I farm: “I have a tillage, cattle and sheep farm. My wife, Lesley, and I have three children, Robyn (16), Holly (13) and Adam (10). We also have a full-time stock man, James Long – he’s an excellent worker that we’re lucky to have.”

Sheep: “We breed 800 ewes including commercial and pedigree breeds. Our pedigree breeds include Texel, Suffolk and Ile De France. We have been involved with sheep for over 30 years, selling pedigree grass-fed shearling rams and grass-fed shearling lambs.”

Future investment: “I intend to breed Easy Care sheep. As flock numbers are increasing, this breed will help when we are lambing outside as they are very maternal.”

Cattle: “We have a two-year calf-to-beef system on the farm. Aberdeen Angus is our most prominent breed. We finish 120 animals on an annual basis. We receive the bucket-reared calves at 12 weeks of age and they’re grazed until November, housed with silage and a kilo of concentrates, grazed again early the following spring and finished from the beef shed eating homegrown grass. We also finish under-16 month weanling bulls using our own farm-grown grain.”

Tillage: “We grow and harvest winter barley and spring wheat. Our winter barley will be ready to cut in two to three weeks. We crimp this and feed it to our stock. We have a pit of silage which is full.”

Aldi Sustainable Calf Rearing Scheme: “We got involved with the Aldi Sustainable Calf Rearing Scheme last year. Our original batch will be finished this winter. My relations with Aldi have been good so far but the proof will be in the pudding this winter when I get the cheque. I’m using the scheme as a hedging tool for my farm business. The security of the contract price with the Aldi scheme appealed to me as the entire Brexit scenario brings uncertainty to future beef prices.”

Quotable quote: “Managing all animals on the farm, especially crows this week, is my No. 1 priority. Whether it’s shooting or using a gas banger, they need to be kept away from our winter barley.”