Rogues gallery of moustaches

The company proudly cultivated a 120m-long grass moustache in Ballykelly in a bid not to be out-done by sister-company British Seed Houses, who gave the world famous Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset a grass moustache.

The Ballykelly moustache, grown in a field of Aber high sugar grass and red clove mix, was shaped carefully using an agricultural mower for Movember - the initiative encouraging men to grow a moustache in November to promote three of the biggest health issues facing men – prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health.

Mark McFarland, sales manager at Joseph Mortons Banbridge explained why the company are keen to support the charity among the agricultural community.

He said: “As a company that operates in farming, we recognise it’s an industry dominated by men. Farmers are notorious for not looking after themselves when it comes to either safety or health issues. A lot of us seemed to know of farmers who had prostate cancer and so it seemed a good idea to promote the charity by cutting this moustache out in grass.”

The company hope that the Ballykelly moustache will inspire Northern Ireland farmers to grow their own moustache during November and are running a competition offering a £500 prize for the most impressive moustache. They will also donate £500 to the Movember charity on the winner’s behalf.

Mark said: “We need before and after pictures and then the ladies in the office will judge who’s best. We’ve had a great response with the majority of our workers getting involved and the ‘rogues gallery’ pictures can be viewed on our company website”.

Company founder Joseph Morton started the business 150 years ago, and since then the name of Mortons has been synonymous with agricultural supply in Northern Ireland. They hope in joining with Movember’s to change the face of men’s health for the better.