|  Land
Use
Arable
• Wheat
• Barley
• Oilseed Rape
Crops are grown on a 3 year rotation. All grains and oil seeds are
stored and marketed through the Tyne Grain Marketing Cooperative.
Livestock
Sheep are the main livestock reared at Middle
Farm. There are approximately 400 breeding ewes. Half are homebred
Texel cross ewes which are put to the Suffolk ram to produce lambs
for the meat market. The remainder are Mule ewes which are put to
Texel rams to produce replacement breeding ewe lambs and also lambs
for the meat market. The flock has a lambing percentage of 180%,
(each ewe put to the ram produces an average of 1.8 lambs).
All the farm’s livestock (lambs and culls) is sold through
the North Country Primestock Marketing Cooperative and Hexham Auction
Mart.
From time to time cattle are grazed at the farm and three donkeys
(Polly, Maisie and George) live on the farm also.
Labour
There is a share farming arrangement in place
whereby Mr John Charlton farms the Livestock and contracts to Sir
Donald for the Arable work.
Woodland
There are two small woodlands on the farm.
The woodland west of the farmhouse is primarily deciduous species
of tree such as wild cherry, ash, hazel and hawthorn. A second small
area of woodland lies to the north side of a large pond in the south
east corner of the farm.
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