The Farmers Mart Oct-Nov 2017 - Issue 53 | Page 51

Summer Lodge
there is and they have stood
the test of time. Our Mule
lambs start appearing from
March 20 and the Swaledales
from April 7-8. The Swaledale
and Blue Faced Leicester are
now the backbone of the hills
of northern England. We run
10-15 Swaledale tups a year
and try to keep around 10
Blue Faced Leicesters.’
While breeding and selling
to other fellow breeders is the
Porters’ main income, lambs
are also sold deadweight
through McIntyre Meats and
Dunbia.
‘All Mules go through Hawes
(Mart) and we sell about 250
Swaledale gimmer lambs every
year as surplus out of the flock,
usually taking 100 to the lamb
sale at Middleton in Teesdale.
Our tups are all sold at Hawes
and Kirkby Stephen and we
will usually have between 20-
25 for sale. We try not to rely
on income from the tups as
additional revenue as we tend
to have a habit of spending it
on other tups. We’ve had some
good prices over the years,
but you also have to spend the
money to keep up the quality.
It’s just like football clubs – if
you don’t spend then you go
backwards. I should know. I’m
a Liverpool fan!’
The suckler herd runs to
50 pure Limousins and the
Porters breed all their own
replacements. Store bulls
are sold at Leyburn. Heifers
are bought to be bulled and
then sold with calves at foot
through Kirkby Stephen. Grass
harvest is undertaken across
around 230 acres making
haylage and silage.
‘We started cutting on
June 12 this year, that’s the
earliest we’ve ever done it.
We cropped another 30 acres
in August.’
The holiday cottages have
been in operation for the
past 25 years having been
converted from barns and have
a high occupancy level for the
season that runs from April to
October. Bed and breakfast
accommodation at Summer
Lodge is for two rooms.
The Porters have earned
themselves an enviable
reputation among Swaledale
breeders over many years and
generations. It’s something
that Steven’s son, William is
carrying on.
‘William won supreme
champion at Tan Hill with a
tup lamb when he was just 16.
He’s now 25 and is taking us
further forward with the breed.
We’ve won the supreme
championship four times at
Muker. That’s the main show
for the breed. It’s our World
Cup – and you need to have
had the right strikers to win
there!’
www.farmers-mart.co.uk Oct/Nov 2017 51