Farm of the Week: 16-year-old from sheep breeding stock who is already on ram sale's committee

James, who started his studies at Askham Bryan College two weeks ago, said he will be selling his two Texel tup lambs that have also seen him making his successful debut with them on the local agricultural summer show circuit during August.

“This time last year I bought two Texel ewes out of the Solway & Tyne Group Sale at Borderway Mart in Carlisle. They were from the Majestic and Galloway flocks. We have a commercial Texel-cross and Mule flock of 500 breeding ewes at home and I wanted to go into pedigree Texels both for showing and to make something out of a pedigree flock. I used to help James Floyd, one of my dad’s friends, show his Texel sheep and I just love the breed.

“Those two ewes produced two tup lambs and a gimmer lamb in the first week of March this year. I took them to three of our local shows and took a third place in a strong class at Thornton le Dale, and had second places at both Danby and Egton, also in competitive classes. I didn’t think I’d win anything because I didn’t think I had anything good enough but I was pleased with my results.

“Although this will be my first time at the Castleton Ram Sales I’ve been invited on to the sale committee and have attended a couple of meetings. We are hoping to get more people down and promote it better.

James said his fledgling pedigree Texel flock is a long-term project and he has been busily expanding on it in recent months.

“I’m keeping the ewe lamb born this year and the two ewes I bought last year. In January I bought a gimmer lamb, so that’s now a shearling gimmer. Two weeks ago I bought a pure shearling at Carlisle; and I had picked up another at J36 Mart, quite a few weeks ago and also bought a gimmer lamb that day. I have five that I will be putting to the tup this year.

“I’m looking to lamb them a bit earlier next year and I put the CIDRS in two weeks ago, and the tup has gone in with them this week to bring lambing forward to mid-February lambing.

James used a tup that he bought from his father last year but has purchased a pedigree tup that he’s hopeful will improve the quality of his stock further.

“I’m really excited about the tup lamb I bought at Carlisle the other week. I was really pleased to buy it off the renowned and much respected Evans’ Rhaeadr flock. One of theirs sold one for £160,000. I bought mine for £600.

“The Texel produces a really good carcase and is a great terminal sire. Good breed. I’m just at the start of my journey in the breed. Hopefully when I start getting better lambs I might start going to the pedigree sales and then some bigger shows. I’m confident the rewards will be there eventually and that I can start making a bit of profit out of it.

James started helping his parents on the farm from being very young and has been working part-time for local dairy farmers Joe and Andy Welford, milking their dairy cows at Scaling Dam just six miles from Houlsyke since he was 14 years old, but sees his long term future back at the family farm with his father.

“I’ve been involved with sheep on the farm since I was 7 years old when I helped by filling up creep feeders, penning up and lambing the ewes.

“We have beef cattle and sheep at home and I like it where we are. I do enjoy a bit of milking cows but I don’t think dairy would work for our farm.

Lealholm Lawns Farm is a lowland farm in the Esk Valley running to 150 acres and Tom said he is a second generation farmer albeit following his mum Isabel and sisters Pam and Anne rather more so than his father Joe.

“We lost my father when I was nine years old and it was my mum and sisters, especially Pam, who kept it going. My sisters are a bit older than me. We now rent another 100 acres at Glaisdale from my father-in-law David Flintoft.

“We lost everything, all of our stock, in 2001 when we had foot and mouth disease. We started afresh and I’ve been farming on my own ever since. Prior to then we had sheep and used to finish cattle.

“Today it’s a sheep and suckler herd enterprise. We have 300 Mule ewes and 200 Texel-cross ewes, producing the Texel-cross out of the Mules. We buy-in around 50 Mules a year from the Wombleton sale or at Hawes as replacements and keep about 100 of our own ewe lambs.

“I usually buy gimmer lambs, selling a few off in spring for a bit of cash flow, as well as 50 Texel-cross hoggs with lambs at foot at Northallerton. I aim to run my Mule ewes to five crop. We start lambing at the end of March, hopefully just after calving has come to an end.

“Our Texel-cross lambs all go to Dunbia at Carnaby starting at the beginning of July and through to the end January. I find it easier than taking to market as I don’t have the time to get there regularly. A wagon comes every week.

“I used to sell them all off grass at 45-47 kilos, but I’ve moved over to creep feeding them. They usually go at 42 kilos now and they do tend to kill out a bit better.

Tom said that he does use the livestock market to sell his suckled calves.

“Ruswarp has a fantastic reputation for its suckled calves and ours isn’t bad either, often topping the market. We now have 50 suckler cows and sell in the autumn sales. We start with calving at Christmas.

Tom’s wife is Marie from the well-known Flintoft family. The couple have two sons – James and Carl (14) who has a couple of his own Suffolk-cross-Beltex ewes but Tom and Marie said is showing more of an aptitude on the mechanic and engineering side of the farm.

Tom said that although he has never sold at Castleton Ram Sales there are family connections that go way back in the sale’s long and proud history.

“My dad sold Bluefaced Leicester tups there in his day, before my time. Marie’s grandfather would sell Blackface tups there too.

Castleton Ram Sales will take place over two days, October 6-7 at Ruswarp livestock market.