Spotlight on the Martin family

This week’s group focus comes from the South-West Down Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) Group and the Martin Family from Ballydown near Banbridge.
By The Newsroom
Published 30th Aug 2021, 10:00 GMT
As well as fresh milk, Ballydown Milk do 10 milkshake flavours, sell eggs from their own chickens, have a coffee machine and also sell local traybakes, s’more kits, jams/chutneys, home grown produce and sourdough bread Friday and Saturday, also made locally – you need to check this out if you haven’t already done soAs well as fresh milk, Ballydown Milk do 10 milkshake flavours, sell eggs from their own chickens, have a coffee machine and also sell local traybakes, s’more kits, jams/chutneys, home grown produce and sourdough bread Friday and Saturday, also made locally – you need to check this out if you haven’t already done so
As well as fresh milk, Ballydown Milk do 10 milkshake flavours, sell eggs from their own chickens, have a coffee machine and also sell local traybakes, s’more kits, jams/chutneys, home grown produce and sourdough bread Friday and Saturday, also made locally – you need to check this out if you haven’t already done so

The family are fourth generation farmers with the farm having been bought in 1928. Sam, Martin and his son James deal with the running of the farm today.

James is married to Stephanie and they have two young sons, Jacob (who is just over two and a half years old) and Joel (who is 18 months old) with a third baby expected at Christmas time.

When the children came along, Stephanie explored the route of milk vending as she wanted to stay at home with them and get more involved in the family farm.

This opportunity was too good to pass up as it meant she had her own sideline on the farm while still getting to be a stay at home mum. James first saw milk vending on a Keenan trip to Germany in 2018. After a couple of years of research and following social media profiles in the UK and seeing a few crop up locally, now seemed like the perfect time to do it and so Ballydown Milk was born.

As well as fresh milk, Ballydown Milk do 10 milkshake flavours, sell eggs from their own chickens, have a coffee machine and also sell local traybakes, s’more kits, jams/chutneys, home grown produce and sourdough bread Friday and Saturday, also made locally – you need to check this out if you haven’t already done so! 

The Martin Family have been members of the UFU for as long as anyone on the farm can remember. They stated that they have appreciated the UFU voice at government level and how they stand up for our industry. They have also made use of the many services provided with UFU membership and received advice on health and safety, insurance, legal and financial issues and have said they have found the services invaluable. They feel the local South-West Down Group managers have always been very helpful and professional. They have always gone the extra mile if a problem arose.

Related topics:StephanieSPOTLIGHTBanbridge