our farms

The Nook farm is nestled on a hillside above the village of Grewelthorpe in North Yorkshire and just 8 miles from Farmison & Co. There's good pasture up here, and the Nook farm has been owned and run by the Harrison family since 1910, though some of the land has been in the family since the 1700's passed down through the generations. Today David and son Carl farm the land with the help of the whole family. They also farm 500 acres of land at Wharfedale which is a site of scientific interest, which can only be grazed by native breed cattle. After plenty of consideration and research, the family made plans to build up a 30 head Galloway herd, a native breed on the 'at-risk' list. Since, the herd has thrived off the land, and the land has thrived off the herd. Sometimes it's a bit hard to find the cows their enclosure is so vast. With surveys from Natural England showing the abundance of wildflowers and natural grasses creating vibrant homes for insects, curlews, and lapwings, which nest in large numbers amongst the cattle.

The family has also returned to breeding Saddleback, Berkshire and Middle White pigs, and their Galloway herd has grown in numbers. With demand from our customers, the Harrison family are confident in breeding native breeds, allowing them to farm the way that they do and continuing the ancient inhabitants of our country.

Ed and Lexi Stavely run their drove of woodland pigs and flock of suffolk breed sheep in the patchwork of woodland and grassland close to our base in the Cathedral City of Ripon. Lexi is a veterinary nurse and Ed is a tree surgeon and farmer. Ed comes from a farming background and always wanted his own drove of woodland pigs. He hit upon the idea of using pigs to clear brush in local woodlands, saving him a job and rejuvenating the ecosystem, giving a variety of plant species a chance to germinate and grow. The pigs root, forage, and wallow to their heart's content and when the ground has been turned up, the hard-working hogs are moved on to a new challenge. This is regenerative farming at its very best, and the pigs' excellent services are now lent out to local landowners looking to improve their woodlands. Ed and Lexi's pigs are a mixture of Mangalicas, Tamworths, Large Whites, and Durocs, with the heritage breed meat and wild foraging providing rich flavours and ample marbling.

Farmer Stuart Raw grazes his herd of pedigree Dexter, Gloucester and White Park beef cattle in the shadow of Castle Bolton, the ancient castle that dominates the local landscape. In Wensleydale, Stuart's herds are now as much part of the landscape as the famous walls Stuart used to maintain as a dry stone waller. The success of Stuart's efforts to grow his herds has led to the registration of the Castle Bolton herd with the Dexter Cattle Society, and his herd has grown from eight cattle to over 200, as well as the White Park and Gloucester cattle breed societies. Stuart is enrolled in a number of schemes to enhance the local ecology of this stunning Yorkshire valley. These schemes range from planting hedgerows to be wildlife havens, to implementing conservation grazing to encourage wading birds like curlews and redshanks, to encouraging the annual return of wildflowers through conservation grazing.

Up on the North Yorkshire Moors on a small farm, you'll find our long-term supplier Dr. Paul Talling. Cornish by upbringing - and now an honorary Yorkshireman - Paul relocated to Harome, North Yorkshire, to work in crop management with a hobby of rearing free-range chickens. A hobby soon turned into a business when Paul and his wife recognised the noticeable difference in taste and quality of his home-grown chicken.

Now a Yorkshire poultry farmer, Dr. Paul Talling manages his small farm in detail, ensuring little waste, the highest welfare, and natural tussocky pastures for his chickens to roam. Paul's chickens are grown slowly at their own pace, unlike commercial farms who opt for intensive farming techniques, downgrading trading quality and animal welfare for efficiency and cheaper costs. The difference is in the taste. Paul is used to hearing his chicken is the tastiest chicken they have ever had, and his response; "What I've always known is that real flavour comes from age and that's why I've striven for a bird that grows a little slower than the commercial operators who are all about fast turnaround. One week extra can make a huge difference to flavour but getting to somewhere like a month to six weeks more brings a massive flavour impact."

You can buy Paul's Loose Bird chickens on our website and taste the difference for yourself, chicken as it should be: plump, succulent, and with proper flavour.

Our pork and beef supplier Isabel Soar farms just West of Leeds and is one of the few farmers in the UK rearing heritage breed mangalica pigs. With a drove curly-haired Managlica hogs and a herd of pint-sized dexter breed cattle, Izzy farms in the most natural way possible; no growth hormones, no hyper protein food, and no small cages for sows and their piglets, and her cows are truly grass-fed and free-range. The farm exhibits a natural habitat, with trees and hedgerows where Izzy's pigs and cows roam freely, stress-free - and it shows in the meat. The mechanisation and rationalisation of agriculture has diminished the taste of pork and beef we can buy in the supermarket and almost drove the Mangalica breed to extinction, but it's small farmers like Izzy who is helping to revive the bloodlines of heritage breeds for years to come. Producing natural, delicious pork and beef that chefs and customers demand, keeping Izzy farming the way she does. Izzy's mangalica pork is extremely sought after, and due to the nature of the slow-growing breed, is not always available.

Ed and Nicola Duggleby of Beswick Hall farm specialise in rearing grass-fed Belted Galloway beef and Oxford Down sheep, just north of the ancient minster town of Beverly in East Yorkshire. The family has farmed at Beswick for around 400 years, and their livestock graze in the River Hull Valley, on wetland that cannot be used for growing any crops or vegetables. The River Hull is a major migratory route used by birds for centuries and the area periodically floods. While grazing the wetland areas, the cattle feet create small divots in the soil, encouraging a whole new eco-system of invertebrates to become active and breed in the wet ground, hence creating a food source for many local breeding birds and also migrating birds passing through the farm and stopping by the nature reserves to re-fuel.

The Spours family farm in the Northeast and the Galloway Cattle Society. The farm is tucked away in the moorlands of Northumberland and the success story behind the Galloway cattle is just the beginning of closed-loop regenerative farming for this family.

At Twizell Farm, the land is widely spread in large blocks of heather moorland and improved lowland. Previously used to farm commercial cattle and sheep who would chew their way through every grass and herb, leaving little left to grow. In 2010, part of the land in the heather hills was designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), meaning the way the land was managed needed to change to encourage the wild juniper plants to grow.

The Spours family were left with a decision to make - which native breed would work best? And after plenty of consideration, a herd of Galloway's were introduced to the land. Easy to manage cattle and superior eating quality were just a few benefits, as well as being non-selective grazers which would suit the SSSI scheme greatly.

The farmer, Daniel Spours, who farms in partnership with his brother, Richard, father, Lawrence, and Uncle, Paul, said "It was a bit of a leap in the dark but I am really impressed with the Galloways and particularly how well they are finishing", "our original goal was to have a 60-cow herd, but we are now going to increase numbers to 90 purebreds as we now know the full potential of the breed" he added.

Tucked away into the rolling hills of the North York Moors National Park is Lunshaw House Farm, home to a magnificent herd of Belted Galloway breed cattle. Owned by Mark Stephenson and managed by Lee Hart, the pair proudly rear their grass-fed belties naturally and slowly, in tune with the environment. The land up on the moors is rough, but for this hardy herd, the thick grasses and steep valleys are where they thrive the most. While grazing amongst the wildlife, the cattle feet create small divots in the soil, encouraging a whole new eco-system of invertebrates to become active and breed, hence creating a food source for many local breeding birds and also migrating birds passing through the farm and stopping by the national park to refuel. Although the elements can be challenging at times, Lee need not interfere with the herd, unless when really necessary, allowing them to grow at their own pace with the freedom to roam as they wish.

Dotted across East Yorkshire, Anna Longthorps drove of free-range pigs can be found happily wallowing, sunbathing, and foraging as they please, while slowly laying down natural layers of fat at their own pace. Founded over 30 years ago, Anna took over the reins of her mother's business and continues to rear some of the finest free-range pork across Yorkshire. Anna's drove thrives on the sandy, free-draining land, which is essential for rearing fully free-range hogs to the highest of welfare standards, of which only 1-2% of farms in the UK can do. Compared to industrialised farming, these pigs have had the freedom to roam and the time to grow, which is reflected in the quality of the meat. Expect proper, traditional pork with seams of marbling that can't be matched by supermarkets, something Anna prides herself on - and rightly so.

We source our venison from the Highlands of Scotland, where the deer are truly wild. Here, they roam the vast mountainous landscapes in large numbers, grazing on the heather and tussocky grasses, leaving nothing behind. Alladale Wilderness Reserve Estate in Ardgay is just one of the estates where we source our Highland wild venison. Innes, the ranger here, manages the 23,000 acres across the estate, working with the wild deer to restore the land to what it once was. The growing numbers of wild deer have detrimental effects on the landscape, with grazing areas becoming overrun, it's the ranger's duty to control the population so that grasses and shrubs have time to grow. We're extremely proud of how we source our wild venison; sustainably, carefully and with respect. Unlike large supermarkets that source their venison from deer farms, the difference is in the taste. Expect rich, lean, and incredibly tasty venison, safe in the knowledge of its quality and provenance. To find out more about Alladale Wilderness Reserve, click here.

Like many of our farmers, Steve Stoney grew up on his family farm and has been rearing cattle since a young age. Now 31, Steve specialises in grass-fed traditional Hereford breed cattle, which graze the 100 acres of grass he has on the Fountains Abbey Estate, just 4 miles west of our Ripon HQ. Rearing his cattle as naturally and slowly as possible, with little interference, the Hereford herd has grown in numbers to which Steve can now supply F&Co customers with ethical beef which is grazed in a regenerative manner; constantly rotated on pasture. The breed, which is on the priority list of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST), is extremely docile in nature with a hardy demeanour, meaning they're well suited to outwintering. The Hereford is known for being excellent for converting grass into top-quality beef and will even do well on poor-quality pasture that's no good for anything else.

Tucked away in the glorious Howardian Hills of North Yorkshire, Potter Hill Farm is home to a herd of 30 White Park breed cattle. Managed by George Simeonov, Potter Hill Farm is playing an important role in the revival of White Park cattle, one of the most ancient breeds in Britain and, with their distinctive wide horns, now the symbol of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. After featuring on the British landscape for more than 2,000 years, they came perilously close to extinction in the 1970s as other commercial breeds grew in popularity but have since made a comeback as demand for heritage-breed meat has increased. The landscape here is vast and rough, but for this hardy herd, the thick grasses and steep valleys are where they thrive the most. While grazing amongst the wildlife, the cattle feet create small divots in the soil, encouraging a whole new eco-system of invertebrates to become active and breed, hence creating a food source for many local breeding birds and also migrating birds passing through the farm and stopping by the national park to refuel.