We are passionate to produce food in a sustainable and environmentally conscious way. Grass feed Beef and Lamb boxes are available during certain times of the year so please get in touch. Lamb and Beef boxes are sold under the brand Knockmore Stables.
Knockmore Stables is situated in Knockmore, County Wexford. Our aim is to produce a high quality product from a low input farming system linking food production with the environment. This is done by letting the livestock graze high quality protein and herb rich grasses that also help to improve the soil structure and fertility. All our grass is either a grass and clover mix or a herbal/ multispecies mix ( consisting of : Red Clover, Crimson Clover, White Clover, Chicory, Plantain, Sainfoin, Vetch and Lucerne). Our main source of fertiliser is from manure from the livestock and then the clovers, no artificial fertiliser is used.
The reason why we want to produce grass fed meat is because:
1) they have lower total fat levels than grain fed animals
2) higher levels of Omega 3 fatty acids
3) higher vitamin and mineral levels than grain fed animals
4) grazing grass with herbs and clovers ( mixed swards) provides a nutrient rich feed which not only provides a good feed source to livestock but also supports diverse wildlife.
5) Herbs ( plantain & chicory) with the nitrogen fixing legumes (Crimson Clover, Red & White clover, Sainfoin, Lucerne & Vetch) helps draw minerals up from the soil which are then readily available to the animals. They also improve the structure of the soil allowing better drainage, improve soil health and allow us to operate no chemical fertilisers.
Lamb
Our ewes are a mix of Suffolk, Texel’s and Charolais; these are great meat producing breeds and are very good at utilising grass to produce milk for lambs and to grow quick off grass. We only use Suffolk rams. Our lambs and ewes spend most of their time on a Solar farm, linking renewable energy production with agriculture making it a very sustainable and low carbon product.
Beef
Our beef is produced from diary beef heifer calves. This means we buy calves ( a by product of the diary industry) and take them to 19 months. Once we have weaned the calves they graze the herbal/ multi species grasses to ensure they maximise growth on the grass before being housed. When they are house they are fed home produced hay or silage. In the final 8 weeks before slaughter they are fed a concentrate mix along side grazing to ensure that there is a good fat coverage on the meat which helps provide a lot a flavour once cooked.
