ON a fresh Friday morning in May I met with Ian Tate of Crossfield Farm Castle Levington nr Yarm . I have met with Ian a few times . This morning was to get an update on his Farm , his contracting business and also talk about his forthcoming Fundraiser for the North East Air Ambulance which he has supported for a number of years . He wants to beat his 2023 total of £ 8022 ! Bear in mind it costs £ 5000 to put the Air Ambulance in the air . The Air Ambulance has provided invaluable support and saved many farming lives in North Yorkshire as often accidents happen high up and , on the hills , where there is also no mobile phone signal and where also it is just about impossible to get a normal road ambulance to . Also , Air Ambulance moves at around 200 mph which often makes the difference from recovery and serious injury or worse Death .

The next charity event will be on Saturday July 13th at the farm at 7.30pm . It promises as usual to be a superb event . It will entail the conversion of a few of Crossfield ’ s sheds to accommodate a full bar and catering services supplied again by the marvellous Hutchinson ’ s Hobbs catering and

Butchers . The sheds will also house the in-house DJ and live music from the ever popular and energetic live band “ The Sugar Bees ” which always goes down well . The food and drink will flow unceasingly ensuring all attendees will have yet another superb evening enjoyed usually by at least 400 people . We shall be reporting on the event and sharing photos of the event in our September issue as well as highlighting

the no doubt fantastic amount raised for the Air Ambulance .

Ian and his team put an awful lot into the event which is testament to them after pulling together in what has been a very challenging year not helped by the great British weather which has only just stopped pouring down now in May . This has meant that Ian and his team have been able to let the animals out into the luscious North Yorks pasture to graze .

During the past year the weather has meant drilling crops has been a massive challenge , indeed they have just redrilled a large patch as due to the weather 100 acres of wheat and 50 acres of rape was rendered useless and lost in 2023 which produces a significant expense and also a big-time burden .