‘The Yorkie’ Comes To Yorkshire

A young farming tenant on our Pickering estate in Yorkshire is developing a new breed of hybrid sheep which he plans to call ‘The Yorkie’.

Born into a farming family, Chris Timm and his wife Lisa have spent the last 10 years building up a successful business based on the principles of producing quality pedigree stock and ensuring high standards of environmental sustainability in their farming methodologies.

Chris’s latest project is the development of his own hybrid breed, an idea he first came up with five years ago and which has taken four years to implement: “I started with 40 ewes in order to breed tups and I now have 350 breeding ewes including 40 Suffolk, 100 Charollais, 40 Beltex and some Texels as well as crossbreds. We’ve been very successful in selling Charollais X Beltex tups in Bentham livestock market and a number of other places and we’ve won quite a few carcase competitions.

“We’re now setting on with our own hybrid breed. I’ve had the idea for five years and it has taken me four years to implement. The basis of it is a Beltex tup on to a Charollais ewe and then a Texel tup on from there. I’m going to call the breed Yorkie and it will be coming on for selling in 2021.”

Chris and Lisa already own flocks of Charollais, Beltex and Suffolk ewes and a herd of Aberdeen Angus suckler cows along with commercial suckler cows and store lambs. Their move to West Blansby Farm in October last year has allowed the family to consolidate the business in a single holding whilst providing a large and comfortable family home for the couple and their three young children.

Commenting on Chris’s dream of developing his own hybrid breed Duchy Head of Rural Christopher Sparrow said: “We are delighted to be able to support Chris and Lisa in this, their latest project. Creative thinking, innovation and an entrepreneurial mind-set are key to successful farming these days and we are delighted to be able to support tenants who have a clear plan and vision for the future. We look forward to meeting the new Yorkie and to working with Chris and his family on future projects for many years to come.”

West Blansby Farm is a 284-acre holding which includes a 4-bedroomed farmhouse, along with a range of traditional and modern farm buildings. The Pickering Estate, which today covers some 800 hectares, is one of the original assets of the Duchy having been part of the ancient inheritance in 1267.