Danny's Days - 9th December 2024

This week I am acclimatising after a visit last week to farmers in Northumberland and Scotland. One of our main farmers is based on the Scottish Borders. To be honest you wouldn’t know where England finishes and Scotland starts when you’re up there. Guy and his neighbour Peter (who is also one of our farmers) are based a stones throw away from Bamburgh Castle. What a part pf the world! They can see Holy Island (the first settlement of Christianity) and the rest of Lindisfarne, famous for its Oysters. These cattle really are very lucky.

What makes their cattle special?

Well a combination of factors. Both farmers are forward thinking regenerative farmers, meaning they take a huge interest in soil health and the environment the cattle graze in. the cattle are grass fed and the grass they feed on is fantastically lush coastal grass, which in turn is packed with nutrients. Along with this both have slightly different breeding patterns.

Peter who calves cattle (has cows that give birth) always keeps one breed, with a very controlled gene pool. His breed is called the Stabiliser breed. This is a modern hybrid combination comprising of four breeds. The composition of Stabiliser is based on 25% of Angus, Simmental, Hereford and Gelbvieh. This gives him  very consistent cattle with exceptional quality. Meanwhile nextdoor, Guy doesn’t calve his cattle but instead cherry picks young native breed cattle such as belted Gallaway and Aberdeen Angus as well as a few Stabiliser cattle (which seem to thrive on the coastal pastures), and has a keen eye for seeing what each of his 450 needs and their individual characteristics. In fact he often compares their growth and nature to human growth and development and maturity.

This beef is very tender but unlike a growing trend in much of today's beef, this Beef has flavour and tenderness. In order to produce strong marbling, many producers feed a high percentage carbohydrate feed at the end of the cows life, which in turn tends to give tender meat with little flavour. Not here though! Quite the opposite. The cattle are bred the old-fashioned way, for quality not profit. The meat has higher nutrient density, which is fantastic for all of the family, especially children’s mental and physical development as well as a superior eating quality. 

Whilst I was visiting both gentlemen, I was also picking out the beef we will sell at Christmas from their fantastic herds. What a dream week.

I hope you have a fantastic week ahead and if you do have a Christmas beef joint, I would be thrilled to know how you found it.

The very best wishes,

Danny