The Farmers Mart Oct/Nov 2014 - Issue 36 | Page 38

HOWE FARM Pulling together in Fearby Chris Berry meets the fourth generation of the Verity family of Howe Farm Family and community life have always been very much at the heart of Howe Farm in Fearby where the Veritys have lived since the mid-to-late 19th century. Mel Verity is the fourth generation and the latest to have his hands on the reins. It was his great grandfather, William, who first came to this quiet corner of Nidderdale on the Swinton Estate. Grandfather Dennis was the next to take control and was noted for showing Shorthorn cattle and Suffolk sheep. Mel’s father Kenneth was far less fortunate than his forbears “We are proud to be Yorkshire-based accountants who deliver quality, cost-effective solutions for our clients” Accounts and Tax Return Preparation • Tax Planning • Business Succession Planning • Payroll Services Management Accounts • Forensic Accounting • Bookkeeping and Software Support • VAT Reporting as he suffered from farmer’s lung and died when just 54 years of age. Mel has been in charge of the tenanted farm since that time. He and wife Natasha have three offspring – Verity (known as Tori), Zoe and three year old Theo – more of all of them later! “There have been changes over the years. When my father was around he showed Mules; and we milked a herd of 40 dairy cows. That was a lot for a farm like ours. They were predominantly Friesians but we used Jersey milk from my auntie’s herd to top up the butterfat content. Dad made the decision to come out of milk in 1992. We just weren’t producing enough milk to justify the overhead costs,” Mel told me. “Today we farm across 250 acres with 200 in a ring fence and another 50 at Healey, with sheep being our main concern. We have 500-550 ewes predominantly Texel X with a few Mules. The whole flock is more or less all home bred and we tend to keep 100 females as replacements. I buy new tups each year and use around 14-15 of them. I put the pure Texel ram on to the better ewes to produce a pure lamb and cross some with the Beltex. I find that puts a nice condition in if the ewes are not so good. Coning Fertiliser Ltd ‘Pleased to be associated with the Veritys at Howe Farm’ Eura Audit UK, PO Box 55, Eva Lett House, 1 South Crescent, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 1XW Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Email: [email protected] Local distributors of one of the most competitively priced P&K fertilisers on the market 0:12:12 | 0:9:18 | 0:5:20 | 0:30:0 | 0:24:6 Fibrophos also contains a full range of trace elements (including selenium to help improve animal health). Also available bulk fertiliser screenings (20:10:10, 20:5:5+So3, 25:5:5, 24:0:14) other grades available on request. British fertiliser for British Farmers. We also have a range of bagged fertilisers including Polish and Lithan nitrogen. LIshman Sidwell Campbell and Price LLP trading as Eura Audit UK Registered in England Number OC314833. Registered office: John Aislabie Wing, Eva Lett House, 1 South Crescent, Ripon, North Yorkhsire HG4 1SN Registered as auditors in the United Kingdom by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants 38 Oct/Nov 2014 FarmersMart For further details please contact Richard at Coning Fertiliser Ltd on 07831 608046 or e-mail [email protected] To read more, visit www.farmers-mart.co.uk