Shetland Beef and Two Summer Shetland Lamb

Most years we will have meat available to sell from our flock of Shetland Sheep and our micro herd of Shetland Cattle. Below is more detail about what we offer. If you are interested in becoming a customer, please get in touch.

A bit about our husbandry….

Shetland sheep and Shetland cattle are traditional breeds which are noted for the suitability to low input farming and their tasty meat. Both are classified as a minority breed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Keeping and breeding these animals helps ensure their long term survival.

Our animals are grass reared on the species rich permanent pastures of Dyfed Permaculture Farm Trust and enjoy fabulous handmade hay overwinter. No chemicals are used on the Trust’s land. Medical treatments given to the animals are kept to the absolute minimum needed to ensure good health.

The animals play an important role in helping us maintain and expand the rich biodiversity of this land, entirely by hand (no tractor or strimmer!). They also give us a lot of pleasure.

The Meat

We will have two batches of meat available: Two Summer Shetland Lamb, Goat kid and Mutton in the second half of October and Shetland Beef in the second week of December.

Two Summer Shetland Lamb (Hogget / Baby Mutton)

£8/kilo, box approx 7-10kg

As the name implies, these Shetland lambs will have lived two summers before slaughter (making them about 18 months old). This gives the slower growing breed time to mature properly and gives the sheep a much longer life then conventionally reared lamb (slaughtered at circa 6 months).

We think that this “baby mutton” has a much fuller and richer flavor then early slaughtered lamb whilst still being tender. The meat will be hung for at least one week to further improve flavor and eatability

Meat will be available as boxes of half a lamb. Each box will have a mix of cuts – eg roasting joints, chops and mince – butchered and vacuum packed ready for the freezer by Cig Oen in Tregaron.

Shetland Mutton

£7.50/kilo, box approx 10kg

The mutton is from the same flock as the hogget. A year or two older, they will have a full, rich flavor. The meat will be hung for at least one week to develop the flavor and increase tenderness. We have eaten a lot of mutton over the years, it’s delicious!

Meat will be available as boxes of half a sheep. Each box will have a mix of cuts – eg joints, chops and mince – butchered and vacuum packed ready for the freezer by Cig Oen in Tregaron.

Goat

£10/kilo, box approx 7kg

We have a small amount of goat meat available. Young and tender, this is a good opportunity to try something a little bit different.

Meat will be available as boxes of half a goat. Each box will have a mix of cuts – eg joints, chops and mince – butchered and vacuum packed ready for the freezer by Cig Oen in Tregaron.

We would like to sell all the lamb, mutton and goat as complete half boxes. However, if you would like some but do not want a full box please let us know – we may be able to match you up with someone else who would like to share

Shetland Beef

£11.50/kilo, box approx 10 kg

This year’s beef will be from an 18 month old Shetland bull called Baron. The beef will be processed by Cig Oen, hung for three weeks to improve flavor and tenderness then butchered and vacuum packed ready for the freezer.

Each box contains a mix of cuts – eg slow roasting and prime joints, steaks, stewing steak and mince. We know that mince and stewing steak is popular so we will make sure that there is plenty available in each box. 

We are expecting a box to be about 10kg. With beef shares we can be a bit more flexible then with the lamb boxes, as long as we find enough homes for it all. So it may be possible to have a smaller or larger share – let us know what you would like.

The Practicalities

Please contact us and let us know if you are interested in either sheep, goat or beef, or everything!

The meat will need to be collected from us or delivered to you as soon as possible after we have collected it from Tregaron, so make sure you have fridge/freezer space ready. This will be the second half of October for the lamb and the second week of December for the beef. We will contact you with the exact day closer to the time.

The meat will have a shelf life of about 6 days if kept refrigerated, or can be frozen for future consumption.

Delivery by courier

If you live further away we can send meat boxes by courier. Boxes are sent by Parcelforce 24hr packed in wool lined cardboard boxes, with freezer packs to keep the meat at the correct temperature. Delivery is £15 for one to two boxes. Contact us for a price if you would like more then this.