Northern Farmer Awards 2023: Farm Manager of the Year finalists

The winners will be announced at a spectacular awards ceremony at Pavilions of Harrogate, the Great Yorkshire Showground, on Thursday, February 23, and we're publishing mini-profiles of all our finalists.

Also to be revealed on the night will be the overall 2023 Northern Farmer of the Year, chosen by the panel of judges from the winners of the ten categories.

Finalists for Farm Manager of the Year, sponsored by East Durham College

Sponsored by East Durham College

Telfit Farm, in Marske, Richmond, is a unique 650-acre, ecologically-run hill farm in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.

Bought by the Leatham family in 2015, Telfit is run in a manner designed to be harmonious with the natural environment and sympathetic to the landscape surrounding them. It is owned by father and son, Oliver and Ben Leatham.

Ian Brown was brought in shortly after the Leathams bought the farm. Ian already farmed a neighbouring farm with his father, wife and children but was taking on additional work in the area to supplement their income.

Ian Brown

Ian farms 700 sheep and 35 cows and divides his time between home and Telfit Farm. With three daughters aged 18, 13 and ten, Ian has plenty of extra hands available at lambing time.

Telfit is building a reputation for specialising in the finest slow-grown, free roaming rare breeds with a focus on honest ethical produce. The estate has recently employed another member of staff to work alongside Ian five days a week.

The farm extends to about 650 acres in total with 350 acres of grouse moor, 200 acres of rough and hill ground and about 60 acres of decent in by land from which they are able to take around 30 to 35 acres of hay or silage each year.

READ MORE: Northern Farmer Awards 2023: Diversification of the Year finalists

The Leathams have a small herd of nearly 40 rare White Park cattle, some in-calf cows and a bull. Two old farm houses on the farm have been fully renovated and are now holiday lets.

During the breeding season, the farm operates a number of schemes to preserve the nesting environments of rare birds, such as curlews and snipe.

Northern Farmer Awards 2023

Monk Park Farm, Bagby, Thirsk, is 84 acres of grass, which many years ago was a dairy farm. It was then turned into a farm park and opened to visitors. Paul Elgey joined the team 20 years ago, having previously worked at Lightwater Valley.

In 2021, Monk Park Farm was acquired by new owners York 44 ltd and York House Leisure, who are keen to expand the business. This has allowed Paul to make immediate changes and improvements and plan for the future, working closely with the on-site operations manager, Hayley Cooke.

Paul Elgey

Before re-opening in April 2021, the entrance, toilets and cafe were refurbished, the outdoor play area was improved and a new sandpit added. During the year, they added electric karts. In 2022, they extended the Petting Barn, installed a new Kids Mini Train Ride, two gigantic Air Bouncers, refurbished the picnic and play area near the pond and have been working hard to make paths more pram and wheelchair friendly.

There is also a café offering hot and cold food, ice creams and treats, plus a well stocked gift shop and various feeding stations and locations around the farm where visitors are welcome to interact with some of the animals. In 2022, the farm welcomed 45,000 visitors.

There are 120 sheep, a mix of Herdwick, Soay, Suffolk, Valais Black Nose, and Cameroons. Other animals include three Belted Galloway, 20 fallow deer, a variety of pigs, eight alpacas and nine llamas.

The park works with The Dales School for young people with learning difficulties with a group of students coming every Tuesday to help with the animals.

READ MORE: Northern Farmer Awards 2023, Dairy Farmer of the Year finalists

Philip Vickers is employed as farm manager by Raby Estate at Raby Home Farm, Staindrop – the Durham in-hand farm.

Philip has spent the past 15 years working in agronomy and consulting on regenerative agriculture, and brought with him a wealth of knowledge regarding the regenerative and circular farming approach when he joined the team just over a year ago.

Philip Vickers

Raby Estate has always operated as a successful in-hand farm, as well as supporting tenant farmers with their own farming enterprises across the estate. Raby’s owner, Lord Barnard, has an exciting vision for Raby’s future and at the heart of this plan is long-term sustainability.

Philip is now working with Lord Barnard, who is very involved with the farm and has core beliefs in how the farm should operate with a balanced rotation and cost-effective production.

Although Raby Home Farm covers a large area, the average field size is quite small. Approximately 25 per cent of the land is in grass while 75 per cent is in arable production. Traditionally, this is predominately wheat and oilseed rape.

Raby is also experimenting with lupins, with the aim of producing a close-to-market, high-protein and high-quality

animal feed to reduce the carbon footprint of importing soya.

The farm is at the forefront of a change in the crop production system facilitated by care of the soils and utilising best farming practice, which has been introduced by Lord Barnard with Philip ensuring it is put into practice effectively.