The Farmers Mart Apr-May 2019 - Issue 62 | Page 49

WEST MOOR HOUSE FARM 49 • APR/MAY 2019 METCALFS THE A.T.V CENTRE MAIN AGENTS FOR THE ALL NEW YAMAHA KODIAK WITH FUEL INJECTION & POWER STEERING • Fully automatic switchable 4WD YAMAHA utility quads spares & accessories • Sprayers, Trailers, Game Feeders, Rollers, Mowers etc NOW IN STOCK! Michael and Janet at Metcalfs ATV Centre would like to wish Rob and Penny all the very best for the future Telephone: [phone] | www.metcalfstheatvcentre.co.uk Metcalfs The A.T.V Centre, The Workshop, Little Elmridge, Height Lane, Chipping, Nr. Preston PR3 2NU WE COVER SMALL FARMS, LARGE FARMS AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN The UK’s leading rural insurer At NFU Mutual we offer tailored insurance and a local service. We cover all farms from sheep and poultry to arable and horticulture. have tremendous feet. They can sometimes be tricky to keep as they can be very lively and mischievous but they also produce wonderful lamb that makes up to 40 kilos. I’m considering again selling them, rather like the cattle, at a lower weight which may again be another way of producing more per acre. Their inputs are tiny compared to the Texel X Mules.’ The Dartmoors were added after Rob judged Beef Shorthorn classes at the Royal Bath & West Show where Penny saw them, and they caught her photographer’s eye. ‘I had to have them,’ she says and having taken her photography more seriously than its previous hobby status her prints of the Dartmoors as well as the Badgers are now selling well in local shops, on line and she now has her photographs in The Artworks in Otley. ‘The Dartmoors and Badgers make for very saleable prints and I now trade as 1309 Design. It’s another revenue earner from something I enjoy. I take wildlife, farmland landscapes, livestock and behind the scenes photographs at local livestock marts.’ ‘We’ve never been an intensive farming operation,’ says Rob. ‘We’re at between 750-1150 ft above sea level and we simply try to do what we do better or as well as we can and change with market needs. We enjoyed the HLS scheme that finished for us last April as it improved the wildlife, management for wading birds and helped us plant woodlands, but the new scheme looked like a bad deal. Hopefully there will be a decent scheme again in future.’ ‘We’ve been selling our own boxed beef and lamb for nearly 20 years, but we are currently finding it harder to sell and that’s because we feel people are looking to eat less meat. It’s nice to live in a world where we all have choices, but it would be better if meat was more valued than it appears to be. There is a widening gulf between town and country and that perspective over local food production needs to be valued more greatly.’ For a real conversation about your insurance: call 01937 844869, email boston_spa_ [email protected] or pop in The Coach House, 42 High Street. Agent of The National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Society Limited. Shearwell T.A BRODERICK & SONS HAY & STRAW MERCHANTS AD CODE MART Wishing Rob and Penny the best of success in the future FARMERS, CONTRACTORS, HAULIERS SUPPLIERS OF A RANGE OF STOCK FEEDS 07921 629197 07704 683344 We are pleased to supply tags to Rob Paisley Cal or go l us onl toda ine y! “Best tags on the market” FREE Replacement Cattle & Sheep Tags For life - Even when sold Please call us for details Tel. [phone] www. shearwell .co.uk