Peak Pasture Farms
Choosing a more natural way of farming
Welcome to Peak Pasture Farms
We use the most natural of farming methods to produce the best quality beef. We care about the wildlife on our farms as much as we care about the cows themselves.
We are two small farms based in Derbyshire with rare breed Belted Galloway cattle. They are 100% pasture-raised and grass-finished in nutritious herb-rich fields. All this means ethically produced beef you can trust. Call us on 07926 235416 📞
Our Ethos
About What We Do
We are two small farms, dedicated to animal welfare and environmentally-friendly farming.
Both farms (Ravensnest Cottage Farm and Westwood Farm) produce 100% grass-fed, grass finished, rare breed beef. Our Belted Galloways are a traditional native breed, who are nurtured and cared for their whole lives. They graze in fields rich in wildflowers and nutritious herbs.
We are committed to maintaining small herds of contented, healthy cattle which can live a natural outdoor life. Their grazing supports and enhances the wildlife on the land and at the same time we produce 100% pasture-fed meat of the highest quality. Our small herds of Belted Galloway cattle graze outdoors all year round on traditional pastures. The grassland provides a rich variety of herbs which helps to maintain naturally healthy animals and produces meat of a flavour that is second to none. The cattle in return sustain and enhance the grassland, making it home to insects, birds and other wildlife that also thrive in the tall hedges, woodland and wetland that we manage. Calves are born in the fields, under our watchful eye, and spend their entire lives there. When we produce meat, we personally transport the animals individually to a small local butchery where the cattle are slaughtered in the most stress-free surroundings possible.
Ravensnest Cottage Farm is fully organic and Soil Association registered. Westwood Farm is not currently registered with the Soil Association, but upholds the same values of animal welfare and standards of environmental conservation. At both farms we know all our cows by name, and visit them every day to make sure they are thriving.
If you want to eat beef, this is an opportunity to make a conscious decision to choose a product that is not only better for you nutritionally, but also has a minimal impact on our planet. If you want to be involved in supporting farms that produce some of the most ethically reared beef in the country, give Peak Pasture Farms a call and we will be pleased to tell you more.
07926 235416
Ravensnest Cottage Farm
Ravensnest Cottage Farm is a 76 acre (30 hectare) organic farm run to Soil Association standards set in a quiet valley in the Derbyshire hills near Ashover. To introduce us, we are Sarah and James who manage the farm together. We run the farm for wildlife as much as our cattle. We have traditional wildflower meadows, home to butterflies, bumblebees and other vital pollinators. We have planted hedges, which are now home to nesting birds. From spring to autumn, the wildflower meadows are a blaze of colour. On spring mornings the farm is alive with birdsong as soon as dawn breaks. In summer you can smell the sweet hay in the fields, as we traditionally bale it, ready to feed our cows nutritious hay throughout winter. It's beautiful here and we want to keep it that way.
Because we do not use herbicides or pesticides, you can be sure that our beef is free from additives which may be unseen but so often found in supermarket beef. We are committed to the welfare of our cows. Our approach is holistic - we carefully balance the quality of the food we produce, the needs of the environment and the welfare of our cows .
We believe beef production should be done in a way that is sensitive to climate change . So much beef produced in the world is not grown in a sustainable way for the planet. Our beef has the lowest carbon footprint that you could possibly hope for - we don't use petroleum-based fertilisers, nor do we feed our cows on corn, which itself has a carbon footprint. We try and source all our needs locally and therefore have very few food miles. We don't plough or re-seed our grassland which would use vast amounts of diesel in the process.
Westwood Farm
WESTWOOD FARM
Westwood Farm is a family farm, with us, John and Helen at the helm. We have recently converted from continental cattle to our own native Belted Galloways.
We have been working hard recently to make the farm the perfect home not just for our cattle but for wildlife too. We have put the land into a Countryside Stewardship Scheme with the aim of allowing ground-nesting birds to return to the pastures. We now have nesting lapwings, the rare beautiful birds that were such a common sight 50 years ago, but now struggling in the modern farm landscape and in need of help.
We also run a regular programme of school visits with the local primary school, which allows the children to see farm life at first hand. We believe that people should know where their meat comes from and provide the opportunity to see farming done in a more traditional, ethical way than the standard factory farmed meat of today.
We also keep a flock of rare Derbyshire Redcap hens to give us a supply of free range hens eggs.
Animal Welfare
We love our cows, it's as simple as that. Each cow has their own name - and personality - and we know each of them individually. Our daily round is to do everything we can to make them happy - we want the cows to be as well looked-after as physically possible. We run as near to a natural system as possible. In our suckler herds the calves stay with their mums to feed on their milk through their first summer and into autumn. We keep them in small groups to ensure wellbeing and access to all the pasture and water they need. If any one of the herd does become ill we are quick to respond and a vet is always on hand to sort a problem out before it can develop. We have a vaccination programme to keep them free from common ailments, but beyond that avoid the routine use of antibiotics.
Wildlife
Both farms support a variety of wildlife habitats including meadows, pastures, scrub, woodland, hedgerows, wetlands and ponds. In summer the hay meadows are rich with native wildflowers and alive with insects, including numerous butterflies, moths and bumblebees. The hay is cut late in the season to ensure all herbs have flowered and set seed and to allow ground-nesting birds, such as skylarks, to raise their broods. Tall hedges, scrub and woodland support many small mammals and birds and a wonderful ancient woodland flora. Slopes are carpeted with bluebells in spring. Spring also sees the ponds full of frog, toad and newt spawn and later in the year dragonflies hunt the pond margins and nearby meadows.
At Westwood Farm, we have started an ambitious programme to allow wetland wading birds to return to the fields to nest.
At Ravensnest Cottage Farm we have been encouraging barn owls to return and they now nest and raise their young in the nest boxes we have provided.
We've made sure to make room on the farms for as many forms of wildlife as we can. We have ponds with frogs, toads and newts. We have hedges home to nesting birds. We have native creatures such as hedgehogs, hares, buzzards, kestrels, foxes, swallows, butterflies, lizards, grasshoppers and glow-worms.
On both farms we strive to create rich floral diversity in our meadows and pastures. We have an array of grasses and traditional herbs including buttercup, knapweed, orchids, cowslip, ox-eye daisy and clover.
Climate Change
Climate change is the biggest threat to our generation. We all need to be aware of the implications of the decisions we make, no less when it comes to deciding what we eat.
As part of the Peak Pasture Farms ethos we have addressed our carbon impact and can point to a range of features that substantially reduce the carbon footprint of the beef we produce - so much so that we are confident it has the lowest impact possible. We should all probably consume less meat, but more important is ensuring that when we do choose to eat meat it has the least impact on the planet possible. By sourcing our beef we like to think you have made that choice wisely.
By comparison to the majority of commercial beef that comes from intensive farm systems and is finished on a high grain diet, our way of farming has a minimal impact.
We never use high levels of petroleum-based fertiliser on the grassland, nor do we use blanket herbicide and pesticide applications.
We don't feed our cattle with grain - ever. Feeding grain to cattle is a waste of the planet's resources and adds significantly to the carbon footprint of the end product.
All farms use diesel to run their tractors but we keep our field operations to a minimum - we don't plough and reseed our fields, we don't run up and down with sprays. We source everything locally and have very few food miles from farm to consumer.
We keep plastic use to a minimum and recycle wherever possible.
Soil Association research has shown that organic livestock systems overall bind more carbon into the soil than is emitted into the atmosphere. This process of carbon sequestration is championed as an effective way to combat climate change. If all UK farmland was converted to organic farming at least 1.3 million tonnes of carbon would be taken up by the soil each year - the equivalent of taking nearly 1 million cars off the road.
Why choose
pasture-fed?
Benefits of grass-fed meat
Lower total fat levels than meat and dairy from grain-fed animals and is also lower in saturated fat content.
Higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids and a lower, more balanced (and healthier) ratio of omega-6:omega-3 fatty acids
Significantly higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than meat and dairy from grain-fed animals and higher levels of vaccenic acid, which can be turned into CLA
Higher vitamin and mineral levels than meat and dairy from grain-fed animals. Particularly rich in vitamins A and E, and minerals such as calcium, magnesium and potassium
And as well as all that you know our cows have a GM-free diet,
- and quite frankly we think that grazing our herb-rich pastures produces
a flavour second to none!
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NEXT AVAILABLE BEEF
Fresh beef will be available from
Westwood Farm & Ravensnest Cottage Farm
at the end of April 2023
Ring for more details and to make your order. We can deliver to your door. Click here to read more about how you can get some.