We started our autumn tour at the Postlethwaite Beef Farm, in Ulverston, Cumbria from where we source our heritage breed beef.
Tom Postlethwaite, and his daughter Connie, have farmed the land for generations and whilst they rear 800 head of cattle, they also keep a few special old traditional breeds on the fields. We draw our beef from these speciality cattle: old traditional breeds such as Long Horns, Belted Galloways, Beef Shorthorns, Aberdeen Angus & Herefords etc.
These traditional breeds have fallen out of favour in the past few decades because the continental cattle grow faster, bigger, and more economically. They are commercially better for the farmer and the meat factories.
However, in our opinion they don’t carry the same eating quality and welfare standards that we see from the more mature, slower-growing, traditional breeds which are fed on predominantly grass. The traditional approach yields higher welfare beef with more flavour and succulence.
During the winter months when the grass is no longer growing, the Postlethwaite’s cattle come into large barns to shelter from the bad weather and they’re fed on a diet derived from grass (hay, silage), along with some grain to keep them fit and healthy.
We’ve worked with the Postlethwaites for a good number of years and have a great working relationship. We trust Tom and Connie implicitly and always leave them to decide which cattle are right for our customers.
Our trip to the farm gave our team the chance to learn what a good animal looks like in terms of fat cover, meat quality, diet and welfare: a great way to spend a morning, in the company of farmers we admire.
Our heritage breed beef from the Postlethwaites is aged in our Himalayan Salt Chamber, which allows it to mature to perfection: David explains the science behind ageing in his blog.
