In 1957 John Sykes Rymer, armed with a Cambridge University degree in Agriculture and a strong ambition to eventually farm 1,000 acres, set his sights on his first solo farming venture.

As president of the Cambridge University Agricultural Society, he invited Burton Pidsea farmer Tom Harrison to give a talk on Pigs, Peas and Potatoes.

According to John's biographer and rural commentator, Mike Keeble, this was to be a moment that would inspire John for life.

Mr Keeble said: "Tom excited and inspired John for life that evening for he spoke as a good farmer on good land, but he was a businessman first and foremost.

"So his philosophy of pigs, peas and potatoes was born. It proved a winning hand and one that John Sykes Rymer understood as his route into a farm of his own," Mr Keeble added.

The following year, aged just 25, John bought his first farm, Eastburn Warren, and little did he know that these 440 acres of chalky farm land on the edge of the Wolds were the start of what would become the JSR Farming Group, now one of the biggest farming companies in the Driffield area.

During the following quarter of a century, British agriculture experienced unprecedented growth through intense technological, mechanical and scientific developments and JSR Farms were no exception with John accumulating an extensive property porfolio.

Over the first 25 years the business grew to 7,843 acres by 1982, of which 2,992 were tenanted, and the first steps towards expansion were taken in 1964 with the purchase of 130 acres at Huggate.

Four years later, John took over the tenancy of 500 acres at Catwick Farm where he also took on 200 outdoor Saddleback sows, a 180-ewe flock and a sugar beet quota.

By 1969 John had the Haywold Farms Partnership under his belt after 2,000 acres at Haywold, a farm west of Eastburn, went on the market.
The estate was purchased by Lord Halifax, of the Garrowby Estate, who offered JSR Farms the chance to embark on a joint venture which saw John become managing director of Haywold Farms Ltd, a role that was to see him rub shoulders with royalty.

During the prestigious mid-August York Race Week, Queen Elizabeth II was a guest of His Lordship at Garrowby and John and his family were invited to Haywold to take Her Majesty on a guided tour of the farm.
Five months later, Sir Richard Prince-Smith offered John 1,000 acres at Southburn, an offer that took his land ownership to more than 5,000 acres and by 1974 John had struck the deal that proved to be a pinnacle moment in JSR's 50-year history.

On Christmas Eve, John met Geoff Cooper, the agent for Southburn, at Victoria Pier, Hull, and agreed to take over vacant possession of the farm and Southburn House which was to become the family home and company headquarters.

Throughout the decade that followed, JSR Farms acquired a further 1,000 acres at Givendale, next to Haywold, which was to become the hub of the companies' beef production and Decoy Farm, near Driffield, before jumping across the Humber to Caenby Corner on the Lincolnshire Wolds.

By the summer of 1980, after taking on a further 542 acres at Gomery, John had exceeded his original goal five-fold and was by now the non-executive chairman of JSR Farms, Bootham Engineers, and Fisher-Thompson seeds and grain.

As the business grew, John was very aware of the importance of surrounding himself with the right people.

Kenneth Hibbert, an insurance broker and neighbour of Tom Harrison, helped secure the first mortgage on Eastburn Warren and was to become one of John's lifelong friends helping to bring out his love of the finer things in life, including philosophy, poetry, literature and art.
Virtually from the start, Harold MacMillan was part of the equation having been appointed as farm foreman at Eastburn, sparking a working relationship that was to span 32 years.

Mr Keeble said: "It was to Harold that John entrusted the initial training of many young men over the years knowing that under his tutorship they had every chance of becoming key players in the expanding business."

In September 1963, a JSR Farms advertisement in the Driffield Times for a farm foreman at Huggate brought Norman Wood on board. Within six years he was looking after more than 2,000 acres.

Mr Keeble added: "Norman fascinated John with his natural feel for good husbandry and, as they became friends, the benefits and potential from training men like Norman to greater heights added a fourth P to Pigs, Peas and Potatoes - People. They were the cement that made the structure sound."

By the late 1960s, Malcolm Pearson, a former Ministry of Agriculture advisor from the Beverley office, had been recruited as livestock director at a time when the pig business was growing steadily and beef production was just around the corner.

Malcolm stayed with the company until his retirement in January 1995 when he pursued his interests with the Driffield Agricultural Society and with teaching at Bishop Burton College.

By the autumn of 1970, Peter Bradbury, from Ernst and Whinney accountants in Hull, jumped on board the good ship JSR as commercial director and chief accountant.

Six years later, Richard Fuller was taken on as farm manager at Givendale Farm, working with Malcolm Pearson, to take JSR's beef production forward to the award winning status it enjoys today.