Hannah and Duncan Nobbs moved from their farm in Devon to their farm in Lignac (Indre), 45 minutes east of Poitiers, in 2016.
They produce grass-fed beef at La Perrière.
“We have around 45 breeding cows and two pedigree Aberdeen Angus bulls,” says Hannah.
“Counting the young livestock, we have about 140 head of cattle. They are all grass-fed so they grow quite slowly and we don’t send animals to the abattoir until they are big enough, usually around three years old.”
The farm is not certified organic, although the Nobbs are natural farmers.
“We don’t agree with using antibiotics and chemicals which are bad for human health as well as for the environment.”
They sell direct to the public and their beef is in such demand that the prime cuts like ribs and fillet steak are reserved months in advance.
“We are so busy looking after the animals in January, February and March that we don’t send any to slaughter in those months. Then we do one a month from April to October; two in November and two in December, to cope with demand over the festive season.”
They only sell direct, and have a big client base, built on social media.
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“We have a mix of French and British customers from all over France. We send our meat by Chronofresh, or people make an appointment to collect from us.
"Most people order individual cuts but we do make up slow cooker boxes, gourmet boxes, etc. People mainly order through Facebook or Instagram – @laperriereangusboeuf – and @lavachenoireglamping.”
They don’t have a farm shop, although they would love one.
“It is a project for the future, but the regulations are stiff and we’re opening a farm glamping site next year in order to diversify. Most small farms have to diversify these days."
La Perriere Angus Boeuf
“We would like to expand and our two teenage sons Freddie and George are starting to help out which makes things easier.
"We cannot add more cattle because we do not have the space. But we would like to sell more meat direct and give up selling at markets. We have restaurants and butchers in Paris phoning all the time but we can’t guarantee supplies because we are a really small family-run farm.”
