Meet the Yorkshire rare breeds farmer whose customers 'don't want any other meat'

“I have 25 acres and another 20 acres rented. I’m a bit bigger than some who concentrate on rare breeds but feel that the reduced single farm payment and the Sustainable Farming Incentives don’t go far enough for small mixed farms.

“I don’t get much from the single farm payment and because it is going down a further 10 per cent in 2024 its impact is massive for me. What I will lose could pay for the hay for the winter for the cattle. I have to find that extra from somewhere when I’m already low input on my land and my animals live naturally, the way it is wanted.

“I don’t put on lots of fertiliser. I can’t take a proportion of land out of grazing. I get that everything has to be done right on farms, but nothing seems to fit for those like me. Rarer breeds are nearly always kept by people with smaller acreages and there are lots that will be similarly affected.

“You can apply for grants for things, but the stuff you can apply for is not relevant and I can’t put up the prices of my rare breed meat. I may be forced to get a second job, but I still need to be here seven days a week to look after my animals.

Lyn started with rare breeds thirty-seven years ago and says she is determined to carry on and that the RBST area that covers from Yorkshire to Northumberland is a very strong support group.

“That’s the positive side and nothing to do with government. It is an amazing group of people dedicated to their breeds. We have had a stand at the Great Yorkshire Show since the RBST started and people come to see us, then come back and say they’ve started a flock or herd because of the encouragement they received.

“I always say that for those who want to start with some sheep, to get sheep that you can really do some good with, something rare you can breed.

“This year’s Great Yorkshire Show was really special because of the 50th anniversary. We made it about the people who had put so much into it and Joe Henson was the figurehead. We put together something really special called a Woolly 50 made with wool from every breed we could. We ended up with every breed on the watchlist, and even more not on it including some very obscure breeds. It will be at our AGM for members at Sledmere House in January.

Lyn started out as a horse trainer and show jumper and says she is a great believer in fate.

“We never had much money to buy expensive horses. I used to land on a horse and train it and show jump it. I used to train difficult horses. When I had horses in fields here at Upper Town Farm, where my parents moved when I was 14, I took on a few sheep because horses don’t graze well.

“I wanted something special and landed on the Manx Loaghtan breed by chance or fate, as there were some just down the road. I bought a little trio. I’ve had the breed ever since.

Lyn says she always sees her rare breeds as paying their way.

“Rare breeds are not ornaments, they graze and they feed my family. The meat has always been my driving force, as well as the pedigree breeding side of it. I’ve kept my Manx Loaghtans pedigree throughout.

“What is important in being successful with rare breeds is to produce quality meat. That’s something that some people can’t get their heads round. How can I look after them and then eat them? But that’s what the conservation of breeds is all about.

“What is important is provenance. I couldn’t imagine going somewhere else to buy sausages or mince now and once people have tasted what my animals produce they don’t want anything else.

Lyn is particularly proud of the beef produced by her pedigree herd of Irish Moiled cattle and how she has helped other herds.

“I’ve had Moilys for 16 years. They are beautiful cattle. I went to Temple Newsam in Leeds as it is an RBST approved farm and we got two bullocks and got started on the processing of beef. We then went back and got a cow with a calf at foot from them, came home with Nelly. That was our start in breeding them. Before that we had ordered an Irish Moiled meat box off somebody online, checking out the beef, to see whether it was as special as everyone told us.

“I usually have around 19-21 head of stock, plus one Jersey. It is all natural bulling and I change my bull every 3 years. I have half a dozen cows in the herd at any one time. My cattle go for beef at around 30 months. I rarely sell heifers. It is the steers that go to the butcher.

“In the last couple of years I’ve been in a position where I’ve had a few heifers to sell and have added to one herd and set up another two in Cumbria and near Pickering. That’s really satisfying. Moilys don’t have horns either. If you’re a new starter that’s something to consider.

Lyn has several breeds of sheep amongst her 95 breeding ewes, including Boreray, Shropshire, Soay, Whitefaced Dartmoor, Welsh Balwen, Devon & Cornwall Longwool and more recently a few Rough Fell, due to one of her two sons, Jack.

Both Jack and Tom are well known for showing the sheep at the Great Yorkshire and many other agricultural shows throughout the UK.

“Jack wanted a bigger breed. The Rough Fells are enormous, says Lyn. “Jack is obsessed with Boreray sheep and won at Harrogate this year. We’ve also got Bagot goats and Guernsey goats, that Tom looks after, and which are extremely popular. Whatever they have this year is already ordered. We have Saddleback pigs too and on the poultry side we have Marsh Daisies and Old English Pheasant Fowl.

Lyn says the RBST has done a fantastic job in its fifty years.

“To maintain rare breeds there has to be that willingness to help others. It’s not just the gene pool often being small, it’s that we are often so far away from the nearest other breeder of our breeds. We all do what we can to help.