A NORTH DEVON couple’s devotion to pedigree cattle and rare breed sheep brought its reward when they offered some of their stock for sale for the first time.
The reduction sale at West Yeo Farm near Witheridge followed ten years of organic farming by Kate Palmer and Robert James.
They auctioned 35 Black Leicester Longwool sheep and a similar number of Red Ruby Devon Cattle.
General visitors as well as serious buyers attended the event which included viewing of Kate’s unusual textile range made from the Longwools.
And the farm offered its own organic meat products for sale.
It was a day out for scores of people, with more than a hundred gathered around the sale ring.
Nine of the farm’s Black Leicester Longwool sheep were sold to a farmer from Northern Ireland who wanted some new blood for her flock
There are only 500 of this species left in the country and they are considered particularly hardy.
Two of the Leicester rams went to farmer Edward Harding high up on Exmoor where they will be crossed with Exmoor horns.
And a Devon Cattle Breed society member bought some of the sheep for her grandchildred to start a new flock. Their ram lamb went for 100 guineas.
Buyers came from Penzance, Gloucester, South Devon and Wales.
"I would say it was as good as the economic climate is, with money being so tight," said Robert, aged 52.
"We had a fair sale, with 110 people around the ring.
"It wasn’t a flyer, but it wasn’t abysmal either."
The top priced cow went for £2,200 guineas and the best bull yearling for £1,250.
"The prices for one or two of the cows were disappointing," added Robert.
"But they did go to Devon cattle breeders with bloodline going back 30-50 years."
Kate, 59, said the sale had been necessary because numbers had grown beyond the farm’s optimum size.
"We’ve just gone on multiplying the stock in recent years.
"It was a very good spring with the lambs and we decided it was time to reduce."
Kate and Robert are also hosting a work experience placement for 21-year-old textile student Charlotte Nash, as part of the farm’s support for British wool.
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/story-13112475-detail/story.html?
Deprecated: strpos(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($haystack) of type string is deprecated in /home/agriviek8Qv/agriviet.net/public_html/wp-includes/comment-template.php on line 2522