HIGH QUALITY FOOD
WITH A POSITIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT Selling organic, ‘Pasture for Life’ food directly to consumers brings dividends for one farming family. Sara Gregson reports…
First generation farmers Chris and Denise Walton have, over the past 40 years built an award-winning sustainable farm and butchery business, operating close to the Berwickshire coast in the Scottish Borders. “We always wanted to sell our beef, lamb and pork directly to consumers,” says Denise. “We strive to produce the highest quality food, whilst also having a positive environmental impact. We are organic and certified Pasture for Life (guaranteed 100% grass-fed with no grain ever fed), which we believe is the Gold Standard for land and animal welfare management and completely fits with our business ethos.” Neither Denise or Chris come from farming backgrounds; Chris has accountancy qualifications and Denise trained in environmental and land management. Moving to Scotland and starting with a 20-acre smallholding in 1989, they increased their acreage to 250 acres by working in partnership with neighbour Amanda Cayley. In 1993, together they took the opportunity to buy the nearby arable unit of Peelham Farm, bringing the landholding up to 670 acres.
“The farm was pretty run-down, farmed for the short term, had no hedges and was ecologically poor. The land rises to 700ft and comprises some heathland and acidic grassland,” says Denise. “As new entrants, Chris had to work off the farm in the early days and making a profit has been central to what we do. But farming with nature was also a primary driver for the business from the very start.” Twenty-seven years later, their son Angus and his wife Helen have joined the business and they have now started the third generation by having two young children. Amanda, now retired, is still very much involved in the life of the farm and the butchery. The couple started making charcuterie from their pork, mutton and beef in 2005 and then developed an on-farm butchery for their cattle, sheep and pigs in 2008. The aim was to become price-makers rather than just price-takers. They started attending farmers markets in local towns and cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow and supplying independent retailers and restaurants. “We talk to our consumers a lot
Angus with one of his cows
and to local chefs to gain feedback about our products. We tell them how we aspire to excellence in land management, animal care and environmental stewardship. We are spreading messages of agroecological land regeneration and the production of healthy, grass-fed meat. It really fits in with consumer thinking at the moment – people want healthy, environmentally-sound food.”
Livestock Peelham now has a herd of 150 Aberdeen Angus suckler cows. There are four Aberdeen Angus bulls, selected for breeding attributes of ease of calving, good depths of sirloin and high levels of intramuscular fat. Ninety per cent of the livestock is born and reared on the farm. The rest come from a small network of other organic and Pasture for Life farmers whom Denise and Chris work closely with in neighbouring counties, including 100% grass-fed dairies which supply rose veal from ‘unwanted’ male dairy calves.
Three generations at Peelham Farm
30 DIRECT DRILLER MAGAZINE
Sheep numbers have fallen in the past couple of years and now comprise a rolling flock of 60 to 100 cull ewes and store lambs to supply
ISSUE 13 | APRIL 2021
