Cow Hall Organic Farm
Our Hereford Herd
Our main business is selling pedigree Traditional Hereford cattle. Also known as Original Population Herefords they are registered with the Hereford Cattle Society (www.herefordcattle.org) identified in the Herd Book from the modern Herefords by an asterix*. The breed was developed in the late 18th Century, Traditional Herefords are genetically different from modern Herefords and can trace their breeding back to the original lines in the first Hereford Book of 1846, they are smaller than modern Herefords and particularly well suited to forage grazing and use on conservation sites.
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We sell in calf heifers and one or two bulls each year.
There have been Hereford Cattle at Cow Hall since the 1930s and probably well before this. During the 1940s, the farm was the centre of the MAFF “Improvement of Breeding Cattle” scheme locally, where cows were brought from all around the Clun Forest to be served by quality bulls, purchased with the help of a Ministry grant. This herd was sadly sold in the 1980s.
We took on the management of the farm in 1996 and registered it organic. Our herd of registered Traditional Herefords was established with 6 Springhill heifers, then a further five, and the loan of bulls from Geoffrey Cloke and Peter Symonds. At the time there were thought to be only around 350 registered original population cattle surviving in the country. We didn’t know then of the different families, we were simply looking for good quality, hardy stock to suit the tough conditions of the Welsh borders and fit well with our organic farming system. The cattle we sought out have not disappointed. They are a pleasure to work with, keeping fit and well and most importantly being extremely quiet.
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We sell in-calf breeding stock from the farm which have been the foundation for many other herds around the country: four of our animals founded the Club’s Patron’s herd at Belvoir Castle. It is rewarding now to find more recently established herds including Cow Hall blood, particularly many set up on farms with nature conservation management as a key part of their system, as it is here.
The present Cow Hall herd totals 25 cows plus followers, the older ones sired by Llandinabo Warrant, Cow Hall Hudson, out of Llandinabo Tarquin and Springhill Venus, and Hawcroft Taurus. More recently we have used Lower Eaton Hellyer, Baytal Pooh, an exceptional bull and Elysia Edward.
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Our family lines include Sylvia, Amethyst, Venus, Ruby and the very scarce Linnett; currently our only bought-in cow (from Glyn Jones on his retirement).
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We are actively involved in the Traditional Hereford Breeders Club (www.traditionalherefords.org) and in 2025 we won their competition for large herd of the year.
