it all . If you can work it from the top and see good results then why not ?