Wark Farm

The Belted Galloway is an old Scottish breed, bred in the south west of Scotland to live outdoors on the hills and rough ground of Galloway. It has been formally recognised as a breed in its own right since 1921 when a breed society was formed for its promotion, but it is commonly believed that it was developed from the ancient Galloway breed in the 17th and 18th century, possibly crossed with a Dutch type of cattle which introduced the distinctive white belt while retaining the hardiness of the Galloway types. More information on the breed can be found on the website of the Belted Galloway Cattle Society.

Whatever their origins, Belties are a distinctive and increasingly popular breed well suited to producing the highest quality beef from the poorer grazing areas of the country. They are completely at home at Wark Farm living happily at 1,000ft, mostly outside all year round. They have thick, double coats, the outer hairs shedding the water while the thicker, softer under hair retains warmth. They are great for helping manage the wildlife habitats we have created, such as the wetlands and wildflower meadows as well as being part of our mixed organic grazing system with the sheep flocks.

We raise our cattle slowly on a grass only diet. The calves remain with their mothers until they are naturally weaned at about a year old, at which point the cows have a new calf to raise. The weaned calves are gown on naturally on the better grazing land in the summer and on red clover silage during the winter. The best of the female calves are retained for breeding or for sale as pedigree breeding cattle, while the remaining growing cattle are brought on at a natural pace until they are ready for sale as high quality beef at around three years old.

Most years, we have a small number of pedigree females for sale and the occasional bull.