Farm of the Week: Former university scientist turned cattle breeder on the Yorkshire moors

“When we came to Glovershaw in 1989 we originally had only 30 acres,” said Louise. “We had Hereford-cross-Friesians, good little cows, but the Holstein influence came in, which. were too hatracky and rangy.

“We went to a National Beef Association meeting at Garstang where we met Richard Fuller who talked about the new Stabiliser suckler being a moderate-sized docile cow that calved outside. We’d looked at pedigree breeds like the Limousin but none had suited previously. Everything seemed to be getting bigger and we wanted something more moderate.

John and Louise decided to go with Stabilisers, but it was to be a year before they started as John explained.

“We had been talking with Richard the day before the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in February 2001. It stalled us but we eventually bought some semen, put it to the cattle we had and we were happy with the crosses produced.

“The opportunity to buy 15 pure Stabiliers from Nick Baker at Bainton near Driffield and a fabulous bull we managed to buy from Lilburn Estate allowed us to start grading up and increasing the size of the herd.

The purchase of Half Moon Farm at Harden in 2007 took the Hobsons to 300 acres, which has increased to 400 across the two farms with a further 100 acres rented and has allowed them to increase the herd to 110 cows.

“We produce all our own replacements,” said John. “And we send the young bulls to Doug Dear at Osgodby for him to finish. He’s a very good finisher and gets them to the exact weight and condition.

“They go to Doug at about 9 months old,” said Louise. “Doug has proper protocols for them going in. It’s like sending kids to school, you send them protected. We try to mirror what Doug is going to be feeding them by adding a bit of maize to their forage based diet before they leave us. He finishes them at between 12-14 months.

“We calve in spring from mid-March with heifers in-calf at 15 months and calving at two years. That’s very important to us. We record everything from birthweight right through to finishing,” said John. “That’s how we know we are getting some phenomenal feed conversion rates. During the finishing period at Doug’s the bulls will achieve daily liveweight gains of between 2.1-2.3 kilos. I’m very particular about this recording job.

“We weigh them as they go to Doug’s. He weighs them as they leave, so we know what they have put on in daily weight and what food they have consumed. We get the gradings back from abattoir and I work out all the killing out percentages. It gives me a total grasp of the costings. The bulls generally leave us at 370-420 kilos and will finish at Doug’s at 650 to 670 and kill out at an average of 54 per cent.

The Hobsons have used AI and embryo transfer and John said they will bring in semen from top ranked bulls in addition to the bulls they we have on the ground.

Louise said herd health is paramount.

“We are in the SAC health scheme and we take tissue samples from every calf at birth. Our herd is usually at grass by the end of May and is normally all in by mid-November. We have also invested a lot in very good buildings and handling systems.

“Oscar has day to day responsibility for the herd and is very passionate about the cattle. He does all the feeding through winter. We have an indoor silage clamp. He has a BVL mixer wagon and everything is weighed in with a weigh head on the telehandler. We also have a nutritionist.

Figures are vital so far as John is concerned, in cattle and sheep.

“The majority of sheep farmers don’t know their killing out percentage and that’s where I am very particular. Ours is normally about 47 per cent.

Getting the right breed took place when John and Louise attend a National Sheep Association event.

“We had started with store lambs,” said Louise. “We moved on to woolly breed but I was becoming terribly allergic to wool. By chance, 15 years ago, we went to a National Sheep Association event. We were visiting Stabiliser friends. We got chatting to Iolo Owen who came up with his EasyCare sheep.

“I found out I wasn’t allergic to EasyCare and I am now the breed society secretary. They are very hardy with first-class feet and shed their own wool.

“Shedding takes the shearing element out of the equation and that takes away the problems of fly strike and cost of chemicals.

The popularity of Iolo Owen’s EasyCare breed is on the rise.

John said there is much confusion in the sheep world over what is a true EasyCare at present.

“We are having to continually point out that the true EasyCare came initially from a New Zealand extensive system introduced by John Vipond in the Borders but that the sheep are very much Iolo’s and nobody else’s. Since Foot and Mouth Disease finished people have realised what good sheep they are.

“Ours lamb outside. We put the tups in around November 25 and start lambing around April 20-21 April no intervention. Their prolificacy is 165 per cent. We send fat lambs to Dunbia via the collection centre at Otley Market.

“People are forever saying farmers are not producing what the market wants but we spend the two-month finishing period weighing regularly and getting them ready. We are aiming for daily liveweight gains that put on 300 grams per week.

Louise said the latest NSA statistics on sheep breeds show EasyCare is one of the fastest growing breeds.

“It’s because a lot of youngsters are now taking them on because they want a life as well as to farm and that’s what they allow you to have.

John was a scientist in his early years at Bradford University and on Teesside. There is little wonder he enjoys figures and statistics.

“We also benchmark. We have been doing that for over a decade. It sharpens your mind when you judge yourself against others.

The Hobsons also have a holiday cottage at Glovershaw that sleeps four and is let through Airbnb and they have a DIY livery business with the horses able to enjoy Baildon Moor.

“We are not in any environmental schemes,” said Louise. “But we have 35 acres that we leave fairly damp and as a result we have curlews, lapwings and snipe as well as barn owls. We have around 20 species. Our local ornithological society enjoy them and so do we.