Farmer turns to Sculpture
Farmer turned sculptor and landscape gardener Jonathan Stamper and his wife Bernadette opened their unique tourist attraction in June 2004. [read article]

Outwintering cattle on brassicas
The options for outwintering cattle on brassicas such as kale came into focus at a high profile forage conference in the north west of England this month. [read article]

Happy cows thrive on kale
Exploiting a small acreage of kale to extend the autumn grazing season by up to a month helps a Cumbrian dairy farming family reduce milk production costs whilst keeping cows happy and healthy. [read article]

Improving productivity in the suckler herd
Improving feed conversion efficiency of youngstock as well as herd fertility are among ways beef producers can help maintain margins in an era without subsidies. [read article]

New scheme helps young people work down on the farm
Ten young people have pulled on their wellies and started work down on the farm, thanks to the Rural Futures Farm Assistant Scheme. [read article]

Kuhn diet feeder eases herd management
Milking 300 pedigree Holsteins plus running a further 250 head of young stock, father and son Geoff and Ian Wilson want to keep herd management as easy as possible. [read article]


Border Texel Group prove that quality pays
Border Texel Group members who are selling their rams at the annual Kelso Ram Sale on Friday (Sept 9) have been proving that quality pays. [read article]


New Secretary for the Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders Association
Jean Gibbon brings a wealth of livestock and veterinary knowledge to her new role as secretary of the Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders’ Association. [read article]


Northumbrian Pedigree Milk & Cream
A Northumberland farming family has embarked on a unique venture for the county – selling processed milk and cream direct from the traditionally-bred dairy herd. [read article]

Agronomy group established
The Arable Group (TAG) is establishing a new agronomy group in the west in Cumbria to help predominantly dairy farmers make the most of their combinable crops. [read article]

Adamatic gets the job done
For the last three years the Hetheringtons have used an automatic sheep tagging system, the Adamatic from Scottish borders specialist tag manufacturer Roxan ID. [read article]

Top Chefs dine on Lakeland Beef
Quality beef from Cumbria was on the menu for 700 guests at a prestigious event in London, The Craft Guild of Chefs Awards 2005. [read article]

Stabiliser the ideal suckler cow
The introduction of the composite beef breed, the Stabiliser, has led to a home-bred replacement policy with the suckler herd on the in-hand farming operation at Lilburn Estates. [read article]

Bleu du Maine find a ready market
The strengths of the Bleu du Maine as a breeding female have been proven over the last 15 years by Northumberland farming couple John and Kathleen Davison. [read article]

North Sheep 2005
Sheep industry leaders were upbeat for the sector’s future outlook at the north’s premier sheep event for the region, North Sheep 2005 at Whinfell Park, near Penrith, on Wednesday (May 30). [read article]

Traditional Breeds at Farney Shield Long, hard winters have led the Wallace family to continue to run their Northumberland hill farm along traditional lines as they have done since 1962. [read article]

NFU backs thermafleece

Second Nature, the UK’s leading supplier of natural wool insulation, has recently won the opportunity to supply its Thermafleece insulation for the prestigious development of the new NFU Headquarters. [read article]

Blonde bulls tried and tested

Blonde d’Aquitaine bulls are the tried and tested sire for Roland Telford on his herd of more than 400 suckler cows run in the foothills of the Cheviot hills in Northumberland. [read article]

New farm trainee scheme in Cumbria

Young people are being offered a new opportunity to get free training in Cumbria to enable them to work in the agricultural community. [read article]

High sugar forage ensures dairying efficiency

Key to the simple management system of the dairy herd at Muirston Farm in Ayrshire is quality grassland for grazing and silage making. [read article]

Maximising milk production from grass

Producing more milk from grazed grass and silage on a low-input, low-cost system is the objective of Cumbrian producer Michael Harper, more so in the light of changes that will result under the new Single Farm Payment regime. [read article]

Lough Green Texels win award

A Langley Texel flock has won the progressive flock award for the breed made by EBLEX’s Better Returns Programme. John and Kathleen Davison have come out with the most improved index in the breed with their 2004 lamb crop. [read article]

Bazadaise, the easy-care cow

On re-stocking after foot and mouth Richard Carruthers wanted to establish a closed herd of purebred cattle which was easy calving, very hardy and would have the ability to produce a double muscled calf. [read article]

Blonde d’Aquitaine rumps are trumps

Low-input, fast-maturing Blonde d’Aquitaine pedigree and crossbred cattle are integral to the farming system at Jubilee Buildings, Broomley, near Stocksfield in Northumberland. [read article]

From farm gate to restaurant

A unique on-farm event in South Cumbria connecting the food chain between farm gate and the restaurant plate was attended by chefs from throughout the region on Tuesday (March 1). [read article]

Making organic ends meat

Steve Ramshaw took a decision which for many would not have been an option – exchange the opportunity of a good salaried professional job for the life of a beef and sheep farmer in the Otterburn hills of Northumberland. [read article]

TAG Conference 2005

The Arable Group’s (TAG) 2005 biannual conference on Wednesday (February 9) at the Scotch Corner Hotel was dedicated to questioning the implications of the Mid Term Review changes for arable farmers. [read article]

The Charollais weighs up Cumbrian livestock producers brothers Richard and Charles Geldard and their parents John and Rachel have maintained their pedigree Charollais flock since 1982. [read article]

Bluefaced Leicesters at the core

Undaunted after foot and mouth, Alex and Doreen Bisset and their daughter Claire were determined to re-build the Middle Dukesfield flock which has been bred on the all grass farm since 1975. [read article]

Galloways are in the blood for Graham
Graham Noble has been farming the Demesne Farm next to Bewcastle's historic church and cross since 1945 and he has had no inclination to change from the traditional breed which forms part of the landscape in this picturesque corner of the county. [read article]

High health Cheviots make the grade
North Country Cheviots with a high health status are now central to the radically altered enterprise on a Cumbrian upland unit. Greenside, Hallbankgate at the northern end of the Pennines near Brampton is a traditional upland farm running sheep and suckler cows on permanent grazing land at up to 1,000ft above sea level. [read article]

Loyal to the Charollais

Easy lambing, easy finishing and good fleshing qualities have kept the Wales family loyal to the Charollais over the last two decades. After their pedigree Thackwood flock were lost to foot and mouth and now they are re-establishing their flock. [read article]

Accent on Bazadaise

A holiday in France set the Greenhalgh family on their new beef venture in the foothills of the Pennines in Cumbria. Adam Greenhalgh spotted the region's native Bazadaise cattle and were quick to take note of the breed's attributes. [read article]

Top of the crops - and the silage is organic!

Winning a silage competition against opposition from across the UK is an accolade - but the victory is even greater when the crop has been produced on an organic farm. [read article]

Bluefaced Leicesters showing the way
One of the country’s oldest flocks of Bluefaced Leicesters has had probably its best year yet in the show and sale ring in 2004. [read article]

Jerseys shaping the future at Abbott Lodge
Two articles in a Jersey Cattle Society magazine helped shape the future for Cumbrian dairy farming couple Steven and Claire Bland. [read article]

 

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