The Farmers Mart Oct-Nov 2021 - Issue 77 | Page 68

68 NUN COTE NOOK FARM OCT / NOV 2021 • farmers-mart . co . uk
68 NUN COTE NOOK FARM OCT / NOV 2021 • farmers-mart . co . uk

IT ’ S ALL ABOUT QUALITY AT MARRICK , WHETHER IT ’ S SHEEP , CATTLE OR CAKES !

Chris Berry talks with Keith Stones of Nun Cote Nook Farm in Swaledale .
‘ WE stand at 1000 feet on a bleak northeast facing hill where a 70mph breeze is a good day – so the art of lambing is keeping as many alive as possible .’
These are the words of good-natured and wholly realistic Swaledale farmer Keith Stones of Nun Cote Nook Farm in Marrick .
‘ I ’ m the fifth generation to farm here , where we own 200 acres and rent another 100 adjoining . We also use quite a few bits of land around here and some down at Northallerton as the unit would not be viable without .’
‘ I took it over from my uncle in November 1991 . I ’ d worked for him for about ten years but when he retired it was time for reality . I had to make it stack up financially and that ’ s when I saw the potential of the North Country Cheviot as a lot higher value lamb . We ’ d had a few and they always outperformed the rest on the farm , so you didn ’ t need to be a genius to work out that they were the way to go .’
‘ We ’ ve held the world record twice for high-priced females and for an Englishman who is doing it with a Scottish breed that makes me very proud .’
Keith has been on the North Country Cheviot council for a number of years and thoroughly enjoys his judging and stock inspections .
‘ If new members want to get involved we will do flock inspections and try to pass on advice . It ’ s not about saying yes or no . It ’ s more about trying to make them feel welcome , part of a community and to give encouragement .’
‘ We have helped start off loads of new flocks with our Cheviots and I love pushing new members forward . We particularly need new young people in
the breed and the sheep industry .’
‘ The North Country Cheviot offers the best carcase of any hill breed . It is streets ahead . It is very long , carries loads of flesh without excessive fat and has that wonderful mothering ability . It also has something that butchers like , a white head , so you ’ re ticking all the boxes . White headed lamb , good skin , tight coat . Even the wool is sought after and very high value because it is white and is suitable for Scottish tweed .’ Keith farms in partnership with his wife Elaine and they have two daughters Annie and Mary who have full-time jobs but help on the farm , son Tommy who is still at home and helps also , and youngest lad Jack who has a full-time job but also helps . Eldest son Ben is a web designer .
‘ Elaine and I are the backbone of the farm and the kids all help . We are definitely a family farm and I want to give
them a chance to push the business forward . They ’ re lucky to have me , obviously ,’ he says with a grin . ‘ And my long-suffering wife of quite a few years .’
The livestock operation runs to a suckler herd of 90 cows breeding his own replacements and 450-500 breeding ewes that are predominantly North Country Cheviots with 200-250 registered breeding ewes , Cheviot Mule ewes and around 100 purebred Texels . The Texels are put on the Cheviot Mule .
‘ To keep the farm viable we would rather produce high quality breeding sheep and high value cattle . It ’ s maybe a high input system but it is a high value output system too . We were at 18 different auction markets last year with sheep taking just a few of high quality to each . I ’ m a female sheep breeder . If I keep my females right I have a future . The higher the standard , the better my stock is .’
‘ We go up to Longtown and Lockerbie , which is where the cream of the crop of the Cheviot breeders go . I ’ m happy to rub shoulders with them , but there is a market for quality Cheviots elsewhere and we take good breeding female lines where there isn ’ t quite such a ready supply of them .’
‘ We are more of a breeding sales flock which means our surplus quality lambs are mainly sold as gimmer shearlings or tup shearling to sell the following August and September . We sell other stock as either fat lambs or store lambs from the end of August , but we ’ ve gone down this Cheviot Mule line just to get a bit of cash flow in late July and early August when traditionally the farm is selling nothing .’
‘ We are a typical hill farm . We sell calves in the autumn and most of the breeding sheep are sold in the autumn . Having that additional income is important for our cash flow .’
‘ A lot of our breeding stock is sold privately , direct from the farm . We have regular customers who come back year after year .’
‘ We have also always enjoyed going to shows . It ’ s a good shop window that helps keep a reputation and higher profile than purely staying at home .’
Keith says the showing side of the farm took a back seat for a while .
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