Welcome to Three Dales

Local Farmers

Three Dales cares about supporting local farmers

In this age of pollution, buying a quality, local product makes sense, particularly when it's farmed in a pristine area of countryside such as the Dales.

Because we want you to be as passionate about our produce as we are, and because we have nothing to hide, we'd like you to tell you about some of the farmers who raise Three Dales meat:

Mark and Willie Keighley

Mark Keighley with his shearling ewe champion, joined by judge Mark Ireland

Mark Keighley and his father Willie farm along the banks of the River Wharfe at Pool-in-Wharfedale. This farmland affords picture-postcard views of Almscliffe Cragg and The Arthington Viaduct.

Willie settled in Pool in 1965 and since that time they have built up a prize winning flock of 150 pedigree Texel ewes, as well as a beef suckler herd of Limousin, Belgian Blue and Friesian crosses. All the lambs produced go to Three Dales, as do around half the cattle.

The Keighley's livestock are fed predominantly on grass and silage. Winter supplements are concentrated feeds, made from traceable ingredients, produced by a local supplier.

The Keighleys know how vitally important it is that traditional farming continues in the area to maintain the character of the local landscape: "Land soon gets overgrown if it isn't in production - it's surprising," said Mark. Consumers buying local food can help to support the farming activity that keeps the countryside in good condition.

The farm has a strong relationship with Agars, developed over many years. "We really don't want to sell our stock anywhere else - Agars know what we send them will be good and in return they pay decent prices," said Mark.

Norman and Jean Moon

The Moons farm around 200 acres at Malham, a well-known village in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Town Head Farm, started by Norman's father in the mid 1940's sits between the edge of the village and Malham Cove.

The farm produces beef cattle and lambs: The Moons buy in 'store cattle' from other local farms and fatten them on grass and home-mixed feed such as potatoes, cereals and silage. Cattle breeds farmed at Town Head include crosses of Charolais, Limousin and Belgian Blue whilst the homebred sheep are predominantly crosses of Suffolk and Texels.

"We'd encourage more people in this area to buy local meat," said the Moons. "Not only is the traceability of the product much better, but they would be supporting the local community and helping to preserve our beautiful Dales landscape."

The Walmsley Family

The Walmsley family farm around 380 acres in a picture-postcard area on the boundary between Wharfedale and Nidderdale. Three generations of the family have farmed this land, which used to be part of the Ripley Castle Estate, for nearly a century, producing cattle, sheep and pigs. Local legend has it that the last wild boar in what was Knaresborough Forest was killed here.

The livestock are a strong mix of British and Continental breeds. The cattle and sheep are grass fed and the cattle are supplemented with homemade mixed feeds of cereals, silage and sugar beet in the hard winter months whilst the sheep are fattened in the field. All the animals that are produced are bred on the farm.

John Cobbald

John is a 'pig man' who farms near Harewood in Wharfedale, just 15 miles from Ilkley. John has been farming with his father for over 23 years. John supplies Three Dales with gilts (female pigs producing the most tender and flavoursome meat). Three Dales pay premium prices to help John stay in business in a market that is declining in the UK, with growing imports. (Consumers have been pushed down the route of extreme leanness resulting in a loss of flavour and a consumer switch away from pork.) John's pigs are a strong mix of traditional breeds. John's priority is the health and welfare of his pigs and disease levels at the farm are very low, reflecting the care he puts into his business and the regard in which he holds his livestock and producing a quality product.