Quick Overview
How we started
Jane Kallaway felt compelled to start producing her own meat after the BSE crisis, when she became deeply concerned about what her family was eating and where it came from. She quickly fell in love with the Manx Loaghtan breed, and set out to raise awareness of this rare breed by producing top quality lamb and mutton...no small challenge for this first time shepherdess.
arrow About us - how Jane Kallaway started the farm
Awards, values and standards
The farm has won eight National Organic Food Awards and seen our organic lamb and mutton ranked as the tastiest in Britain. We believe by managing the land in a sustainable organic manner and letting our sheep grow slowly and naturally we produce great tasting, healthy meat. All our lambs are reared on our organic pastures and allowed to mature at their own pace, taking around seven months for Autumn Lamb; 12 months for Year Lamb and three years or more for Mutton.
Our awards
How we rear our sheep
How we manage our farm
Healthy, tasty meat - low in fat and cholesterol
The Manx Loaghtan breed is 23 per cent lower in fat and nine per cent lower in cholesterol than commercially reared sheep, making our sheep a delicious and healthy organic choice.
Low fat and cholesterol table
Customer service and traceability
We aim to provide our customers with produce suited exactly for them. Animals are individually selected depending on each customer's requirements. We provide total traceability for all our stock. We only rear and sell our animals ourselves, on our own farm. We can tell you exactly how each animal was raised, and we encourage our customers to visit the farm to see what we do.
Animal welfare
We care passionately about our animals, and run our farm and rear our sheep to strict Soil Association standards and are inspected regularly. We care for our sheep every day, select them according to our customers' needs and take them to the abattoir ourselves.
Professional butchery
We believe it is our duty, out of respect to our animals, that they are butchered as expertly as possible. Professional butchery is a fast disappearing skill, but one that is absolutely vital to ensure that each animal's potential is realised and their taste and flavour maximised. We take all our animals, ourselves, to a Soil Association registered slaughterhouse and accredited Master Butcher. After slaughter, lambs are hung for between seven and 14 days. Mutton is hung for longer.
Farming for the future and education
We believe organic farming is the best possible system to produce healthy food in way that best respects the wild plants and animals we are privileged to share our land with. Much of our land is ancient permanent pasture, with Medieval ridge and furrow visible in the fields. We have ongoing environmental projects and are part of the Soil Association, Countryside Stewardship Scheme and Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group schemes. With these bodies we work with local schools, colleges and adult education centres to raise understanding about organic farming and our sheep.
Rare breeds
The Manx Loaghtan is a primitive rare breed dating back to the Iron Age. It survives in small flocks across the UK and is termed 'at risk' by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. The march of industrialised farming has pushed out traditional breeds that don't conform to quick uniform production favoured by commercial farming. Many rare breeds have become extinct. Food lovers across the country, together with specialised farmers and producers like ourselves, are helping halt the decline of rare breeds:
About The Manx Loaghtan Breed
Jane Kallaway felt compelled to start producing her own meat after the BSE crisis, when she became deeply concerned about what her family was eating and where it came from. She quickly fell in love with the Manx Loaghtan breed, and set out to raise awareness of this rare breed by producing top quality lamb and mutton...no small challenge for this first time shepherdess.
arrow About us - how Jane Kallaway started the farm
Awards, values and standards
The farm has won eight National Organic Food Awards and seen our organic lamb and mutton ranked as the tastiest in Britain. We believe by managing the land in a sustainable organic manner and letting our sheep grow slowly and naturally we produce great tasting, healthy meat. All our lambs are reared on our organic pastures and allowed to mature at their own pace, taking around seven months for Autumn Lamb; 12 months for Year Lamb and three years or more for Mutton.
Our awards
How we rear our sheep
How we manage our farm
Healthy, tasty meat - low in fat and cholesterol
The Manx Loaghtan breed is 23 per cent lower in fat and nine per cent lower in cholesterol than commercially reared sheep, making our sheep a delicious and healthy organic choice.
Low fat and cholesterol table
Customer service and traceability
We aim to provide our customers with produce suited exactly for them. Animals are individually selected depending on each customer's requirements. We provide total traceability for all our stock. We only rear and sell our animals ourselves, on our own farm. We can tell you exactly how each animal was raised, and we encourage our customers to visit the farm to see what we do.
Animal welfare
We care passionately about our animals, and run our farm and rear our sheep to strict Soil Association standards and are inspected regularly. We care for our sheep every day, select them according to our customers' needs and take them to the abattoir ourselves.
Professional butchery
We believe it is our duty, out of respect to our animals, that they are butchered as expertly as possible. Professional butchery is a fast disappearing skill, but one that is absolutely vital to ensure that each animal's potential is realised and their taste and flavour maximised. We take all our animals, ourselves, to a Soil Association registered slaughterhouse and accredited Master Butcher. After slaughter, lambs are hung for between seven and 14 days. Mutton is hung for longer.
Farming for the future and education
We believe organic farming is the best possible system to produce healthy food in way that best respects the wild plants and animals we are privileged to share our land with. Much of our land is ancient permanent pasture, with Medieval ridge and furrow visible in the fields. We have ongoing environmental projects and are part of the Soil Association, Countryside Stewardship Scheme and Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group schemes. With these bodies we work with local schools, colleges and adult education centres to raise understanding about organic farming and our sheep.
Rare breeds
The Manx Loaghtan is a primitive rare breed dating back to the Iron Age. It survives in small flocks across the UK and is termed 'at risk' by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. The march of industrialised farming has pushed out traditional breeds that don't conform to quick uniform production favoured by commercial farming. Many rare breeds have become extinct. Food lovers across the country, together with specialised farmers and producers like ourselves, are helping halt the decline of rare breeds:
About The Manx Loaghtan Breed