Cattle

Our herd of Red Poll are a traditional breed and a ‘nod’ to the past when there was a herd in North Elmham, in fact the Breed is native to East Anglia. Traditional breeds such as Red Poll are ideally suited to grazing the wet meadows and grassland in the Valley and are comparatively light weight therefore reduced compaction on the ground. Traditional breeds are slower growing than commercial breeds and are hardier. The Red Polls graze the herb rich wet meadows and grassland providing a mosaic of habitats for invertebrates to thrive and therefore other species in the food chain.

We keep our calves with the herd for a minimum of two years as we truly believe in the calf at foot concept. Once weaned, the young stock overwinter indoors allowing us to utilise the muck for spreading on the land. The cows feed comes largely from the farm with a mix of maize, hay, fodder beet, turnips and beans.

The fact it’s a closed herd means we do not need to routinely vaccinate, furthermore we use little or no wormers as we do faecal egg counts and use a rotational grazing system so cattle are always moving onto clean pasture. Every effort is made to operate in as organic manner as is possible.