Hello...Cattle Farmer, Jeremy

Last Friday morning I go the chance to meet cattle farmer Jeremy Buxton and his herd of native Hereford cattle. Jeremy established his herd of Eves Hill Herefords at his family farm in Booton in March 2013 and I was lucky enough to meet them. It was a rather dull drizzly morning, which sadly has really been the ongoing saga of this winter and spring. However, the Herefords still looked a picture on the fresh Spring grazing. There is nothing better than seeing cows and their new calves turned out and enjoying the grass. It was great to be introduced to the herd by Jeremy and hear a little more about his story.

How long have you been interested in cattle?
When I was growing up on the family farm my father run a herd of commercial beef cattle, I always use to help him as most farmers sons do.  Cattle have always been my favourite farm animal and I’ve always enjoyed seeing cattle out at grass, they are amazing animals and I really believe they are good for the soul!

What made you decide to introduce cattle back onto your farm?
​When I returned to the farm in 2012 we had some permanent pasture which I felt wasn’t being used to its full potential (rented to another nearby cattle farmer) so I decided that we would get back into livestock.  This decision was also supported by the fact that I felt our farm was best suited as mixed farm, using the FYM on our arable land. At first I thought sheep would do a good job, but may people told me sheep either want to escape or kill themselves! So cattle it was.

What characteristics attracted you to the Hereford?
We went for Hereford cattle because we wanted a native breed that would suit our grazing.  I also wanted a breed that was easy to handle as most of the time its just me on my own, so the docility of the Hereford was another reason we chose them.  I also think that Herefords are such beautiful creatures and they look fantastic out as grass, their rich dark brown coats against the green grass.

​What is the breeds history?
I’m no authority on the breeds history, but they have changed a lot over the years.  From big animals to small cattle that would fit onto boats to export abroad, I think they were called belt cattle as they only grew to belt height at this point. Since then they have gradually increased in size to the cattle you see today. Sorry not too hot on my Hereford history! 

To find out more about the Hereford breed and it's history take a look at the breed society http://www.herefordcattle.org

How many Herefords do you have in your herd?
At present we have 50 cattle in the Eves Hill herd, with another five calves expected in the coming weeks.  We started with 8 cows with calves at foot, two heifers and we bought a stock bull. We are a closed herd, except for buying in stock bulls, so herd growth is slow but this is the way we want to go to reduce bringing disease into the herd.  We have worked hard to achieve Elite Hihealth status and don’t want risk losing this by buying in stock.

A few of Eves Hill 2018 born calves.

How has 2018’s calving gone? Do you find the Herefords easy calvers and good mothers?
2018 calving has gone very well so far, we’ve had nine calves (3bulls and 6 heifers) the last heifer did decide to enter the world backwards but is doing really well now.  Herefords are excellent mothers and they are easy calving. Our stock bull Bondes Hubert (from Denmark) is a really easy calving bull, producing small calves at birth that grow on really well.  The only thing with Herefords is that they get fat on fresh air, so it’s really important to keep the weight off them prior to calving so they do calve easily.

Do you plan to sell this year’s calves or retain them for your own breeding stock?
We will sell all bull calves from our stock bull, providing we are happy to sell them as breeding bulls. Otherwise we sell them in beef boxes at 16 – 18 months, we are really strict on selling breeding stock. If we wouldn’t use a bull ourselves then we wouldn’t sell it to someone else to breed with.  This is to maintain both our own reputation and that of the Hereford breed. We are now at a stage where we are more selective about heifers we keep, only the very best stay in the herd and then we either sell the rest as breeding stock if we feel they are good enough or again put them into beef boxes.
In the Autumn we are expecting are first AI calves from 4 of Huberts daughters which we are very excited about as this is a great opportunity to progress and develop our herd!

What is your favourite thing about owning cattle?
I love working with the cattle, they give so much satisfaction from calving to showing.  They are also a vital part of our farming business, they still have to pay their way despite how much we love them!  I love spending time with young calves and earning their trust, which pays off later!

What advice would you give someone looking to choose the Hereford breed?
Go for it, you won’t regret it.  The Hereford breed is so well suited to our climate and grazing which is why it is such a successful and popular native breed.  AND of course come to Eves Hill Herefords to buy your cattle!

There is a big promotion around ‘Native Beef’ at the moment, have you felt a positive impact on your business?
Most definitely, this is illustrated is our beef box sales.  We sell a carcass in 24 hours. We have a loyal customer base who cant get enough of our beef which is predominantly grass fed and Red Tractor assured.  A lot of consumers are not so interested in food provenance and want to know where their food comes from and the story behind it.

​As well as arable and livestock, you also run a successful caravan and campsite on the farm, do you feel it is important for farms to diversify to succeed these days?
As a small family farm we have no other choice but to diversify.  We would not be able to survive for long on just the arable and cattle.  Which is why we are always looking for opportunities to diversify, the campsite is going really well and we are planning to expand on this next year.  We are also planning to open a farm shop/tea room in the not too distant future, and there are lots more ideas that we hope to get going as some point!

​I would like to add that despite all our diversification farming will always remain our core business and none of our diversifications will ever detract from this or how we farm, in particular our love of the countryside and nature. Everything we do at Eves Hill is aimed at improving what we have and hopefully leaving it in a better state than we found it. We feel that our diversifications add value to our business whilst at the same time bring people on to the farm to hopefully learn about British farming, food production and the countryside.

A huge thank you to Jeremy for taking the time to show me round his farm, and introducing me to his fantastic herd of Hereford cattle. If you want to find out more about Eves Hill Farm and see what they are up to, you can follow them on Facebook and Instagram for updates.
Facebook @eveshillfarm
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