FW Awards 2011: Farming Champion of the Year finalists – Andrew and Rachel Marston
Andrew and Rachel Marston
Easegill Head, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria
Inviting almost three million people into your lambing shed might not be everyone’s idea of heaven, but albeit through the lens of TV cameras that’s precisely what the Marston family from Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria found themselves doing as they embarked upon this year’s BBC2’s Lambing Live programme.
Andrew Marston and his wife Rachel, their three children Catherine, Abigail and Olivia and Andrew’s parents Donald and Christine, became household names this spring as TV viewers not only watched a week of live broadcasts during lambing-time but were given an insight into life on a north country hill farm.
The Marstons run about 750 ewes – 400 Swaledales and 350 Texel-crosses – alongside 50 suckler cows at Easegill Head, Wharton near Kirkby Stephen. Andrew is also well known as a producer of top-quality suckled calves and is a regular winner of championship titles at suckled calf shows.
The BBC, who had been looking for a Pennine hill farm to host this year’s Lambing Live, approached the family who admitted they hadn’t been avid watchers of the previous year’s broadcast because they had been too busy lambing.
“It was a great opportunity to let people see what life is really like on a hill farm at lambing time, as well as many of the other things involved in running a hill flock in the months up to lambing. It meant viewers with no farming knowledge could get a complete picture of the sheep breeding cycle.
“I hope the programme helped the public appreciate the importance of hill farming – not just from the sheep we produce but also the commitment hill farmers have for the upland environment,” said Andrew.
Stuart Bell, auctioneer at Harrison and Hetherington’s Kirkby Stephen auction mart, said the Marstons had enabled millions of people to see the realities of hill farming at a critical time of year for every hill sheep producer.
Lambing Live did a wonderful job for hill farming and for all livestock producers. It showed the commitment and compassion that’s at the very heart of good livestock management and gave the public a rare glimpse into the many husbandry skills needed to run a flock of hill sheep.”
FINDING A 2011 WINNER
Farmers Weekly readers and NFU members have been asked to give their views on who should take home the prestigious Farming Champion award. NFU president Peter Kendall will present it to the person, or persons, who you believe has been the best champion of British farmers in 2011 at the Farmers Weekly awards night in October.