Knights Care Farm LLP
Established 2013
Livestock Farming - Our location is based on a Commercial Farm
We are passionate about farming and keen to share it with others, so the Care Farm was set up to give others access to farm life that would otherwise not get the chance.
​
Knights Care Farm is located on a commercial working farm, near Ottery St Mary, Devon. Stocking Cattle, sheep and pigs. Over time we have practiced, and continue to improve, on sustainable eco-friendly farming practices. Many of the farming practices we put in place hold advantages for the land, the livestock and to us as a small business.
​
Sheep
A closed flock offers us the ability to breed replacement ewes and limit disease coming in from ewes that would otherwise be bought at market. The farm only buys carefully chosen breeding Rams. In Lambing season, we assess all the ewes carefully and keep detailed records on everything from how well they lamb, to the milk they produce and their overall mothering ability. Every ewe lamb in the spring is considered a potential replacement. Knights Farm look for high growth rates, a factor dependent on a milky ewe, and they must be anatomically correct and be easy lambing.
The breeds we have chosen were based on what would do well on Devon farmland. Each breed has been selected to be well suited to the Devon farmland, todays market & modern farming system. These breeds are quiet and easily handled. They also produce great lambs for meat production. Despite all theses selection criteria for our choice we also selected our breeds as we like the way they look, we believe it is important to like what you look at. Our flock is predominately Lleyn, with some mix bred ewes.
Pigs
Our Pigs are loved on the farm, the breeding sows Anna and Bess are homebred and know us well. Anna loves a good rub!
Both are Large Black Crosses and were from our pedigree Large black sow Perdi who sadly is no longer with us from old age.
​
The Large black pig is a Local breed and produces excellent tasty meat, however can be fatty is not reared with care. We have crossed our breeding with Boars that are a Pietrain, a breed well known for good meat mass.
​
The pigs are bred for meat, service users are taught the process understanding why we breed and rear in a humane way compared to other countries. It is important to source meat that is reared well, not only is it better for the animal but you can really taste the difference.
Cattle
Our South Devon Cattle herd are long standing on this farm. Luke's father, Simon, started the herd and we have home-reared for over 20 years. Luke and Emily purchased the herd from Simon when they secured the tenancy on the farm.
​
The South Devon is an adaptable native beef breed which is a strong performer in the our purebred suckler herd, whether intensive, extensive or organic.
Its many long-established attributes lend themselves well to our farming system enabling us to produce excellent high-value breeding stock and top quality finished beef animals on a pure Grass diet.
​
-
Very quiet temperament – easy and safe to handle
-
Fast growth rate and early maturity
-
Long-lived milky dams with excellent mothering abilities
-
Low cost efficient forage converters – grass-fed beef=Omega 3
-
Hardy and adaptable
We are Farm Assured, meaning we are inspected annually to ensure our livestock are cared for well. We are also proud to say all our lamb is 'West Country Lamb' meaning, we as producers have the right to use the protected Westcountry Lamb status on our products.
As registered products West Country Lamb must be produced in accordance with the PGI specification. To qualify, we have to fulfil criteria of our lamb coming from stock born, raised and finished in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Dorset or Wiltshire and fed at least a 70% forage-based diet. To find out more visit the West Country Lamb & beef website.
Some might say West Country lamb has joined the ranks of products such as Clotted cream or Cornish Pasties.... Oh Yummy!!!
All Knights Farm livestock is bred for meat, slowly reared to a natural maturity. Our lambs are reared by their mothers initially then 100% grass fed. Once grown to the Knights Farm standard they are taken to a local Devon abattoir. The welfare of our animals is of upmost importance to us; using a local abattoir & butcher means the animals only have a short way to travel reducing stress caused by journeys.
​