The Farmers Mart Oct-Nov 2017 - Issue 53

Providence Farm WE COVER SMALL FARMS, LARGE FARMS AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN From sheep farmers to arable farmers. Flower growers to poultry farmers. The UK’s leading rural insurer of UK farms with our Farm Select insurance. But we want more farms to benefit from our great cover and local service. That’s why we’ve introduced Farm Essentials insurance – designed to meet the needs of smaller farms. We pay 98% of all farming claims † As your local agent, I’m close by and can provide expert advice and hands-on support when you need it. Call us on 01937 844869 NFU Mutual, The Coach House, 42 High Street, Boston Spa, LS23 6EA 98%offarminsuranceclaimspaidbasedonannualsettledclaims2014–2016, excludingclaimsnotpursuedbythecustomer. AgentofTheNationalFarmersUnionMutualInsuranceSocietyLimited. † Sheep numbers currently run to a dozen pedigree Teeswater ewes, 22 pedigree Wensleydales and Mark lambs around 110 Mules and Mashams. He also buys in beef heifers at around six to eight months finishing at around 16 months. ‘I breed all my own Teeswaters and Wensleydales but buy in the Mashams and Mules that largely go to the Texel tup. The fat lambs I produce go through the collection centre at Pateley Bridge Auction Mart. ‘I tend to have between 40-50 beef cattle and take all finishers to Otley (Wharfedale Farmers Auction Mart) where one buyer, butcher Paul Leadbeater of Cross Roads, Keighley buys nearly everything I rear. I specifically try to buy what he likes, which is nice Limousin and Belgian Blue heifers that are taken to no more than 520 kilos fattened on my own rolled barley with soya and minerals added plus ad-lib straw and a bit of silage.’ But Mark is perhaps best known for showing sheep and is carrying on a fine family tradition in showing livestock. ‘Today the farm is a partnership between my mum, Judy and me. My great-grandfather, John Henry Adamson, came here in April 1912. He had a son and daughter but his son was killed in WWI. His daughter Sarah married my grandfather, Fred Elliott. My dad, John married my mum and they also had my brother Richard who is a banker. The farm was originally part of the Slingsby Estate. We used to milk 30 proper British Friesians up until 1996 and fattened dairy calves but found we either had to get bigger or get out. That’s when we moved more into commercial sheep. Dad passed away four years ago. ‘I love showing both breeds and particularly all the wonderful people it has brought me into contact with over the years’ ‘We started with Wensleydales in 1945. It was my dad’s sister, Freda who brought them about. They were in partnership together on the farm. She’d told my dad that she was going to buy a couple of pedigree ewes from a sale at Thornton & Lindley’s Old Hall Farm in the next village of Farnham. Dad said that he would also buy two and so they bought their initial four and subsequently PATELEY BRIDGE & DISTRICT FARMERS AUCTION MART LTD THE LOCAL AUCTION AT THE HEART OF THE DALE Auctioneers & Valuers Sales of all Classes of Cattle & Sheep Special Collective Machinery & Dispersal Sales Rural Land Agency Services Land Sales & Lettings - Tenancy Agreements - Valuations Compensation Claims - Planning Applications WEEKLY PRIMESTOCK COLLECTIONS Matthew Probert BSc Hons MRICS FLAA (Auctioneer & Manager) 01423 712032 or 07540 446667 www.pateleybridgeauction.co.uk 46 Oct/Nov 2017 www.farmers-mart.co.uk

The Farmers Mart Oct-Nov 2017 - Issue 53 | Page 46