The Farmers Mart Oct/Nov 2014 - Issue 36 | Page 35

SOUTHFIELD FARM “Stuart and Daniel (their son) look after the ducks and geese. Our ducks are fed on chick crumbs for the first fortnight and then move on to a grower ration. We mix our own cereals for them. Geese, of course, are grazing animals and will live off grass.” It was Stuart’s brother, Malcolm who started the farm when he bought 20 acres in the early 60s with the help of their father. “My father and granddad were joiners in the village,” says Stuart. “I started working with Malcolm straight after leaving school and have always enjoyed the outdoor life. We now own 350 acres and grow wheat, barley and oilseed rape, as well as having 40 acres of permanent grass where the ducks and geese can roam. Daniel looks after the arable side and Malcolm manages the grain store, where we also store for others, and have our grain drying facilities, running a Carier grain dryer. We put all the buildings up ourselves and we’re currently creating greater store capacity because of the duck and geese business. “Our land here is half farm gravel and half organic carr land. In a dry summer we suffer from drought but in 2007 we were flooded out completely and lost half the farm under water - including 1,000 geese and 1,000 ducks. It wasn’t a good year,” he added. At one time the farm had cattle and pigs but the only other livestock on the Mathisons land today is a neighbour’s sheep that graze the grass fields in the months when the geese are not around. Daniel, who has worked with his parents and uncle on the farm for the past 15 years, says he was “moderately pleased” with this year’s harvest. “We did okay. It was an average harvest where some wheat varieties did well and some not so. We were growing Santiago, Rialto, Cassia, Relay and Grafton. About 3.5 tonnes/acre is a realistic figure for us on the land we have. To read more, visit www.farmers-mart.co.uk Adpro Securities Tel: [phone] | Fax: [phone] Email: [email protected] Quality Intruder Alarms • CCTV • Security Lighting • Access Control Fire Alarms • Installations • Upgrades • Maintenance Est. 1985 - Ensuring the Mathison family stay secure for the future 28A Highgate, Cherry Burton, Beverley, East Yorkshire, HU17 7RR Obviously four tonnes would be nicer but we’re happy with the results.” If you approach their farm buildings your eye will undoubtedly catch sight of something quite odd, or at least it did when I visited. There in the first paddock are a horse and a goose! They’re best friends and have become the farm’s mascots as Ruth explains: “The goose is called Mary and the horse is called Whitney. I usually keep a little hospital pen of geese that I make sure are right before returning them to the flock. Mary was one of them, but when I took her back she just kept coming over here back to Whitney. In the end we gave up and they’re now inseparable!” Stuart and Ruth now have four grandchildren. Daniel and his wife, Sara have two sons, Charlie (4) and Edward (1). Daniel’s brother, Marc, who is a farrier in Seaton is married to Tammy and they have Poppy (10) and Oliver (8). No prizes for guessing what will be on the table come Christmas Day here! FarmersMart Oct/Nov 2014 35