The Farmers Mart Apr-May 2018 - Issue 56 | Page 52

52 THE HOWARTH FAMILY APR/MAY 2018 • farmers-mart.co.uk 71674 - RiponFarmServices - 8TH.pdf 1 25/04/2018 15:28:28 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Proud suppliers to Sam and Wendy Howarth at Hollies Farm Franks Curtis Sales www.f • rankscurtis.co.uk Parts • Service Offering a full range of quality new and used machinery from Massey Ferguson, Strautmann, Teagle and OPICO and many more... Franks Curtis Ltd, Beansheaf Ind Park, Kirby Misperton, Malton, N. Yorks, YO17 6BG Tel: [phone] | www.frankscurtis.co.uk British Friesians and Organic route for family’s future Chris Berry talks with the Howarths of Wilton and Pickering Proud to be suppliers to the Howarth family, wishing them continued success. 71703 - Howells Veterinary Services Limited - 8TH.pdf 1 25/04/2018 11:35:06 Howells Veterinary Services Ltd. Proud to be associated with the Howarth Family C M Y CM MY CY CMY K A family owned business which provides flexibility and takes great pride in our services. Contact: Howells Veterinary Services Ltd, York Road, Easingwold, York, YO61 3EB Tel: [phone] Continued commitment to farm animal practice - NO CALL OUT CHARGE to farms within 30 miles of Easingwold; modest mileage charge thereafter. Eleven farm vets work from our purpose built premises. Strong dairy team (7 vets) - routine herd health, fertility and mastitis consultancy, benchmarking, mobility scoring and foot-trimming service. Free attendance at regularly held meetings, focus groups and workshops. Proactive specialised health planning for beef and sheep farmers. Established pig and poultry practice (broilers, layers and game birds) - we service and regularly visit farms from Scotland to Norfolk. Dedicated Farm Dispensary and Farm Supplies Business (free farm delivery service), operating from our newly converted warehouse and retail premises. Five SQPs available to discuss your requirements for worming, disinfectants, fly control etc. - you do not have to be a client to use this service. For sales enquiries or to place an order, phone [phone] or e-mail [email protected] Ask for Pippa Foster (01347 823678), Paul Burton (07713 215363) or Philip Bowes (07483 173849.) PROVIDING for the family’s future has been at the heart of farming decisions throughout nearly every generation. It doesn’t happen everywhere today, but it has been a driving force for what Sam and Wendy Howarth have achieved at Hollies Farm, Wilton near Thornton-le-Dale and for the past 15 years at their other farm opera- tion of Leas Farm, Pickering. Over 1000 acres is now farmed across both with additional parcels of land also added. The Howarths own 650 acres and rent the rest. Their farming operation centres around dairy cows and organic milk with a milking herd of 430 British Friesians. Sam has just completed his three-year term as chairman of the British Friesian Breeders Club. ‘We had somewhere between 200-250 cows eight years ago but with a growing family of three children who are now all in their twenties our purpose was to create employment for them to join us working here if that’s what they wanted. Sally (26) and Jack (23) now work here full time and Rosie (21) is with Roger Fell’s racing stables near Helmsley. As margins get squeezed it can sometimes look like you are expanding to stand still but it has been nice to create a business that allows them to work at home. We’ve never forced them into it. My dad had 22 acres and three sons where I grew up at Sowerby Bridge and so there was never any prospect of us working from home.’ ‘Our move to organic has helped mas- sively. We’ve been organic for about ten years and there wasn’t a lot of information around when we started so a lot of what we did was by trial and error. The milk price has been up and down and at one time the organic milk market was massively over- supplied, but as demand has grown it has now become a larger market particularly within Greater London where 90 per cent of the UK’s organic milk is consumed. We are contracted to ARLA who collect every other day with 13,000 litres from us, a small- er dairy farm in Gillamoor and a farm that is