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BEEF Raised almost entirely on the New Forest perambulation our traditional mixed herd of Aberdeen Angus and Hereford cattle have been selectively breed to survive on the open New Forest. Our system is a step back in time to before the 20th century when most of the nation's beef was produced on an open extensive system with minimal supplementary feeding in areas such as the South Downs, the South-West moors and Wales.
One of Pondhead's prize winning cows with breeder Mrs Mabbutt Today the demands of supermarkets and consumers to have the cheapest possible beef necessitates most farmers to utilize an indoor intensive system with the aim of producing a body of beef within 24 months. However this is usually at the expense of animal welfare and most importantly, at least to our minds, flavour; the greatest development of flavour and maturity comes when the animal is growing between 24 and 36 months from our experience. To enhance this yet further all of our beef is hung for three weeks.
Furthermore the wide variety of diet available on the New Forest from heather, bracken, rare grasses to even gorse and holly imparts a flavour unique to our beef. Grazing patterns too are unique, and something that visitors to the New Forest may notice; during the winter the herd returns to the farm twice a day for supplementary feeding and usually stay within a 2 mile radius of the farm, selecting to shelter in the ancient beeches and oaks to the south in inclement weather, returning to the "lawns" of the forest and the extensive heather to the north in the sun. As spring shakes a leg so the cattle's range increases with decreasing reliance on the farm for feed. As the solstice approaches towards mid June so the cattle really benefit from the comparative richness of the grasses. They do so by effectively migrating to the valley of the Beaulieu River which following nutrients deposited during the winter's floods becomes extremely rich with grass. In the Autumn the herd returns and may be grazed on the farm itself to minimize the risk of Acorn Poisoning in the woods to the South. Acorns, a highly concentrated nugget of protein become poisonous to cattle when consumed in large quantities - the gallotannin is broken down to gallic acid and tannic acid. Such acids cause ulcerations of the mouth intestines and damage the Kidneys, often resulting in death. To negate the risk we release our herd of saddleback pigs to hover up the fruits of these ancient trees, including beech mast, acorns and crab apples - read more about this on our Pork Page
This system mimics as far as possible the natural behaviour of cattle in an extensive system. Our intervention as farmer's is purely for the benefit of the cattle and their offspring, we prefer where possible for example to supervise the birth of calves and ensure that they flourish early by housing them at the farm to guarantee warmth and safety. Mothers return twice daily to feed their calves at such times, and depending on the time of year are let to roam freely with the rest of the herd after 3 - 6 months.
Our beef is priced as below, and is available directly from our farm shop, or the market venues listed where we regularly provide free cooked samples to demonstrate the difference of our beef. |
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