Good morning,
This is our first in a small series of people profiles and who better to kick things off with than the man who looks after the cows…
Always wearing his hat and sometimes caught with a pint of Silly Moo in his hand, Neville joined us at Trenchmore in May 2018 with a lot of Wagyu breeding and stock management experience under his belt.
Nev grew up in South Africa and started helping on his Grandfather’s mixed farm at the age of 5. The farms in SA are a little different to ours, covering vast areas of open land and where too little rain is more of a regular problem than too much, but the appetite for good food is strong. Neville has spent the last 35 years looking after sheep, pigs, cows, chickens and growing crops.
He first started working with Wagyu cattle in 1999. He had previously been producing Brahman and Simmental beef because they were the hardy and disease resistant breeds popular in South Africa, but the meat quality was low and he wanted to find an alternative. He set about crossing Wagyu with his cows, and then also with Black Angus to increase the Wagyu’s small gene pool. Nev found that the animals he was breeding with Wagyu not only had the healthy hybrid vigour of a crossbreed, but also much improved flavour and tenderness in the meat.
Neville and his wife Karry first moved to the UK in 2016 after the South African political system became too difficult to farm under. They started with an Angus stud herd in Worcester before they came to join us at Trenchmore almost three years ago. Before moving here, the only thing he had heard about Sussex were the wonderful native cattle breed, which sounds about right.
Since he has been with us, Neville has brought an understanding of the herd that only lived experience can know. He is helping to keep our mums healthy and producing some of the most delicious beef we have ever managed. He is in the process of growing the Trenchmore herd to three times its current size and manages to do it all with a healthy dose of wit and cheer.
If you visit the farm and want to know anything about cows, Neville is your man. Next time you see him, make sure to say hello to the cheerful chap in the cowboy hat.
We are butchering a Sussex Wagyu for collection on 3rd April. We also have Nuthurst Lamb available to pre-order for Easter, plus our tasty Silly Moo Cider to toast the sunshine with.
Things to watch, read and enjoy…
The Unconventional Farms of the Future
Celebrating women land workers
Anna Jones’ new book One Pot, Pan, Planet
The upcoming Green Books event - Investing To Save The Planet