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About our Organic Beef

We are a mixed biodynamic farm with the aim of producing the best-tasting, healthiest food without compromise whilst becoming self-sustaining and self-sufficient.
We have two of the most famous beef herds in the world as well as a top-indexed dairy herd and more unusually, a water buffalo herd. We have a total bovine community of approximately 1,600 from which we hope to obtain up to 500 calves in 2007. Our beef cattle are slower growing breeds although under present regulations we are required to raise and slaughter all within the 30-month limit. Our cattle rotate across approximately 2,400 acres of land. Angus Cattle We have two different types of Angus cattle on the farm; our Native Angus consists of 13 breeding females and 10 young stock pure Native Angus which represents one third of their total world population. We also have a total of 78 Aberdeen Angus breeding females and use one breeding bull and expect to produce 78 calves this year plus a young stock of approximately 190. Aberdeen Angus produce outstanding beef quality for which they are famous around the world. The Aberdeen Angus originated in Scotland. The pure native breed has become rare as most Angus is now cross bred for faster growth and bigger size, hence ours might look smaller than you would expect. Traditional Hereford We have 60 pure traditional Hereford breeding females plus 150 young stock and use one breeding bull, from which we hope to obtain approximately 60 calves this year. Our herd represents about 20% of the world population of pure Herefords.
Although not quite so rare as the Angus, the traditional Hereford has become rare in comparison to the modern Hereford cross breeds. Our traditional Herefords have the distinctive brown body colour, white face and the classic stocky build that makes them very recognisable. Their beef, while a little fattier than the Angus, is equally famous for its taste and quality.
Water Buffalo We have a herd of 300 breeding females plus 700 young stock and hope to see 300 calves this year. Buffalo are a common sight in Eastern Europe and throughout Asia. They are kept for meat and milk. Their milk is best known for making Mozzarella cheese whilst their meat is a tasty lower fat alternative to beef (notwithstanding that the fat on our beef is healthy because the cattle are grass-fed!). They are kept just the same way that we keep our other cattle except that they are larger and stronger. This means that even though they are good tempered animals, our hedges, fences, gates and even the milking parlour have to be reinforced to handle them safely. Our Buffalo produce an average of seven litres of milk per day.
Jersey Cows We maintain a top-indexed herd of 62 cows and 30 pure dairy heifers (a heifer is a cow which has yet to have a calf) and young stock, all pedigree animals sourced from Denmark. We expect to have 62 calves this year. Jersey cows produce world-renowned milk that is rich and creamy. Their milk, like our beef, is higher in Omega 3 fatty acids as a consequence of their grass-fed diet. Our Jersey Cows produce an average of 15 litres of milk per day. Holstein Cows (the typical black and white cow) in the U.S. can produce up to 50 litres of milk per day in intensive dairy farms.
Native Angus/Jersey cross We have cross bred approximately 40 Jersey cows with our Native Angus bull to produce a better quality beef animal than a pure Jersey. The females will stay in the dairy and still produce quality Jersey milk but the males will raised as beef cattle.
BOVINE WELFARE All of our cows and buffalos live outside in grassy fields and pastures enjoying the 31 different herbs clovers and grasses in our mixed leys. Any calves that are born in the late autumn are brought into covered sheds with their mothers for two to three months during the coldest and wettest winter months where they are fed silage (similar to pickled grasses) homemade from our mixed leys. They also get a mixture of home-grown cereals such as oats, wheat and barley. We bring the milking buffalo into covered areas from late November to early March which means they are receiving a silage and cereal mixture which is a more nourishing feed during the winter months and also helps keep them a little less muddy during the wet winter months as milking a buffalo caked in mud is not an easy task!
All of our cows and buffalo give birth naturally outside in the fields. The beef calves will stay with their mothers until they are naturally weaned; the dairy cows and buffalo stay with their calves for approximately seven days so that the calves get the benefit of their mothers colostrum and then the calves go into a special calving pen where they are bottle fed jersey milk and the mothers go into the dairy stock to be milked twice a day for the next ten months. When the dairy cows are in calf again they will be given a two month break from milking prior to giving birth in order to rest and put on weight for a healthy calf. Cows are pregnant for nine months whereas buffalo are pregnant for ten months.