Aberdeen Angus and Aberdeen Cross beef delivered to your door in Shropshire?
Origins of the breed
If you were asked to name famous cattle breeds, the chances are that you would probably choose either Hereford or Aberdeen Angus. The reason for this is because they are native breeds – breeds that find their origins in the UK. The origins of the Aberdeen Angus breed date back to the early 19th Century in the North East of Scotland, when improvement of the original stock of cattle from the regions of Aberdeen and Angus began. There are two strains that were used in the formation of what became the Aberdeen Angus breed – the Angus doddies (doddies being an old Scottish word for ‘polled’) and the other being the Buchan humlies – again another old Scottish word for polled. They were originally used as oxen working on the farm, but with improved breeding the value of the flesh became more significant. The breed was first recognised in 1835 with the first herd book published in 1862.
Our 50 year old history
Citadel Farms is a family farm that has been running since 1957, in fact 2007 sees our 50th year in agriculture. We have two farms, one based just outside Shawbury and the other at Weston Under Redcastle (opposite Hawkstone Park), totalling about 500 acres. Crops produced include cereals, oil seed rape, beans, potatoes, and sugar beet. Livestock has always been an integral part of the system with over wintered sheep grazing the beet tops and cattle grazing on the pastures in the summer and feeding on home grown silage and rolled cereals and beans in the winter.
In the 1950’s when my grandfather, P.H. Griffiths, bought The Citadel at Weston Under Redcastle, he inherited a dairy Shorthorn herd which he gradually replaced with Ayrshires, which he bought in from Ayrshire. Unfortunately 1965 saw a major outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease originating in Oswestry it swept across the country in the wind and the herd had to be destroyed, and to this day there has been no dairy herd at The Citadel.
The 1960’s saw the addition of The Woodlands farm in Shawbury. An area of 300 acres it was part of the Wytheford Estate and till the First World War it was a medieval woodland. The war on the continent demanded vast quantities of wood for construction and fuel, so the oaks were felled and the land left to naturally regenerate. My father took on the land after marrying my mother; he cleared much of the scrub and drained the fields to achieve the workable field system that we have in place today.
Welfare
Beef cattle have always been part of our farming system. We let the animals graze the lush pastures in the summer and bring them into the cattle yards in the winter where they are deep littered on our own wheat straw – a by-product of the cereal enterprise. This provides a residual heat so that even in the coldest months of winter they are comfortable, warm and dry. Welfare is an important issue on-farm; a healthy, well maintained beast will reward the farmer with a high growth rate and good feed conversion ratio (food intake: daily liveweight gain). We worm the cattle when they are yarded in the winter and as they go out onto the grass in the summer. We never routinely inject antibiotics or use growth promoters. If an animal is ill then we will take veterinary advice, and will always adhere to medicinal doses and withdrawals. We have to do this in order to pass our annual FABBL (Farm Assured British Beef and Lamb) inspection. We are confident that every animal on the farm gets our utmost care and attention, and we are confident that whilst on farm it is content and being kept in a relaxed and natural environment.
“The Rolls-Royce of beef”
So why after all these years have we decided to invest our time and resources in moving our focus from the continental breeds to producing Aberdeen Angus beef? The answer is simple - It really is the best beef that you can buy, it is the Rolls-Royce in the beef world. They mature early to give a perfect balance of fat and lean. It is a lightly marbled meat – fine threads of fat interwoven through the muscle, this combined with hanging the beef for 3-4 weeks in our on-farm cold store, results in a succulent, tender and highly tasty experience.
Traceability and locality
The emphasis these days is on sourcing local food thus reducing the cost to the environment, this is as important as traceability – records of each animal are kept from the day it arrives on farm. It is important to know exactly what it has been fed, where it has been grazing and how it is performing.
Your order
All joints are presented in vacuum packs to maintain their succulent, juicy state and as such this will prolong its shelf life without affecting any characteristics of the meat. Orders will be accompanied with recipes and further information on British Beef. For details of local free delivery, and a price list call 01939 250216 or visit our website at www.citadelfarms.co.uk
Lamb will also be available soon. To get upto date information register your interest here
