THE Prince of Wales spoke to farmers, viewed Highland Cattle, and enjoyed tea and cake during a visit to Darlington Farmer’s Auction Mart on Tuesday.
Prince Charles greeted crowds of farmers and mart officials before officially opening the Humbleton Park facility, which opened during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
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A gold plaque was unveiled to mark the historic occasion.
Upon arrival, Prince Charles met delegates, including Darlington Mayor Cyndi Hughes, before being given a tour of the premises. He heard first-hand about how local farmers coped during the pandemic and the prospects for the industry.
Inside the mart’s award-winning Dot’s café, he spoke to farmers from Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services (UTASS) to hear how the livestock sector and wider farming community are meeting the challenges of the growing cost of inputs such as energy, fertiliser, grain and labour, as well as the ongoing structural changes in the sector.
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The popular café, managed by Dorothy Macdonald, has twice received the Farmers Guardian Auction Café of the Year award.
Speaking of the Royal visit to her café, Ms Macdonald said: “It was absolutely fantastic - he’s a great patron for the farming community. He wanted to know if I had farming background, if we sourced food locally, did we make everything here.
“It’s an absolute pleasure for him to be here and it’s wonderful for the Darlington community.”
“Never mind tell my grandkids, I’ll keep having to tell myself about this moment.”
Following a brief stop at a veterinary practice, His Royal Highness walked across the penning area to see the new handling facilities, met customers and viewed some sheep and cattle.
He was greeted by mart worker and farmer Stephen Dodsworth and his two sons Freddie, eight, and Patrick, six.
“It’s been amazing and a chance of a lifetime to meet him,” said Mr Dodsworth.
“He was chatting with the boys about their rare breeds as he works with the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. He told them to keep up the good work and he was admiring their new jackets.
“He’s a lovely, nice guy. He’s a champion of farming and great for the industry.”
In the sale ring, in front of staff and customers, The Prince of Wales then unveiled a plaque officially opening the mart.
He told the crowd: “It’s a great joy to come and meet some of you to watch me being auctioneer. I’m sorry it’s taken me 18 months to get here to open this new facility, but I hear it’s been a great success, in fact too much of a success because it’s already becoming too small.
“It was a great joy to meet some of the farmers who I know work on so many of these very special farms in really special, beautiful areas of this countryside. As family farmers I’ve always thought you are unbelievably special.
“What so often people don’t understand is the role you play in rural communities, which is to me absolutely critical in terms of how you maintain the countryside in the long term.
“I do hope these new facilities are really worthwhile and judging by what I’ve learned today the prices of cattle and sheep aren’t too bad, so I pray they stay like that for as long as possible because you’re a very important, hefty breed of people for whom the country is very lucky to have looking after us.”
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