The Owls Barn beef herd was founded in 1990 with Hereford cross calves which came from a cousins farm in Gloucestershire. We hand reared the calves and, when they were old enough to breed, we bought our own pedigree Hereford bull which started my interest in breeding pedigree Herefords.

We then bought four pedigree heifers from a reputable BSE free herd in Dorset. This was the foundation of the Owls Barn Hereford 'single suckler herd' which means that a cow rears its own single calf until it is weaned at ten to twelve months old. 

The Owls Barn herd is termed as a 'closed herd' which means that all cows joining the herd have been breed  from the original stock. By keeping the herd closed we have a much lower risk of infection from bovine diseases as no outside stock come onto the farm. 

The Hereford is an excellent breed for an organic system because it is a great converter of grass to beef. They can forage in a natural environment without needing any compound feed apart from natural hay or silage in the winter and they are very docile and easy to handle.  They were developed in this country in the 1800's in the county of Herefordshire and from there the breed has become known the world over. They are such a hardy breed that they were producing quality beef in this country long before hi-tec vetinerary medicines or high protein man made feeds existed.