Meet Robert Dickinson from High Knipe, Askham
We visited High Knipe Farm in the beautiful Brampton valley on a sunny Friday in June to catch up with Robert and his son Andrew.
Robert is a long-term supplier of beef to Cranstons and admired within the farming community for the quality cattle he produces. Robert and Andrew showed us around the farm and we had a good look at the cattle both in the pens and out in the field.
We hugely value the work Robert, Andrew and all our expert beef farmers put into providing superb cattle for Cranstons week in week out, they are all real experts in consistently supplying the quality of cattle we need.
Here’s what Robert had to say:
Q: How long have you been selling to Cranstons?
R: I started selling cattle to Jimmy Cranston at Penrith auction mart more than 30 years ago. Since foot and mouth in 2001 we have dealt directly with Cranstons working closely with Jimmy’s son Roger and now with Stephen, Cranstons Butcher and Meat Buyer. We take the cattle to our local abattoir in Carlisle every week and Cranstons collect the forequarters and hindquarters, so they carefully dry age them before their butchers get to work creating the joints and steaks we all enjoy.
Q: Have you always been a full-time farmer?
R: Yes, but how I farm has changed over the years. When I first came to High Knipe 35 years ago, we had a small dairy herd, cattle, and sheep. My passion was for beef cattle rather than producing milk, so I took the decision to sell the dairy cattle and concentrate on producing beef and lamb.
Q: What sort of cattle do you keep?
R: We don’t have a breeding herd here, instead I buy young cattle from farms within Cumbria through local auction marts, they come here to High Knipe to be ‘fattened’ ready for Cranstons and my other customers. Maturing cattle properly is a slow process so they are with me for between 6 and 18 months.
Historically we’ve had lots of great quality ‘suckler’ herds here in Cumbria so there have been plenty of quality young cattle to buy- sadly, it’s getting harder to find the right cattle as the number of working farms reduces.
For those who don’t know the term ‘suckler’ it means calves suckling their mothers, you’ve probably seen the herds as you travel around Cumbria, it’s a great sight to see young stock in the field at the foot of their mothers. It’s a very natural upbringing for the calves.
Q: How do you ‘fatten’ the cattle when they come to stay at High Knipe
R: We keep it as natural as possible here, they’ve been weaned from their mothers prior to coming to us but they live together, either out in our fields grazing or in our barns. When they are inside for the last couple of months, they live in large straw bedded well-ventilated barns with lots of space to move around. When they’re inside they eat silage (fermented grass) and a feed mix which contains wheat, barley, and maize.
Q: Who works on the farm with you?
R: It is me and my son Andrew for most of the year but we have lots of extra helpers at lambing time when it’s all hands to the deck. You seeing the farm at a relatively calm time of year, 2 months ago all these buildings we are walking around were our lambing sheds, full of sheep and new born lambs!
Q: How many cattle do you send to Cranstons?
R: We sell 2 to 4 beef cattle a week to you. You have always preferred Heifers and insist we only supply beef breeds; you don’t want the dairy cross beef that is becoming increasingly prevalent in the supermarkets. Stephen rings me once a week to tell me know many cattle you’d like for the following week.
Q: What’s your approach when it comes to buying cattle to fatten for Cranstons?
R: We’ve always liked Limousin cross (a mix of Limousin and another breed) cattle as they are renowned for producing great beef. For Cranstons we now often choose a Limousin crossed with a native breed as they mature well at the smaller weights you require. We’ve worked closely with you over the last few years to move to a smaller framed animal as smaller joints and steak are increasingly popular.
Q: What’s it like dealing with Cranstons?
R: We’ve got a good long-term relationship and it’s a real plus for us that we are selling so locally, the cattle don’t have to travel far to the abattoir, only 20 miles, which is great welfare wise. It’s also great to see local people enjoying the beef we work so hard here on the farm to produce.
Q: What’s your proudest moment as a farmer?
R: That’s a tough question for me as I can’t think of just one, I really take pride in everything we do here on the farm, but supplying the best quality animals we can makes all the hard work it takes worthwhile. We love the life – we love tending to and caring for livestock.
Q: What do people often misunderstand about farming?
R: Farmers are businessmen but it is important the public understand the care we have for the animals and for our farms, we are not in it purely for profit, we have a passion for what we do.
Q: Are there any common myths about farming or beef that you’d like to set straight?
R: As farmers we are not always the best at promoting what we do. I was pleased to be asked to do this interview as I think it’s important that your customers understand the husbandry and skill that goes into preparing beef cattle. Beef’s a superb natural product and no animal is the same, it is not like producing a product to a recipe in a factory, it takes time to mature good cattle and our animals must be content and thriving to produce a quality product
Q: And finally – got a favourite Cranstons product?
R: Fillet steak- I just don’t think you can beat a good piece of fillet.