Beeston Hall Farm |
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‘ Our core business is breeding females and last year what we sold averaged around 1600 guineas at 13 months . If every calf born was a heifer we ’ d be extremely happy . The cattle that go on the moor fulfil the grazing prescription for heather regeneration and it suits them too as they come back fit as fleas . We ’ re also high health status and a closed herd apart from the occasional new bull . The breed is growing considerably in the UK mainly because commercial cattle men and women buy them for their exceptional mothering ability .’ |
The other livestock enterprise is their 300 Scottish Blackface and Blackface X Lleyn flock with store lambs going to Skipton livestock market .
Rachel and Stephen have two offspring – Sam ( 20 ) and Anna ( 17 ).
‘ Sam has just come back from college and Anna is studying for a Diploma in Agriculture at Askham Bryan College , perhaps then moving on to a degree in business management in agriculture . They are both home birds and want to stay in agriculture . How do I pay them a wage ? How do we make this
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farm productive enough to feed prospectively three families where it has struggled to feed one ? These are the questions a lot of us face . What can Sam and Anna bring to the farm ? These are the normal things most farming families ask , but with the uncertainty of what will happen with Brexit and stewardship schemes that don ’ t work it ’ s a case of everyone talking to try to make things happen . That ’ s what I ’ m trying to get across from the NFU .’
Rachel grew up just a couple of miles from Beeston Hall at Hubberton where her dad was
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a ‘ farmer-cum-whatever-woulddo-to-make-a-living ’. Rachel has also previously worked for a local greetings card publishing company .
The Hallos family will once more be out in force this summer showing their Salers cattle at the Great Yorkshire Show where they ’ ve won with a bull and a female ; they will also be at Halifax and the Royal Highland .
‘ I ’ ll be at Harrogate with my NFU hat on , but I will most definitely be there to show our wonderful Salers . Come and see me !’
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