Every Beefy Box is carefully packed so the beef arrives in perfect condition.

For customers close to the farm, we often deliver the boxes ourselves.
If you live within our local area around Herefordshire, your Beefy Box may arrive hand delivered from the farm.

For customers further afield we offer nationwide delivery across the UK.

The beef is packed chilled and carefully insulated using Woolcool packaging — a natural sheep’s wool insulation that works extremely well at keeping food cold.

Inside the box we include ice packs which keep the beef fully chilled during transit.

The result is a delivery system that keeps the meat cold, safe and in excellent condition when it reaches you.

Woolcool insulation is also reusable and recyclable, which fits nicely with our aim of farming and selling food in a more thoughtful way.

“From our farm to your freezer — safely chilled all the way.”

Much of our herd is made up of Stabiliser cattle, a modern beef breed developed by combining several traditional breeds including Hereford, Angus, Simmental and Gelbvieh.

The aim was to create cattle that bring together the best qualities of each breed.

From the Hereford, they inherit the ability to thrive on grass and produce well-marbled beef.
From Angus, they gain flavour and tenderness.
From Simmental and Gelbvieh, they gain strong maternal ability and efficient growth.

The result is a balanced animal that works well in grass-based farming systems like ours.

For farmers, Stabiliser cattle are known for being calm, reliable and efficient to keep.

For the person eating the beef, they tend to produce meat with good natural marbling, tenderness and flavour.

And because one of their foundation breeds is the Hereford, they still carry a little bit of the county’s cattle heritage in their DNA — which feels rather fitting for animals raised here in Herefordshire.

Born and Raised at Lower Blakemere Farm

Our calves are born here on the farm.

They grow up grazing grass with their mothers and move around different fields across the farm as they grow.

A large part of their grazing happens on areas that are difficult to crop.

These include:

• grass banks
• field edges
• slopes and awkward corners
• permanent pasture

Cattle are brilliant at turning grass in places tractors can’t easily work into food.

This means parts of the farm that cannot grow crops can still produce something useful.

Beef.

What Our Cattle Eat

For most of their lives the cattle graze grass and forage.

During winter they come inside for shelter and are fed forage grown on the farm.

While housed they also receive a small ration of grain and minerals.

This helps ensure the cattle stay healthy and finish properly.

The aim is not to push them quickly, but to make sure they develop good condition and produce excellent beef.

The Finishing Stage – Will Morgan

After leaving their mothers the cattle go to Will Morgan, a local farmer and friend of ours.

Will takes the cattle through the finishing stage so they reach the right condition for good beef.

During this time they continue eating forage and receive barley and minerals to ensure they finish properly.

Finishing cattle carefully makes a big difference to the final eating quality.

The Abattoir Process

The cattle are taken to a local abattoir where the process is designed to be as calm and controlled as possible.

Animals are handled quietly and moved through the process in small groups.

Modern abattoirs are designed to minimise stress because calm animals produce better meat.

The animal is stunned before slaughter, which ensures it loses consciousness immediately.

The beef is then butchered into the different cuts that make up a Beefy Box.

Our beef is not halal, and never will be.

The Importance of Cattle on a Mixed Farm

Lower Blakemere Farm is a mixed farm, growing crops as well as keeping livestock.

Cattle are an important part of that system.

They:

• graze grassland
• convert forage into food
• produce manure that feeds the soil
• help cycle nutrients across the farm

Without livestock many mixed farms rely far more heavily on synthetic fertilisers.

Cattle help keep the system working naturally.

The Remarkable Value of Cow Manure

Cow manure is one of the most useful things a farm produces.

When cattle graze fields they return nutrients to the soil through manure which:

• feeds soil microbes
• supports earthworms
• improves soil structure
• increases organic matter

Healthy soil grows better crops.

So cattle play an important role in maintaining soil fertility.

Carbon Cycling, Grass and Cattle

Cattle often get blamed for climate change.

But the key issue is how livestock are managed.

Grasslands capture carbon from the atmosphere through plant growth.

When cattle graze grass they stimulate plants to regrow.

This regrowth drives more photosynthesis and therefore more carbon capture.

Manure then feeds soil organisms which help build soil organic matter.

This process is often called carbon cycling.

In well-managed grazing systems soils can gradually build organic matter and store more carbon.

Which is why many regenerative farming systems include grazing livestock.

It’s not the cow.
It’s the how.

Why Grass and Cattle Can Be Better Than Planting Trees

Planting trees can be valuable in the right places.

But grasslands managed with grazing animals can also store carbon while producing food.

Grasslands:

• capture carbon through plant growth
• store carbon in soil
• support biodiversity
• produce food

In many farming landscapes the best solution is a mixture of trees, grassland and livestock.

Food production and environmental care can work together.

Beef is naturally rich in nutrients including:

• high quality protein
• iron
• zinc
• vitamin B12
• essential amino acids

And the ingredient list is refreshingly simple.

Beef.

Cooking With a Beefy Box

A Beefy Box contains a variety of cuts.

Some simple tips:

Steaks
Cook hot and fast and allow them to rest.

Roasting joints
Cook gently and rest well before carving.

Braising cuts
Slow cooking makes them beautifully tender.

Mince
Perfect for chilli, burgers and pasta sauces.

Many of the slower-cooking cuts are actually the most flavourful.

Beefy Boxes appeal to several types of people.

Food lovers who care about flavour and provenance.

Health-conscious eaters trying to avoid ultra-processed food.

Support-your-local-farmer buyers who want their food money to support real farms.

Freezer planners who like having good food ready at home.

Curious first-timers trying farm-direct food for the first time.

From Our Farm

Lower Blakemere Farm is a family-run mixed farm in Herefordshire, farming with a regenerative approach where soil health comes first.

We grow crops, keep cattle and try to make decisions that improve the land rather than slowly wear it out.