Page 93 - British Blue Yearbook 2023

“Evelyn suffered terribly with the disease, but we were fortunate that the treatment could be mostly carried out at home where we could be together.”
Evelyn’s love for the Belgian Blue breed is what motivated Emyr to establish the herd, Old Stackyard Blues, in 2016.
It began with three in-calf cows with calves at foot, and six maiden heifers sourced from high health herds in northern England and Scotland, from generations of natural calving cows.
Today, it has built up to a total of 35 cattle, and over the six years more than 60 calves have hit the ground.
All AI is done on-farm and despite acknowledging the window for advertisement, no showing, embryo work or flushing is done to ensure high biosecurity.
Emyr says: “The patch of ground gave room for the herd to be established. But with no buildings, I was starting from scratch.
“The kindness of local businesses was immense. Many companies we dealt with were very generous, making donations in aid of ovarian cancer while I got the buildings and charity up and running. The total cost of the set up was £120,000.
“The cattle are earning their keep, they are definitely not pets, and it is not a hobby.”
Making around a 15 per cent return on capital, the cattle are doing Emyr proud.
He says: “I do not spend my retirement on fancy holidays and cars, I spend my money to breed cattle which help other people, like my Evelyn. The cows grow into money, so I do not have to keep asking people for help. There is more pleasure in helping other people than helping yourself.”
Cattle are sold regularly at markets. They have achieved up to £5,000 for a bull and £4,000 for a heifer, while cattle are always for sale privately.
In September 2022, a bull not suitable for breeding was sold at Welsh- pool market, weighing 930kg sold for £2,501.70 to John Gittins, of Ystrum Colwyn Farms, on behalf of Ralph Pearson butcher’s, Bradford. Another two bulls were sold at Market Drayton in December for 280p/kg.
But it is not just the cows which help Emyr’s charity work, he is also an avid gardener. Open garden events are held for budding enthusiasts. “I am the caretaker keeping my wife’s flower beds blooming all year round,” he says.
He also spends his time making oak furniture in the shed out of local oak trees, creating an array of hard wearing, naturally shaped furniture.
If all that was not enough, Emyr has also spent the rest of the daylight hours jotting down his memoirs for a book of his life and the journey he has gone through with Evelyn.
“My brother Alun was the better scholar, he should have written down his memories, but with ill health in later years he had left it too late’,” he says. “This made me think with my good memory, all the local history and the memories of life with Evelyn, I should put pen to paper.”
The book was dedicated to Evelyn’s memory, hand written by Emyr. It was then collated on a laptop by family and his niece, Laura, who fundraises alongside Emyr.
“Getting the book onto the laptop was the hardest part. It was originally uploaded by being dictated onto the laptop, then edited, as it did not always pick up what was said.
“Once this was nearly complete, we had a disaster and the laptop malfunctioned, so it was back to square one. I bought Laura a new laptop for her birthday and we started once again, finally completing a copy fit for the publishers.
“I do not wish for anyone to make money out of this cause, so I had to shop around to find a publisher who would print the book for a one-off special fee, enabling us to donate all the proceeds to the charities.
“They printed 1,000 copies, but I did not think they would fly off the shelves. However, in mid-December 2022 I had sold around 400 books.”
It has been seven years since Evelyn passed away on October 8, 2015, and in this time £121,000 has been raised for charity and spilt between the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) and Ovarian Cancer Action.
Emyr’s efforts have not gone unnoticed, being awarded an innovation in fundraising award in 2019 for Ovarian Cancer Action and an RABI special award in 2020. He says: “I am so lucky to have lived, loved and shared a life with Evelyn, and have a whole life of memories to look back on.
“It is so cruel that she is not here to enjoy her retirement and be able to see the cattle and garden which she loved so much. But as long as I have my health, her memory will live on.”
By kind permission of Ellie Layton (Farmers Guardian)
www.britishbluecattle.org 91