HELLO

Are you keen for your family to learn that real food is grown in fields, not supermarket shelves?

And, that nutrient dense food can be farmed in way that allows nature to thrive?

Or, maybe you’re a farmer, interested in how our year-round grazing system works in soggy South West Scotland?

meet your farmers

Looking for beef that doesn’t cost the earth?

You’re in the right place.

Balsar Glen beef comes from hardy native cows that graze our fields all year round. They move as a herd onto fresh grass regularly, often more than once day, as they would if they were living in the wild and avoiding predators. In this way, our cows not only help improve the soil and restore ecosystem processes, but produce great tasting, well marbled, nutrient dense meat along the way.

We consider ourselves soil farmers as much as cattle farmers. Balsar Glen beef is a happy - and delicious! - by-product of the methods we use to grow soil, and the cows are our co-workers in this endeavor. We really couldn’t do it without them; they have evolved perfectly for this purpose.

Our cows are free to select exactly what they need from the smorgasbord of herbs, hedgerow and grasses in our diverse permanent pastures. We don’t use fertilizers, or feed any soy or grain. By moving the cows regularly, mimicking herd movements in the wild, their natural behaviours - grazing, soil disturbance, pooping - help support and restore natural ecosystem processes. It may sound (very) surprising but cows grazing actually helps the grass grow more quickly … I know, but I write about it here and include the reference.

If the cows are our primary tool in growing healthy soils, then the second is rest. Yup, doing nothing. We leave the fields to rest and recover as long as we can in between grazings. This allows the individual plants to flourish, sending down excess energy (carbon) through their roots out into the soil, where it feeds the abundant microbial life - aka our underground livestock.

Soil microbes are incredibly important in nutrient cycling. They are the miners and traders of soil minerals. They source them, extract them and then transport them to the plant that needs them. Their work carries on even after they are dead, as humus, the stable form of soil carbon, is largely made up of the decayed bodies of these hard working bugs. Grim but true.

We are really proud of the work we and the cows do, and also of our meat. We hope you enjoy it too.