Now approaching the end of spring and the start of summer proper, we have nearly finished our calving season on the farm. Avid readers with long memories may recall that we had a change of breeding policy last year and invested in a North Devon (Ruby Red) bull from a neighbouring parish.

Most of the cows have now given birth and we have been very pleased with the result. We have only had to assist one – a young heifer who decided that late in the evening on a bank holiday Sunday would be an ideal time to give birth – with the rest of them dropping painlessly (well at least from my point of view!)

The young bull has grown and filled out and is now quite an impressive specimen and (much to Cathy’s irritation) developed a playful streak and gambols and gallops around the field when we are seeing the cows. Quite an unnerving spectacle if you are unused to it.

Last week I had the pleasure of showing round the farm a group of French agriculture students from Brittany and was explaining to them that our supermarkets (the main buyers of beef in this country) preferred French breeds such as Charolais and Limousin, which are famous for their size and leanness. This delivers economy of scale and less unsightly fat in the packet. However this is all done at the expense of flavour and texture; two attributes that the French – with their penchant for fine cooking – would surely appreciate.

What is more, the North Devon (a smaller and fatter breed) is ideally suited to our area (hardly surprising really – as it is reputed to be the oldest cattle breed and may have been bred in the South West since prehistoric times) and will happily live out in all weathers and will fatten readily on grass alone.

Like a lot of agricultural ‘improvements’ made over the last 30 years (driven mainly by subsidies and supermarkets), the popularity of importing fancy breeds from different parts of the world may eventually prove to be unsustainable. Whist the innate suitability of our native breeds – which have been bred over hundreds of years to suit our geography – will prove to be the answer to meeting the nations food needs within a low input, climate-friendly, traditional farming system. Surprise, surprise.