Category: Cow Share
Introducing Model Farm
We work with this inspiring Family be able to offer you some of the best beef available in the UK through our ‘cow share’ way of purchasing. Read why it is so important to support farmers like these.
Model Farm
Simon Cutter Farms on the wonderful rich pastures and meadows of Model farm, near Ross on Wye in Herefordshire.
Simon Cutter is the founder of Model Farm Society. Educated at Cirencester Agricultural College between 1977-1980, he has studied and practised traditional farming for over 30 years including time spent farming in Australia. Simon has been a pioneer in the rearing of Organic livestock and produce long before the ‘Organic bandwagon’ started to roll in the wake of the BSE crisis in the early 1990′s
Model Farm is home to a herd of 270 Hereford Beef Cattle and 400 Easy care ewes on sustainably managed grassland and forage crops. Simon’s cattle and sheep are 100% pasture fed and receive NO grains. Model Farm is managed to soil association standards for Organic status, the land receives no in-organic fertilisers or sprays and a forage crop rotation system produces natural organic foods for any winter feeds required.
‘Easy Care’ is a breed of sheep ideally suited to this topography and organic management system. They require minimal management and even shed their own fleece, so don’t require shearing. The torpedo shaped head of the lambs allows for easy lambing and Simon’s careful selective breeding program has led to the health of the flock to be nothing less than exceptional in the absence of routine medical intervention. The sheep require a small amount of supplementary feed in winter and this is provided by way of a home grown red clover hay.
Of the 270 Cattle, 100 hundred are breeding cows, the health of the herd is outstanding and the vet visiting is a very rare occurrence. There is NO routine medicines used and Simon maintains, that with extensive healthy grassland and soils, the cows and sheep receive all the nutrients they need to stay healthy from the diverse range of plants they eat.
The Hereford breeding stock stay outdoors on pasture, all year round. Hereford Cattle are a hardy traditional British breed originating in this area so are ideally suited to its climate and terrain. The young stock usually come in for the wettest parts of the year to avoid poaching the delicate grassland. Indoors the young stock will be bedded on local straw and fed Lucerne silage. Lucerne is a green, nutrient dense plant that grows very deep roots, it can access reservoirs of minerals not normally available to normal grasses and is considered a ‘superfood’.
The Beef is outstanding, due to the diet of the cattle consisting ONLY of natural herb rich plant matter and organic home grown super foods. The animals are getting all the minerals and vitamins they need and these will naturally pass on a range of these beneficial nutrients to you. The beef is dry aged for a minimum of 21 days.
Simon is ‘pasture for life‘ certified.
Simon handles all the transportation to a local abattoir and the meat will be cut by Simon’s butcher on the Model farm in a new purpose build unit.
Introducing Hill Top Farm, Malham
We work with this inspiring couple to be able to offer you some of the best beef available in the UK through our ‘cow share’ way of purchasing. Read why it is so important to support farmers like these.
Hill Top Farm
Neil Heseltine with Partner Leigh Weston farm the very beautiful ‘Hill Top Farm’ at Malham in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Neil and Leigh are passionate about producing 100% pasture fed beef from their 100 strong herd of Belted Galloway Cattle.
The Cattle are grazed all year round on limestone pastures and are never housed. In the most extreme of winters if the cattle need extra sustenance they are fed home grown hay or silage.
This is no hardship for these animals, Belted Galloway Cattle are renowned for their hardy and agile nature and are well equipped for the wind and cold they will experience on the higher Moors of this extensive Farm. Originating in South West Scotland the breed is very distinctive due to its ‘belt’ of white on a black, dun or red body.
Belted Galloway Cattle are incredibly efficient at converting rough grassland into very fine quality beef.
The beef these animal produce is exceptional, due to their diet consisting ONLY of natural herb rich plant matter. The animals get all the minerals and vitamins they need for supreme health in their diet and therefore need no medical intervention. No anti biotic residues here! The meat they produce will naturally pass on a range of these beneficial nutrients to you, and is arguably among the most nutritious meat you can buy.
“All our cattle are finished on grass or occasionally hay, they do not get fed grains at all,” LEIGH
This breed of cattle are at their best and most content when allowed to express their natural instincts. If managed in harmony with their nature you will see them wandering as a herd over the large open areas, occasionally wallowing in the watering areas. The ‘in-calf’ Cows will sneak off to calve and keep the newly born calf hidden for a few days until it is strong enough to be with the herd.
Limestone pasture is a delicate habitat that has been damaged by increased sheep grazing over the last few decades. Sheep graze only the most palatable grasses, and in many areas this has resulted in the rare and important species becoming choked by rank grasses. Hardy native cattle are ideal for restoring the diverse range of flora, their grazing action is less selective so reduces the long grasses. The grazing and trampling action opens up pockets of soil allowing important native species to successfully re-seed. Neil and Leigh farm the Belted Galloway cattle as part of a conservation scheme to regenerate these delicate and important habitats.
The couple Farm within a very High Tier of Higher Level Scheme which encourages farmers to manage land for the benefit of the environment.
“IT RESTRICTS YOU IN TERMS OF WHAT NUMBERS YOU CAN GRAZE, THE TIMINGS OF GRAZING AND WHAT YOU CAN FEED THE ANIMALS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, BUT I DON’T SEE ANY OF IT AS A HINDRANCE. I DO IT BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN IT.
“I BELIEVE THIS IS HOW AGRICULTURE SHOULD BE. THE KEY FOR ME IS IT SHOULD BE SUSTAINABLE, ENVIRONMENTALLY AND FINANCIALLY- NEIL.
The couple are so passionate about sustainable Farming that they do not ‘finish’ the Cattle, they simply allow them to continue grazing year after year until they reach the correct conformation for slaughter. This is often more than double the duration of a commercial grain fed beef animal.
Neil and Leigh want to see their good work continued to the very end, by working through us, to reach out to ‘conscious consumers’ they can make sure the nutritious ethical meat they have spent several years bringing to your table will be FULLY appreciated.