Will and Gillian Sedgley’s successful beef and sheep farming enterprise is the culmination of years of hard work.

But despite the day to day trials and tribulations of running a farm, it is exactly the life which they want to lead.

"We enjoy a challenge. Every year is different and we've never had one year alike,” says Gillian.

Both Gillian and Will came from farming backgrounds, with her parents arable farmers in Lancashire and Will’s owning a 250-acre hill farm near Sedbergh.

The couple met while studying for degrees in agriculture at Myerscough College, in Lancashire, and married in 2006.

They moved into a caravan on his parents’ Lindsey Fold Farm in Garsdale and bought their first six beef cows with their wedding money and took on the running of the farm and its flock of Swaledale sheep.

Over the years they have built up successful beef and sheep enterprises on 1,350 acres of rented land from four different landlords.

They signed a 15-year tenancy at 110-acre Low Bank House, on the Whelprigg Estate in Barbon, near Kirkby Lonsdale, in 2013, where they now live with their four children Eva, 15, James, 13, Sam, nine, and two-year-old George. Last year they took on a further 400 acres, near Kirkby Lonsdale, and bought another 1,000 sheep to graze the land.

This means they will be lambing a total of just under 3,000 ewes in the coming spring, alongside their herd of 60 beef cows.

All their prime lambs are sold to Tesco while they also produce calves which they sell for breeding or to be fed and ‘finished’ in preparation for slaughter.

(Image: Will Sedgley)

The Sedgleys are well respected across the region and beyond for the quality of the breeding of their livestock.

"When land became available, we’ve always taken it and we never let an opportunity go by and we've always stood by that, because you never get those opportunities twice,” says Gillian.

"Providing the figures stacked up we took the land and stocked it and kept buying stock and just building it up.”

They have invested in Low Bank House, including in new housing for cattle which can now accommodate their herd over the winter.

They have also joined a mid-tier Countryside Stewardship scheme with 350 acres of land being used to grow herbal leys - a mixture of grasses, herbs and legumes, which farmers are subsidised for growing due to their benefits to biodiversity.

However, Gillian says their focus is always on combining environmental benefits with food production.

"It works fantastically well for the environment and the nitrogen fixing, so we don't have to put artificial fertiliser on, but at the same time, they're really good for fattening lambs,” she says. 
“We're not going to take land out of production to take subsidy payments. That isn't how we run. We are farmers, and if we can do something to work alongside that great.”

A combination of disease and bad weather made lambing and calving particularly hard for the couple and their team this year.

"On top of the bad weather, we had a salmonella outbreak. We've had the worst lambing and calving we've ever had,” says Gillian.

"There's the pressure, the stress of things that you can't control. When you need Mother Nature on side she can be totally against you. It's hard. It's tough financially and mentally.

"There isn't a crystal ball with farming. You just have to think hour by hour and sometimes minute by minute.

"You've got to try and think positive. You've got to remember where we started off and where we're at now.”

(Image: Will Sedgley)

They are supported on the farm by full-time worker John James and friend Leanne Duerden comes regularly to help with work on the farm as well as looking after their children.

“Without them we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing,” says Gillian

Last month all of their hard work was recognised with the Livestock Farmer of the Year award at the Cumbria Farmer awards.

Despite the tough times, Gillian says they are looking forward to continuing to grow the farm business and take on the challenges ahead.

"We feel there is a great future for farming,” she says.
“Will and I passionately believe that as the world population is growing we need more food in the world to feed that population.

"We aren't self-sufficient in this country and the more we rely on exports coming in it worries me.  I don't want to live on an island without food production.
“I think there's a great future in farming for those that can stick in it. It's hard. It's a tough industry but you have to be passionate about what you're doing.”