About the Farm
The farm, based in Gloucestershire, has recently won awards from the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Glos Wildlife Trust and is a demonstration farm for Natural England.
The farm prides themselves on high welfare for all animals. They use rotational grazing, and the herd is moved daily. This ensures happy animals and healthy soils.
About the Team
The team is small but very hardworking! The farm pride themselves on being family-run and Ian, his wife Cathy and daughter Steph look after all aspects of the Farm and meat sales. Ian spends his time looking after the cows and calves. Each day Ian wanders the fields to check the cows and feed them hay in winter. In summer he moves the cows daily to get a fresh graze of the herbal leys (5 grasses, 5 legumes, 5 herbs) or the permanent pasture. Cathy and Steph market and sell the beef. The farm sells up to 400kg per month and still maintains a strong customer-focused business model. Their organisation and high-standards of packaging and labelling is why we love support them through their cow share initiatives.
About the Herd
Boyd Farms Organic Pedigree Hereford suckler herd are used specifically to manage 100 ha of Species-Rich Calcareous Grassland, created as part of a Higher Level Stewardship Scheme. The cows, calves, yearlings and two-year-olds are kept as a big family group and out-wintered on thin Cotswold Brash soils, supplemented only by late-cut hay from the wildflower meadows.
The calves are born on the farm and remain there for the whole of their lives. The herd is pedigree Hereford, Organic and Certified Pasture for Life.
The herd eat permanent pasture, herbal lays and hay and haylage from the farm. All of this is Organic. Calves remain with their mothers and wean themselves naturally. They have an organic, pedigree Hereford Bull on-site for all breeding. No AI is used.
The farm personally transports each animal to the local organic abattoir, which is a 40-minute drive away. The cattle remains calm to the end. The meat is all dry aged for 28 days, to ensure great flavour and no shrinkage of any cut.
Supporting Boyd Farm/ Nose to Tail Eating
This is a great opportunity to support a family farm who are managing their land regeneratively. You can support Ian, Cathy and Steph by trying one of their tasty cow shares. Cow shares are great because you are supporting nose to tail eating, ensuring no meat goes to waste and utilising your buying power to influence positives changes in farming.
The cow share is filled with high-quality, nutrient-rich meat which will help boost your health.
Packaging and Delivery
All meat is vacuum packed into manageable sizes. Labels on each packet include – Organic status, pasture for life certified mark, QR code for full trace-ability, the cows personal identification number and weight of packet. Orders are couriered out the same day for a next day delivery, which arrives before 5pm.
The delivery boxes are recycled cardboard, with sheep’s wool and food grade plastic insulation. Within this is a plastic bag holding the meat and ice packs.