How long have you been interested in sheep and how did you get interested in them?
Cattle have always been my passion, but have always had a small interest in sheep which escalated when I first bought my Blue Texels in 2016. I was selling stores in Newark market when there was a pedigree sheep sale the same day, some smart blue ewe lambs caught my eye, I ended up buying my first 3 foundation females for my flock.

Why did you choose Blue Texels?
I have always liked them as a breed because they are small and shapey, so are easy for me to manage and handle them on my own. As well as there sassy attitudes they are a great terminal breed, that grow and grade well. 

How many blue texels do you have?
4 ewes; 3 foundation ewes,1 purchased for different bloodlines ,5 shearling ewes; 4 homebred, one purchased (champion ewe lamb last year) , 2 rams and 6 lambs. ​

Do you see your flock expanding?
My future flock plans are to expand to no more than 30 head, and concentrate on breeding quality females to sell in society sales. Any ram lambs are going to be castrated and I am going to market the meat to local pubs. I want to focus purely on breeding females for the time being.

What advice would you give to someone who is interested in getting sheep?
My advice for anyone going in to sheep is to research the breed suited for grazing and management system in place. Also think of the end target market, and what you are aiming for to breed and sell. ​

​When did you first come up with the idea of the ‘Calf at Foot Dairy’?
It was something I’ve always wanted to do, but The Calf at Foot Dairy seed germinated in 2009
 
What breed of cow do you use for your milk production, and what made you choose this particular breed?
The herd is mostly made up of Jersey cows, but we have crossed a few Red Polls in for robustness, helping to cut down on inputs. I chose the Jersey breed because my father recommended them when I bought my first house cow for my young family. The reason being, Jersey cows are quiet and small but with a big personality. They are easy to handle, very affectionate, easy calving and they weren’t so high yielding then and the milk is delicious and very creamy.

How many milking cows do you have?
We have around 18 milking cows but are only milking 14 a day due to some cows nursing their calves exclusively. We do not take milk if the calf needs it.

What does the average day consist of on your farm?
In the warmer months we gather the cows from the marsh at sunrise (too flipping early), then it’s up the lane ready for milking. The cows are milked just once a day and one at a time, coming into the parlour when their name is called.  After milking, the parlour is washed down and the milking machine is cleansed by mid-morning. All the milk is bottled and cooled, the washing up is done and the bottling shed is cleaned down.  We muck out all the sheds and yards/lounging areas and straw/bed up with pitch forks and barrow. At around lunchtime we pack up the milk into delivery boxes ready for the collection driver/courier in the afternoon.  Sometime in the afternoon/ when the cows decide they are ready, we walk them back down to their grazing marshes for the night.  We return to the yard to finish off any mucking out, filling feeders, checking water troughs etc for the morning.  The self-service customer fridges are restocked.  Office work has to be squeezed in and around the farming chores taking up about 4hrs per day.  
During the winter months the cows stay on the yard and the extra work is more mucking out and more feeders need filling (hay/haylage)
 
The idea behind your whole business is the health, happiness and welfare of the cows; how does your milk yields compare to ‘normal’ dairy farming?
Yield is not a priority to us so we don’t compare (but much less if we did, we probably get a third of the milk in comparison)

​​Why do you feel it is so important for the cows to keep their calves until weaning?
To make a cow have a calf to produce milk exclusively for us is going against nature and is one of the most extreme forms of animal exploitation. This is the whole essence of why I started the dairy; if you look on the website you will see the reasons.

​You sell your raw milk directly from the farm, which is the lowest food miles possible! Do you have any other outlets for your raw milk?
Yes, as well as our 24/7 self-service farm gate shop, we also have an online national delivery service. So we can send milk all over the UK for next day delivery!
​

​What obstacles have you come up along the way with your business?
Being told it’s a ridiculous idea to keep the calves with the cows.
Misogyny, finding money/land/farm, bad landlords, no locals doing things differently so advice and understanding is hard to come by as it’s all conventional thinking.

Where do you plan to take your business next? 
To use more regenerative holistic farming methods. As well as cutting down on inputs and plastic use. 

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You are a first generation farmer; do you have any advice to someone looking to get into farming that is not from a farming background?
To make sure you are 100% committed because you will fail if you have any other hopes/dreams/aspirations as livestock farming is a hard and relentless slog and if you have another calling you ain’t gonna last.  However if you know this is your calling then don’t ever let anyone convince you that you can’t do it, follow your dreams. Surround yourself with support from positive people who believe in you and your dream. Don’t be put off by other people and remember when/if they laugh it’s either because they do not understand or they feel threatened.  Focus and specialise on the one thing that grabs you the most, put everything into that and only once you have perfected that, then think about introducing the other things that will compliment it.  So for me the one thing that I really ever wanted to do was high welfare dairying. I loved and wanted to do so many other things but I have learnt over the years that by spreading myself too thinly I can’t be effective at anything. The other thing that grabs me is regenerative agriculture and holistic grazing methods, and only now after 7 years of becoming a registered dairy business I can think about implementing these to compliment my dairy and restore, soils, and the ecology in the environment I work.   
Also make sure you have the right animal and system for your environment and use social media well, to sell your story and your product. 

How long have you been working with Longhorn Cattle?
I moved to Buckinghamshire in 2013, I was drawn to David’s (my boss) enthusiasm so I knew it was the right decision for me to come and work with a breed I hadn’t worked with before It was a challenge to get to the top. It was also a great opportunity for me to shine, with the backing and support to get where we wanted to with the breed.

Where do the Longhorn originate from and what is their history?
History is being made by me!... The Longhorns are beef cattle that originate from Craven, in the North of England. The breed was initially used as a draught animal, which its body is well suited for; the milk was also collected for butter and cheese because of its high butterfat content. The notable long, curved horns that serve to distinguish this breed from others can make an individual appear aggressive, although by temperament they are usually friendly.

What would you say the most attractive attributes of the Longhorn’s are?
People seem to see a lot of negatives to the Longhorns, the horns are probably one of the first things to put people off. People need extra space because of the horns and they carry the negative stigma of many native breeds of being slow finishing. However, with the improvements within the breed this is no longer the case, if farmed correctly. There is such improvement in the breed now people look past the horns and see a good suckler cow. They have a strong maternal instinct, easy calving, high milk yield; they flesh out well with the right food. They will finish on grass (turning grass into flesh) better than a continental, and finishing quicker than most native breeds.  Higher profit margins within a beast, with not as much supplement feeding.

How many Longhorn’s do you now have in the Pointer herd?
We have 42 Longhorn cows, 15 two year old heifers which being introduced to the bull this spring. 5 bulls, 2 bought in and 3 homebred and all working. As well as the Longhorns we have Highland cattle. We have 5 different breeds of sheep; Hampshire Downs, Coloured Rylands, Exmoor Horns, Greyface Dartmoors and Valais Black Nose and finally... Middle White Pigs. All pedigree!

Back to the Longhorns...You are in the middle of calving at the moment; do you find the Longhorns to be good mothers?
Yes, excellent mothers and good temperament, but I am always cautious and I treat everyday like a new day every time I see them. As my temperament changes daily, so does theirs.

What do you do with your young stock; do you sell them on to other breeders or retain them for your own breeding stock?
We do a bit of everything, we wean all our young stock at 9 months then go through them all and work out what we want to be kept back to reintroduce in the herd. These are chosen for specific attributes, I am looking for length, locomotion (keeping fit and healthy on their feet), and decent growth rates. You start to understand what cows are breeding what! Anything that doesn’t make the grade has their horns removed and males will be castrated. These are then sold as stores straight away. The ones that make the top 25% are retained and haltered and any we don’t keep ourselves are available to buy both privately and at society sales. 

​Do you sell your Longhorn beef locally, if so what feedback have you had?
Our boss keeps a few for himself, just for his own private functions and events. Otherwise we sell the young stock as stores so not finishing them ourselves.
 
You show your cattle, what do you look for in a show animal?
I am looking for conformation, something that is stocky not fat but well fleshed. Length is important but you can’t always get flesh and length together. For the cows I want a nice feminine head and a bull to have a strong masculine head. I want width for easy calving and something, which walks well.  The horns are irrelevant, with this breed the horns do not have to be symmetrical and can go any direction, the horns are irrelevant to the butcher! 

Why do you feel showing is important for you and your cattle?
I think it is more important for the breed, whether it does me a favour or not because I have a good cow. It does a favour for the breed, which has had hard, times but is now on the up! It is a great selling platform for both the breed and me. It is even better when you are winning! Nothing better than your hard work paying off. 

​What is your favourite thing about owning cattle?
I am just addicted to cattle since my Grandfather introduced me to them. I couldn’t think of anything better than being with him and his beloved Dairy Friesian cows. I bought my first Highland cow with money I got from the Government to fund my college, but I realised my money would be better spent on a cow which I paid off £25 a week for a year! Now the rest is history!

What advice would you give someone looking to get cattle?
Don’t bother! No joking… it brings you great joys but sometimes it can be hard work and painful with loss but the good overcomes the bad and I wouldn’t want my life without cows in it!

I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Jamie, for taking the time to show we around the amazing Pointer farm. I had a fantastic morning learning all about the Longhorn cattle and being introduced to all the other breeds on the farm. I certainly learnt a lot and got a massive amount of inspiration for drawings and prints. If you would like to learn more about Pointer Pedigrees take a look at their website > www.pointerpedigrees.com and follow them on Instagram > @pointerpedigrees. 

Here is the pencil sketch which I did from a 2 year old heifer, her face was a especially difficult, even now I am not completely convinced by it. I spent so long trying to put the suggestion of her eyes, it is hard because you can barely make out their eyes through all their hair. After finding the drawing a little tricky I knew that the print would be even harder, as it is always difficult to put subtle detail into my hand stamped prints.

How many Belted Galloway’s do you now have in your herd?
44 (2 bulls, 14 cows, 8 heifers, 8 steers, 12 youngsters)

What numbers do you plan to get up to in your herd?
2 bulls, 18/20 cows plus followers – because we are finishing (and that can take up to 3 years) that would take total numbers up to 60+

The Belted Galloway is a hardy, native breed, do you keep them out all year round?
Yes!​

These are my final hand stamped prints which I created from my pencil drawings. I take all the 'main' shapes from my drawings to create simple stamps from, which I then use to build up and create the coloured prints. I then work back into the stamped prints, putting in all the characteristics and detail. I am really pleased with how these prints have turned out, I think it is mostly because of the character and distinctiveness of the Hardwick breed. They also have such variety of texture and colour within their fleeces which really compliments the hand stamped technique.