I can hardly believe that its been a year since I started working full time on the farm, and I can honestly say that I've loved every day.....well almost everyday!! I definitely have no regrets about choosing this pathway and more importantly the lifestyle that comes with it. It is almost like an addiction and wanting to improve the quality of the cattle is a way of life. One of the most important things I have learnt throughout the year is that if you take 'shortcuts' one day, it will create twice as much work the following day, so consistently and attention to detail EVERYDAY is the key to our successful farming business.
Like anything, there are always highs and lows and with farming this greatly depends on you, as the consumers who determine the demand for British beef. If you keep buying British beef, we will continue to supply high quality meat! As we have seen recently, the milk prices have dramatically decreased which has caused many dairy farmers to go out of business, however the beef prices has also declined but not to the extent of the milk industry. Since working on the farm I have realised the importance of educating and promoting the purchase of british grown foods as it benefits the suppliers most close to home.
This is probably a good time to share where we get our calves from and where the finished beef ends up. The calves are not born on the farm, instead they are bought from two local markets.... Sedgemoor on a Saturday and Frome on a Wednesday. We do not go to market ourselves, however we have buyers who select calves suitable for our beef system which are then delivered to the farm. We have calves delivered all year round so there is a constant supply of finished beef at the other end of the system. The number of calves entering the farm each week greatly depends on the quality and number at market. Sometimes we get 20+ and other times we get 1! These animals will stay on the farm until they are fit for slaughter and this is usually around 20-22 months old. We have a contract with 'Dovecote Park' who "proudly supply the very finest British beef, veal and venison to Waitrose supermarkets nationwide". We are therefore committed to raising livestock to the highest possible standards in order to produce the best quality product.
As a supplier to Dovecote Park, we are invited to corporate events where other suppliers across the nation come together and share their farming experiences. Last week, we were fortunate to attend the annual event hosted by Lord and Lady Bamford at JCB world in Stafford. Firstly, we had a tour of the estate which is one of the largest suppliers of venison to Waitrose. Then we had an eye opening experience of how JCB became the global company that it is today followed by a step by step demonstration of how the machinery is manufactured from a flat piece of material!...It was incredible!!!
Before I started working on the farm, I didn't realise the diverse range of activities that has to be done. So I've created a video to document what I have been up to throughout the year!!
Like anything, there are always highs and lows and with farming this greatly depends on you, as the consumers who determine the demand for British beef. If you keep buying British beef, we will continue to supply high quality meat! As we have seen recently, the milk prices have dramatically decreased which has caused many dairy farmers to go out of business, however the beef prices has also declined but not to the extent of the milk industry. Since working on the farm I have realised the importance of educating and promoting the purchase of british grown foods as it benefits the suppliers most close to home.
This is probably a good time to share where we get our calves from and where the finished beef ends up. The calves are not born on the farm, instead they are bought from two local markets.... Sedgemoor on a Saturday and Frome on a Wednesday. We do not go to market ourselves, however we have buyers who select calves suitable for our beef system which are then delivered to the farm. We have calves delivered all year round so there is a constant supply of finished beef at the other end of the system. The number of calves entering the farm each week greatly depends on the quality and number at market. Sometimes we get 20+ and other times we get 1! These animals will stay on the farm until they are fit for slaughter and this is usually around 20-22 months old. We have a contract with 'Dovecote Park' who "proudly supply the very finest British beef, veal and venison to Waitrose supermarkets nationwide". We are therefore committed to raising livestock to the highest possible standards in order to produce the best quality product.
As a supplier to Dovecote Park, we are invited to corporate events where other suppliers across the nation come together and share their farming experiences. Last week, we were fortunate to attend the annual event hosted by Lord and Lady Bamford at JCB world in Stafford. Firstly, we had a tour of the estate which is one of the largest suppliers of venison to Waitrose. Then we had an eye opening experience of how JCB became the global company that it is today followed by a step by step demonstration of how the machinery is manufactured from a flat piece of material!...It was incredible!!!
Before I started working on the farm, I didn't realise the diverse range of activities that has to be done. So I've created a video to document what I have been up to throughout the year!!