32 G . A LIDDLE & SON JUN / JUL 2018 • farmers-mart . co . uk
32 G . A LIDDLE & SON JUN / JUL 2018 • farmers-mart . co . uk
On the beet with the Liddles in Cawood
Chris Berry talks with Geoff and Graham Liddle of Town End Close Farm .
BUYING something no-one else has got can be genius or embarrassment , after all if no-one else has something there ’ s often a very good reason right ? But the words of Geoff Liddle ’ s father still ring true in his ears even now at his age of 79 .
‘ If dad was here now I ’ m sure he ’ d be very happy with what we , my son Graham and I , have done with our farm business ,’ says Geoff . ‘ He always said buying something unique made sound sense . He also said that whatever you buy is never too big .’
Today the Liddles operate across thousands of acres on all manner of share farming , contract farming and agricultural contracting agreements in addition to their own 320 acres at Cawood . Town End Close Farm in the village is the base for all their operations .
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Geoff ’ s father and Graham ’ s grandfather Stanley set the course for the family ’ s future . Stanley returned injured from the trenches of WW1 , took on land in Cawood and incrementally grew the acreage and more work .
‘ He started with horses and a plough in 1921 paying £ 6 10s for a plough and 68 guineas for a horse . He bought his first tractor an International Farmall A for £ 195 delivered from Bushell ’ s in York in 1939 and that got us going on contracting . Dad and I started sugar beet harvesting together in 1956 . I was 16 at the time when we bought our first sugar beet harvester a Peter Standen Junior from Goughs of Hunsingore . We ran it until 1961 but dad wouldn ’ t buy another because there was nowt in the sugar beet game . That ’ s when I took it on . I traded it in and bought a new Standen and set off from thereon getting a new one
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every two years changing manufacturers as I went along .’
‘ Dad ’ s main enterprise for a while was threshing . He ’ d always wanted a threshing machine and was threshing until 1968 when combines took over . Our first combine was a Massey 726 paraffin and subsequently we went with Claas . In those days we did all sorts of contracting for loads of little farms .’
Geoff started buying land around Cawood and recalls buying his first lot for £ 80 per acre . Graham joined Geoff in the family enterprise after leaving school and having studied at both Askham Bryan and Bishop Burton colleges .
‘ We began taking on contract farming arrangements for Henry Easterby at Tadcaster across 500 acres and then 200 acres for Tom Fawcett at Stutton . Since then we ’ ve steadily expanded taking on other share farming and contract farming operations and we ’ ve recently taken on another 900
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acres . In total we now farm in some way or another across 3000 acres .’
‘ Sugar beet is one of the main areas of our farm business . We run two 6-row sugar beet harvesters and the latest Vervaet is new to us this season . When the York factory closed we thought if we grew a bit more it would help out on the machine front making them more economical , so we took even more land on . It ’ s a good crop that I can make pay through correct cultivation and achieve good yields . If you ’ re getting 30-35 tonnes per acre average that ’ s a good return . Of course it always depends on the price paid . The yield peaked at 45 tonnes last year , but I also had some poorer returns early on of 25 tonnes .’
‘ We ’ re probably the most northern sugar beet harvester running new machines and we buy a new machine every year . The most recent season 2017-18 saw us harvesting across over 3500 acres and so it is vital we have machines that don ’ t let us down and have fabulous backup support . We grow 320 acres of our own sugar beet and the rest as contractors . We generally grow four varieties including Cayman that has always performed well .’
Graham ’ s commitment to the sugar beet sector sees him as the NFU ’ s North East representative on the national sugar beet board .
Wheat , barley , vining peas form three of the other main crops with the Liddles operating across 1400 acres of wheat with varieties such as Siskin , Graham , Relay , Diego and Solo .
‘ It ’ s all feed wheat and both my dad and I sell the corn between us . Most is sold to Campbell & Penty . Barley , both spring