The Small Cows That Began Our Big Journey
Our Dexter cattle story begins with Pat & her late husband John who began our herd on their small holding in Yorkshire in the 1970s before returning to Pats family farm the Mason Estate, which Butterbox Farm is a proud part of in Scaynes Hill, West Sussex. Pat still lives on the farm today and checks her Dexter cattle each morning and evening, enjoying spending time among them and being involved in the day to day running of the farm.
Pats grandfather bought the farm back in the 1920s when the land was nearly all tenanted farms. Her mother took over the farm with the assistance of a farm manager and they kept Sussex cattle and other native breeds. When pats mother retired in the 80s, she began a pony stud, initially with 5 ponies arriving on the farm on a lorry. Undeniably a lover of horses, the numbers began to grow and she lost count at 120! She was always happy to take on a new pony, but somewhat reluctant to sell any!
In 2000, pats husband John retired and they moved back to Sussex from their smallholding in Yorkshire. They bought with them their herd of 27 Dexter cattle, some farm equipment and all of the farm gates that they could fit onto a double decker lorry. The plan was to continue to run their cattle on a smallholding on a little corner of the farm. However, Pat recalls arriving and standing in the gateway of a field to see a huge stampede of ponies come hurtling across the paddock, mud flew in all directions and she knew that this was not sustainable and that a change had to be made.
Pats grandfather bought the farm back in the 1920s when the land was nearly all tenanted farms. Her mother took over the farm with the assistance of a farm manager and they kept Sussex cattle and other native breeds. When pats mother retired in the 80s, she began a pony stud, initially with 5 ponies arriving on the farm on a lorry. Undeniably a lover of horses, the numbers began to grow and she lost count at 120! She was always happy to take on a new pony, but somewhat reluctant to sell any!
In 2000, pats husband John retired and they moved back to Sussex from their smallholding in Yorkshire. They bought with them their herd of 27 Dexter cattle, some farm equipment and all of the farm gates that they could fit onto a double decker lorry. The plan was to continue to run their cattle on a smallholding on a little corner of the farm. However, Pat recalls arriving and standing in the gateway of a field to see a huge stampede of ponies come hurtling across the paddock, mud flew in all directions and she knew that this was not sustainable and that a change had to be made.
The ponies were sold to allow Pat and John to begin to reclaim the farm and introduce livestock again. They hired farm manager Peter and stockman Gavin, and began to increase cattle and sheep numbers.
As Gavins wife Holly began to market the farms produce locally we took the decision to pursue direct sales for our meat. This saw the sale of our Sussex herd, to accommodate the growth of our Dexter herd! Today there are now 140 head of Dexter cattle, 800 sheep on the farm and a growing number of pigs living in our woodland!
Dexter cattle are the smallest breed of cattle in the world. But what they lack in height they make up for in character! And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Our growing herd holds a special place in our hearts and we are passionate about the breed. We are also passionate about the fantastic beef and we grow our Dexters slowly on a grass only diet to ensure that the meat is as tender, flavoursome and healthy as it can possibly be.
Our Dexter beef is available weekly from our farm in Scaynes Hill, West Sussex
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