Stepping into February // Kingfisher Monthly Post

On the farm we rotational graze our livestock. Cattle first and then sheep. This helps the worm burden on the ground and has cut down the need to worm our sheep by 80%, saving on chemicals going into the sheep, and in turn being spread on the field. Further to this, where the sheep follow the cattle they act as a roller from where the cattle are heavy footed –meaning we do not have to roll after the cattle with a tractor, again saving 1 hour of tractor driving p/ha of field. (A tractor burns approximately 32 l/hr of diesel)It also leaves a mixed height sward once each animal has finished, allowing it to be habitable for wildlife. All our livestock is pasture fed, limiting the need for any artificial or brought in feed.

All our farmland is in Stewardship schemes. This is a government scheme we support as a business to protect the wildlife and nature surrounding us. All our ground is spray and artificial fertiliser free.

We make all our own winter feed, for the cattle and sheep during the winter months. We cut all of our grass later in the year to allow time for the grass to grow and flower. This supports nature, and is in line with our stewardship scheme, allowing wildlife such as bees and birds to feed and pollinate during their breeding and feeding season.

Once this has then taken place, we cut the sward and make it into hay. This allows for new growth and flowers to come through for the next season ahead. Weather permitting, we turn the cut sward into hay. Even though this has a lower feed value, we feel that the breeds of animals we farm, we make sufficient food for our livestock.

With climate change high on the agenda and increased pressure on cost control we have invested in many rare breed animals which are not used for the mass market. This helps to support the future of our native and rare breeds in the UK. These animals are typically hardy and work well with lower input farming systems and support the environment. These small slow growing animals also suit our customers. Larger commercial animals used predominantly for supermarkets and mass catering, are bred to grow and be ready for slaughter in a third of the time. Further to this they are likely to be shut in barns for most of there life, with a diet consisting of at least 50% artificial feed, adding more methane, and increasing emissions.

In the butchery we look to use as little packaging as possible, especially non-recyclable plastics. We use reusable plastic trays with our catering customers, which are returned, washed and reused. For all our mail orders, a wool packaging is used, to keep our products cool in transit. This is a natural product. All our boxes are made of recycled material and are recyclable for the customer when they receive them.

All of our products are dry aged, which means when the product is cut, we pack it in its final bag before delivery to the customer. Other commercial companies would not have the room to dry age everything, meaning they would cut down the products immediately after cooling and then bag them – this is known as wet aging and bags on those products can be changed 5+ times before they go in their final bag to the end user.

All our bone, fat and blood waste goes into rendering for renewable energy, avoiding going into land fill.