2023 Limousin Annual Journal

Based on the hills of Cumbria the Marston
family is made up of Andrew and
Rachel Marston and their three children
Catherine, Abigail and Olivia. With farming in
the family for over 100 years, Andrews parents
Donald and Christine also live on the farm
and remain hands on as part of the family run
mixed beef and sheep unit.
Twelve years ago the family had a taste of
fame when they hosted BBC2’s Lambing
Live programme, since then they have
continued to build a solid commercial beef and
sheep business, diversify with a new holiday let
and raise their three children.
The Marston’s were first seen at the Society
sales in 2004 where they sold two bulls for
9,800gns and 5,500gns and it’s just over 12
years since they sold their last bull, Andrew says
they had been waiting for the right animals
to mark their return to the pedigree sales, but
never in their wildest dreams did they expect
the day to go so well.
You don’t need a million pound
business
“I was on tenterhooks waiting for the inspection
and then completely blown away by the prices”
says Andrew recounting the pride and success
of the day. “Like most farmers, we’ve had our
highs and lows. Foot and Mouth hit us hard
but it drove our move into the Limousin Breed.
Our first pedigree heifers were brought from
founder member Dougie Edgar and since
then we’ve bred what we’d like to use. I’m not
a fan of massive Limousins, they’re too big for
a hill farm and need more inputs. We need
something that is good on its legs, not just a
good carcass.”
The family decided to prioritise Herd health
and have built their stock on this principle.
“We’ve limited resources on farm and we don’t
have a stock bull so ensuring good family lines
for buying and breeding is vital for our herd.”
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ANNUAL JOURNAL 2023 | 91