South West farmers say 'beef doesn't have to cost the earth' - and here's why

Farmers in the South West are leading the way in rearing happy, healthy animals that don't cost the earth.

Calves are spending longer with their mums, hedges are growing tall and untidy, and there is a farming "revolution" underway in the region.

Faced with climate concerns about factory farming, families are working harder than ever to show how nutritious, grass-fed beef can be produced sustainably on the British Isles.

Josh Gay, 28, is the fifth generation of his family to farm in Newton St Loe, near Bath, and among a crop of young farmers who are trying to do things differently.

His mum Celia, 62, said: "My husband Hugh's grandfather came here before the Second World War and I imagine that back then it was much more about local food, with people going direct to farmers, than it is now.

"I think there is a lot of interest in going back to that. In 2000, the milk price fell so low that we turned to selling our own beef to survive.

"From doing that, we realised there was an increased demand in people wanting to know where their food is coming from and buying locally-produced food

"So that led into us setting up our own butchery, a farm shop, and now a cafe."

Nowadays, the Gay family has around 300 cattle, mostly native breeds like South Devons, grazing their Newton and Park Farms, which are owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.

Calves remain with their mums for nine months after they are born, suckling milk and gradually weaning onto grass.

Celia said: "From our point of view we’re very fortunate that we can do that because have quite a large area where we can have animals grazing the grass.

"The calves are happy, they’re with their mums and it’s just a very nice way of being able to produce beef."

She added: "Here on the British Isles we have exactly the right conditions to farm sustainably.

"We have quite a lot of rainfall which makes the grass grow and cattle have a great way of turning grass, which we can’t eat, into really nutritious beef, which we can eat.

"As most people know, it’s very high in protein and it’s high in all the B vitamins and iron, that’s extremely good for us."

Josh uses a practice called "mob grazing" to allow the land to recover in between grazing periods, without the need for chemical wormers or fertilisers.

"Mob grazing is based on nomadic animal migration, so the land is divided into thirds and Josh tries not to return the animals to the same patch for 60 days," Celia explained.

After the cattle have left a pasture, Josh allows sheep and then chickens to graze the short grass left behind. He is farming "regeneratively" to improve the soil health.

"Josh is really passionate about reducing our carbon footprint and trying to get to net zero. He's trying to regenerate the soil and the micro-systems that exist, whether it be in the soil or in the vegetation or in the hedges.

"So one the basic principles of that is keeping the soil covered and not disturbing it. We use a cover crop of over 20 different plant species, like clover and brassicas, which turns the soil into a massive carbon sink.

"We try not to plough the land, because the whole concept is that you don’t turn over the soil because that releases a lot of carbon back into the atmosphere," Celia explained.

As part of a government Higher Level Stewardship Scheme, the Gays have been laying hedges, planting hundreds of trees and restoring ponds to provide a variety of wildlife habitats on the farm.

Celia is also part of "Ladies in Beef", a voluntary organisation promoting the British beef industry to consumers, through events like Great British Beef Week (23-30 April).

She said: "I came into Ladies in Beef thanks to Jilly Greed, one of the co-founders, who was my neighbour when I was growing up in Devon."

Jilly, 66, is the fifth generation of her family to run Fortescue Farm on the outskirts of Exeter. She said: "Back in 2009, my friend Minette Batters and I saw that positive messages about Red Tractor-assured British beef were not getting through to the consumer.

"So, as two pretty fierce women, we came together to do something about it. We took our inspiration from Ladies in Pigs and I think, as a voluntary organisation, we punch above our weight."

Helped by her husband Edwin and son George, Jilly manages 600 acres on the River Exe floodplain, raising native breeds like South Devons and Red Polls.

"We are seeing fewer big floods than we used to because the farmers on Exmoor have been working with South West Water, Natural England and Defra. 

"They are no longer digging out the ditches and so Exmoor is acting as a giant sponge to absorb the rainwater and stop it from flooding downstream

"The flood plain means we can grow grass all year round with lush pastures and herbal leys, which are really good for our cattle and for producing nutritious beef.

"I remember how the water used to rush through the cattle sheds and on one occasion I found a trout in the barn.

"Now, we plant meadows to absorb the water and slow its progress into the city, which helps prevent residential flooding downstream."

She has also planted 6,000 trees to mitigate bank erosion - many of them willow, which grows quickly and is good for cattle health.

"We have been letting our hedgerows grow big and fluffy so they provide a better habitat for birds and we have been planting the margins of our arable fields with wild bird food," Jilly added.

All this hard work is starting to pay off and two red-listed species of bird - linnets and greenfinches - have made their home on the farm.

"Sometimes farming doesn’t have a great name but the majority of farmers are working so hard to do the right thing.

"It’s so uplifting to see the species increase, just from growing the hedges and planting wild bird food.

"However, my father would have been horrified because it doesn’t look picture-perfect," Jilly laughed.

In fact, the late Mr Greed could never have imagined what his daughter has done with the farm.

"When I was 21, I asked him if I could come back and do a bit and he just laughed in my face. I think he thought I didn’t have the physical frame for it - but that has really changed.

"I always had the business acumen and you really need that to be a farmer. Nowadays, we have so many machines which have enabled farming to be done by women and by fewer people.

"At one point, there were seven men employed on this farm - now there is just one," Jilly explained.

With his suckler herd out mob-grazing the meadows and herbal leys, Jilly's son George, 33, has rented out some of the old farm buildings to local small businesses.

His next plan is to bring a baker onto the farm, to make delicious bread from their homegrown wheat.

Jilly said: "George is very enterprising and he continues to surprise us with all these projects.

"We had 40 bakers in our Cob Barn last week as part of the South West Grain Network and we have just planted 100 tonnes of two different varieties of wheat to sell on to bakers in the autumn

"I think people are really inspired by us and we are inspired by them. I think as a farming industry we have become a bit detached from the consumer

"My father used to grow potatoes and take them into schools. It was much more of a mixed farm and we are going back to that."

The future looks bright for the Fortescue and Newton Farms, with George Greed and Josh Gay trailblazing a new way of farming.

However, Jilly warned that government support was vital to sustaining British beef.

"We cannot be sustainable if we are producing below the cost of imported beef. We cannot allow cheap imports which are not produced to our standards

"The greatest way you can help is to buy British. Eat better, eat less and eat balanced."

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