LOWER HURST FARM
An organic farm set in the heart of the Peak District National Park, on the banks of the River Dove
The farm lies alongside the River at the northern end of Dovedale, its patchwork of old meadows and hawthorn hedges contrasting with the surrounding limestone peaks and buttresses.
We are pasture farmers, moving our organic cattle and sheep around from field to field each day to access fresh grasses and plants. Some of the meadows are shut up each spring to make hay or silage for winter feeding.
The cows are all Herefords, descendents of generations of breeding from our foundation cows which we purchased over thirty years ago.
Today's cows will have a calf each year. The calf will depend on its mother's milk to grow and prosper until able to graze for itself. Young cattle are left to mature naturally until they reach prime condition when their valuable health-giving meat is converted to products for human consumption.
In Springtime some 20 acres is cultivated and sown with a pea and barley mix to provide a high protein crop to add to the livestock feed in winter. The stubble left after harvesting this crop becomes a sought after wildlife habitat through the winter months.
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