The Farmers Mart Feb/Mar 2014 - Issue 32 | Page 45

sheep

Taste Cumbria backs
Herdwick meat project
Taste Cumbria has launched a project
which promotes Cumbrian product,
Herdwick meat, and the way it is
farmed.
The project is in partnership with the
Herdwick Sheep Breeders’ Association
and six Cumbrian MPs, working alongside
farmers, slaughterhouses, producers,
restaurateurs and retailers to tackle low
farming incomes.
Taste Cumbria manager Mary Houston
said: “Thanks to funding from The Prince’s
Countryside Fund, we are planning a series
of events to promote Herdwick, including a
spectacular event in the capital. It is great
to have the full support of our Cumbrian
MPs and I look forward to working with
them again. Herdwick is a wonderful
product of both farmers and landscape.
“We need to support the fragile
network of specialist Herdwick farmers
and shepherds, who work as guardians
of our unique fells. Herdwick meat is of

‘A rich and distinctive
flavour’
outstanding quality and we should be
seeing it on the shelves of quality butchers,
retailers and on the menu of all reputable
restaurants.”
Having recently been granted Protected
Designation of Origin (PDO) status,
experts claim Herdwick sheep’s hardy
way of life creates their rich and distinctive
flavour.

MP for Penrith and the Border Rory
Stewart said: “The Herdwick Sheep
Breeders’ Association is doing a fantastic
job in protecting this beautiful, hardy native
breed, and I am delighted that the Prince’s
Countryside Fund is supporting them in a
project to help capitalise on their recentlyawarded PDO status – encouraging
exports abroad and raising the profile of the
Cumbrian farmers who raise our Herdwicks
in the process.”
The other MPs involved include Tim
Farron, Jamie Reed, Tony Cunningham,
John Woodcock and John Stephenson.
Herdwick sheep are among the most
hardy of all Britain’s historic hill sheep
breeds - indeed they have to be, grazing
the extensive central and western Lake
District with fells running to more than
3,000 feet.
“Herdwyck”, meaning sheep pasture, is
recorded in documents going back to the
12th century.

Kelso Producer Recognised
for Dedication to Performance
Recording in Scotland
A Kelso producer has been
recognised by Quality Meat
Scotland (QMS) for his
longstanding commitment
to raising the profile of
performance recording in
Scotland.
John Elliot, who farms with his
son, also John, was presented
with the Johnston Carmichael
Trophy by Neil Steven, Director,
General Practice - Edinburgh,
Johnston Carmichael on his
Roxburgh Mains farm in Kelso.
John, who has been involved
in the performance recording of
both sheep and cattle for over
30 years, started recording the
weights of his North Country
Cheviot tup hoggs purely as a
guide to how they were thriving.

He then bought some Suff