Knaveswell Farm is 156 acres. As a dairy farm, most of our fields grow grass. We also grow some maize each summer which is harvested and chopped for the cows to eat during the winter. Our herd spends all spring and summer out at grass, only coming inside during the winter when the grass doesn’t grow and the fields are soggy. We love to see our cows outside eating grass in green fields, producing “free range” milk .
We milk the cows twice a day – early in the morning and mid afternoon. We have around 100 cows in the herd and each has a calf every year. Heifer (female) calves are reared to join the herd when they are about 2 years old. Bull (male) calves are sold to a local farmer to be reared for beef.
We have a small beef suckler herd of Hereford cattle living at Durlston Country Park in Swanage. The herd grazes the 300 acres of clifftop land and wildflower meadows for 10 months of the year, returning to Knavewell for calving in April and May. The cattle are moved from field to field by Durlston’s rangers. The park is open to the public so look out for our cattle if you visit Durlston.
