Perrystone Estate
Cattle have always been part of our lovely estate, grazing our permanent pasture in the Wye Valley. Previously we sold our cattle to Marks & Spencer’s, but we wanted to use our grass better and not have to feed corn to produce a supermarket type of product. To utilise the grass we felt we needed to move away from the mass-produced foreign beef breeds and go back to the traditional English breeds. They would thrive on our permanent pasture producing a better quality of meat. This is how we got involved with Ruby Red Devon’s.
Following the success of our cattle we decided we should complement their grazing with sheep, and were looking again for a breed that would thrive on grass only, and we came across the Ryeland Sheep, not only do they look lovely, but they really help us maintain our grasslands well.
Having around 600 acres of woodland on the estate we wanted to find an efficient and natural way of maintaining them and the scrubland that develops, and pigs were the answer. No mechanical intervention is required and they do wonders for the soil in the woods.
Ethically Farmed Livestock
Everything that we do on the farm and the estate as a whole, is centred on the premise that we must preserve and enhance the estate for all future generations.
The herd of Ruby Red Devons shows us exactly why they are the perfect cattle to be grazing our varied and beautiful landscape.
They are predominately grass fed and live out as much as possible, only really coming in when they are due to calve or the fields are too wet. They would much rather be out roaming the fields.
We have found the same with our Ryeland sheep, they stay out on our pasture all year round, only coming in at lambing time. They benefit the environment by grazing on mixed species swards that increase biodiversity and provide habitat and food for insects.
We are constantly amazed at what an amazing job our pigs do as they root in the ground. This behaviour clears dense ground vegetation such as bracken and reduces the need for weed control, and create seed beds for natural regeneration.
Across the estate we do much to improve the environment with our farming practices. If you are interested in some of the areas we actively work on, please see the environmental report below.
We have also recently had an external assessor come to the farm to measure our Carbon Emissions. We were delighted that the result showed that we sequester 1.374 million KG of CO2e per year.
Ruby Red Devon Cattle
The Ruby Red Devon are a very old traditional breed originally based in North Devon. They are a slow growing breed, that love to be outside grazing and do particularly well on herb rich permanent grass. There meat is renowned for being fantastically tender due to the slower growth.
Our Devon beef is all home produced, with us only buying in the bulls to keep the bloodlines fresh. Our beef can be traced from birth to your plate. We have a very high health status and are committed to giving our animals the best life we can. They spend their lives roaming our permanent pastures along the beautiful Wye Valley ANOB and live a stress-free idyllic life. We feel this really comes through in the taste of the beef.
As a result of the Carbon Audit mentioned above, it showed that our beef is actually carbon negative. For every kilogram of beef that we produce, it sequesters 1.52kg of CO2e
Ryeland Sheep
Our Coloured Ryeland sheep are docile and full of character.A native breed to Herefordshire dating right back to 12th century when Herefordshire monks traded Ryeland sheep wool. The wool soon became known as 'Lemster' wool, much coveted by Queen Elizabeth I.
The meat was also sought after, and known as the ‘sweet meat of Hereford’.
While sometimes we may resent the rain, our temperate climate means we can grow plenty of grass, including here at Perrystone. This means we rear our lambs in pasture-based systems, where we’re able to produce high quality protein from sunlight, rain and photosynthesis.
Sheep farmers in the UK are among the most sustainable in the world farming in this non-intensive way.
They are the perfect fit for Perrystone and Brockhampton and our grass-fed system. Like our native breed cattle, the Ryelands thrive off grass alone, providing plentiful milk to rear their lambs.
Woodland Reared Pigs
We have been surprised by our wonderful pigs having found them to be curious, playful, and surprisingly fast moving.
Perrystone Estate has many woodlands some of which have mixed broadleaf trees that are centuries old. They form an integral part of the landscape and our mission is to preserve them for future generations. In 2021 we realised that the best way of maintaining the levels of brambles and overgrowth within them, was to introduce pigs, who thrive on the vegetation, growing in the most natural way possible, providing amazing tasting meat.
High welfare, outdoor reared pork is paramount to what we do at Perrystone Meats.
WoolCool
We chose WoolCool as our preferred packaging supplier as they meet all the criteria that inspired us to set up Perrystone Meats originally. We want to provide sustainable produce with minimal impact on our environment.
Woolcool is a good quality sustainable product that is recyclable and bio-degradable. We provide this great packaging to our customers at no extra cost. So you can have fantastic tasting produce, straight from the farm while looking after our planet.
The boxes are made from high strength corrugated cardboard; the liners are made from 100% sheep’s wool, sealed in 100% recyclable food grade film. The boxes will also contain Sorba Freeze ice packs, these help to keep the box contents below 5C for over 24hrs up to 48hrs. Due to the unique natural qualities of the wool you need fewer ice packs per box than with polystyrene.
The top benefits of using WoolCool as our packaging are:
- Wool is a natural smart fibre that provides a superior and cost effective alternative to polystyrene and Polyethylene, creating a truly eco-friendly packaging.
- Wool is an abundant natural material, as a by-product of rearing sheep.
- Wool is a totally compostable and fully bio-degradable packaging, releasing valuable nitrates back into the soil.
- Wool is also a re-useable material, the packaging can be sent back to be re-used or the wool once removed from the film can be used in a multitude of ways around the home and garden.
- The wool itself is completely chemical free, the only process it goes through is a thorough washing in very hot water.
