48 ROOKWITH HOUSE FARM JUN / JUL 2024 • farmers-mart . co . uk
01228 518860
48 ROOKWITH HOUSE FARM JUN / JUL 2024 • farmers-mart . co . uk
Getting the right balance
FOR EXPERT ADVICE CALL
01228 518860
FEEDS • MACHINERY & EQUIPMENT AGRICULTURAL & RURAL SUPPLIES • FUELS
carrs-billington . com of breeding and livestock numbers
Chris Berry talks with Ed Page of Rookwith .
SWALE VETERINARY SURGERY
A COMPLETE SERVICE FOR ALL LARGE & SMALL ANIMALS
• Services , medications & health products competitively priced
• Routine fertility visits & health planning for all cattle and sheep enterprises
• Long established independent veterinary practice
• Covering the Dales and Vales of North Yorkshire and County Durham
• Providing our own 24 / 7 service by our dedicated knowledgeable team
• Comprehensive service for all animals large and small
• Traditional values with a modern approach
“ Proud to be working with Page Farms – the family and all the staff .”
Swale Veterinary Surgery , Fairfield Way , Gallowfields Trading Estate Richmond , North Yorkshire , DL10 4TB
01748 822389
ED Page is a first-generation farmer running a predominantly livestock farming enterprise with experienced farming couple Martin and Heather Grayshon working alongside him at Rookwith House Farm , which was acquired in 2010 , and at Sandhill , acquired on the next door farm , and at Newton Grange near Newton le Willows four miles further on , which brings his overall operation today to 600 acres .
During the time between taking on Rookwith and today , Ed had also acquired and then sold the land that was home to the renowned ice cream business at Brymor Farm .
The past has fourteen years has been quite a journey for Ed and he says that while his farming business is all now pretty much about sheep and cattle , it wasn ’ t that way when he started and began learning about the many areas of farming he needed to know more about . “ When I took on Rookwith we grew more cereals than we do now , something that I had no experience of previously , and I also had to get the farm ’ s infrastructure sorted . It took a bit of time , a few years , slowly building up , and since I had no experience of arable farming , for my first year I made the decision to give the work to my neighbour who became our agricultural contractor .
“ By Year 2 I had grown tired of looking at my neighbour and his team doing the work while I was not doing anything . I bought myself a plough , my neighbour taught me how to plough , and then he did the same when I bought a drill . He was really helpful and I was quite keen on cracking on and finding out how to do things .
Fourteen years on and Ed now has only 30 acres of cereals left and now has 200 acres of land in a Countryside Stewardship Scheme with the rest as grass silage .
“ When the scheme came in it really wasn ’ t viable doing cereals to the extent we were any longer and I opted for a lot of herbal grass leys . We ’ re now in our fifth year doing so and we ’ ve never looked back . I usually take three cuts off it , using two for our stock and selling the third . We ’ ve also applied and been accepted for the new SFI scheme , so there will be drilling of herbal leys too . It is now our final year of growing barley this year .
“ That means we are now predominantly a grass farm and that also means we are a livestock enterprise first and foremost . I ’ ve slowly built up on the sheep side and have also added cattle . We now have 600 breeding sheep and 70 suckler cows .
It was the sheep that came first for Ed for two reasons . One , he had the grassland ; and secondly he at least had some experience in that regard having had his own flocks of Jacobs and Hebrideans
W . E . JAMESON & SON LTD
MASHAM HG4 4EL We are proud to supply Edward Page of Rookwith House Farm .
• Compound Feeds
• Specialist Blends
• Minerals , Blocks & Buckets
• Milk Powders
• Animal Health
• Hardware
Call us on 01765 689666
• Grass Seed
• Forage Seed
• Environmental Seed
• Grassland Herbicides
• Fertilisers
• Silage Additive
ANIMAL FEEDS • ANIMAL HEALTH • SEEDS • FERTILISERS