On Sunday 27th October, we were fortunate to have a lovely sunny day, perfect for roaming around the fields of Harvey Dunn’s farm in Olney.
Harvey and his sister, Penny, grew up on their family farm and decided they would like to continue down the farming path. Together they created a business that provides the local area with high-quality, locally reared, pasture-fed meat. They plan to expand using intensive mob grazing, and by renting neighbouring fields that will accommodate more cattle.
Keeping the business profitable whilst using organic low-input methods as much as possible is their goal. Currently, no concentrated feeds are used but they’re open-minded to unexpected future problems.
They focus on how the cattle's breed can contribute to the health of the immediate environment and is very mindful of using breeds that thrive locally. He currently has Red Poll cows in calf to a Shorthorn bull. He told us they’re very low input and quite light which is an advantage in the winter because they make less mud.
As we toured the land surrounded by stunning country views, Harvey gave us some raw insights into their experiences. Firstly, the difficulties of recent heavy flooding when nearly half the average annual rainfall came down in just one day, exacerbated by the river flowing through the farm’s boundary. Secondly, how he faces the challenges of dealing with a huge cluster of very solid ant-hills that are linked to fungal dominant soil. The cows are starting to collapse the ant hills as they move over them, but it’s quite a task; even toppling the odd cow (or farmer!).
We also heard about the fun of having escapee cattle who crossed the river for some holistic (un) planned grazing...on someone else’s land! Luckily the landowner is an animal lover and is happy to have cows on their field, which provided Harvey with a welcomed bonus feed.
As partners, Harvey and Penny have done a brilliant job creating their enterprise and had great success expanding their website and utilising postal deliveries.
The group had a debrief over a delicious pub roast, which went down a treat! Looking forward to a follow-up trip in the future to see Harvey and Penny’s progress.
Thank you for hosting us guys!
Find them at: https://www.homepasturedmeats.co.uk.
Instagram @homepasturedmeats
Commentaires