The Farmers Mart Oct-Nov 2019 - Issue 65 | Page 36

36 SPRINGHILL FARM OCT/NOV 2019 • farmers-mart.co.uk BREEDS FOR TASTE, FOR SHOW AND FURTHER BREEDING Chris Berry talks with Nicola Bell of Springhill Farm near Jervaulx. ROMNEYS and Dexters are proving a successful mix for farming couple Nicola Bell and Andrew Percy at Springhill Farm near Jervaulx. They both have impressive agricultural CVs that include working on farms in New Zealand and growing up on family farms. They’ve been a couple since 2009, marry next year and have two boys – Aaron and Luke – who are very much part of today’s farming operation that runs to 80-owned acres at Springhill, 120 acres rented from Swinton Estate and a further 70 acres of summer grazing. They moved in to Springhill in 2013 and are now developing a boxed beef and lamb business in addition to their livestock enterprise that sees the lion’s share of their finished stock going deadweight. ‘Andrew and I amalgamated our sheep and now have a main flock of 500 Romney breeding ewes, an MV accredited Texel flock of 60 breeding ewes a small flock of Swaledales, 60 Angus X sucklers put to the Angus bull and 20 Dexter sucklers put to our own Dexter bull. We had our first Dexter calves this year. Aaron and Luke have their own Texel and Beltex flocks.’ ‘Before we got together I’d trav- elled New Zealand and Australia, had spent six months working on a dairy farm on New Zealand’s north island, had come back to study for my HND in agriculture at Harper Adams and had then taken on shepherding roles at the Knowsley Estate on Merseyside for Lord Derby for three years and had then worked on Masham Estate. My first son Aaron was born in 2003. Luke was born in 2013.’ ‘I’d bought my own sheep when I had the opportunity to rent some land in 2004-05. I started with Mules. My love of sheep has always been where I have been heading since my time in New Zealand and then Harper Adams. I’d grown up in Cumbria.’ ‘Andrew is a contract shearer who has also sheared in Norway Accounting and tax solutions for agriculture York House, Market Place, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, DL8 5AT TOP QUALITY RANGE OF www.walterdawson.co.uk T: 01969 623636 | E: [email protected] ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION TAGS APPROVED BY DEFRA Dalton Tags wish Nicola Bell, Andrew and family continued success for the future. 01636 700990 [email protected] www.daltontags.co.uk Dalton Tags | Unit 3 | Northern Road | Newark Nottinghamshire | NG24 2EU Proud to be associated with Nicola Bell of Springhill Farm Bradford | Dewsbury | Huddersfield | Leeds | Leyburn | Northallerton scarrplant.co.uk ▪ Operated Plant Machinery ▪ Site Clearance and Demolition ▪ Drainage Experts ▪ Groundworks Proud to be associated with Springhill farm T: 01969 650 808 M: 07801 591 588 Send your enquiries to [email protected]