Leo McCourt, who now does most of the day to day work on the farm, started at a very young age. Still known by some as ‘The Tank’, from his rugby days, Leo took over most of the day to day farming activities from his Father, Jan at the tender age of 16 following Jan’s unfortunate close encounter of the tractor kind. Leo looks after all the livestock and machinery here at Northfield. He is particularly passionate about the Aberdeen Angus breed.
Leo completed a two year course at Moulton Agricultural College, and even achieved a couple of merits!!. A keen cook, he can often be seen flipping burgers at some of our markets and festivals, but he is really happiest when working with our animals.
In addition to his work at Northfield he offers a range of farming related services to other local businesses and individuals. He can also be found from time to time at London’s Borough Market where our business is run by his brother, Dom.
Get in touchBeef
Beef
Known for many years as one of the largest breeders of Dexter Cattle in the UK, we have also used Pedigree Aberdeen Angus Bulls which we believe has helped us produce some of the best beef in existence.
We focus mainly on our herd of pedigree White Park cattle as well as the cross breeding of them with Full-Blood Wagyu bulls to produce some of the finest marbling in existence.
Traditional
Here at Northfield Farm we have chosen traditional breeds that are reared slowly and naturally outdoors, except during the worst of winter when they live in our barns and are fed from hay and silage which we have made from our own grassland.
Slowly reared animals taste better because their flavour has had time to develop at its natural rate. Yes, it is more expensive to farm this way, but once you have tasted meat as it is intended to be, you will see why we are so passionate about it.
Outdoors
Our cattle & sheep are outdoors as much as possible and enjoying the sunshine as they go about the day eating grass and clovers. You can drive past our fields and have a look at our pedigree herd of cattle and sheep.
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Breeds
These breeds are a valuable part of our heritage and we are incredibly proud of them. When we are not able to source specific breeds and animals as outlined above, we purchase the best quality British, Scotch & Irish Beef we can find and hang it on the bone before butchering it.
We use three local abattoirs, one of which is located on a neighbouring farm, as we are, in the Borough of Melton Mowbray.
The Farm
Northfield Farm straddles the Rutland/Leicestershire border midway between Oakham and Melton Mowbray. When the McCourt family first moved here in 1994 members of the more conventional farming fraternity observed our herd of small Dexter Cattle with some amusement.
They were, however, the foundation of our business and while we no longer breed them, we occasionally source wonderfully finished Dexters from other breeders. We also source fantastic Longhorns, Lincoln Reds, Shorthorns and other traditional British breeds from superb farmers in the East Midlands and from further afield. From time to time, we also offer Wagyu and Wagyu cross beef.
Lamb
Lamb
Having concentrated our resources on building up our cattle numbers over the last few years, we have started to build towards a flock of over 100 breeding ewes. We chose Lleyns & Charollais for our base flock. As well as Lleyns we put Pedigree Hampshire Down rams to produce lamb, hogget and mutton of outstanding quality. We also have a few pedigree Border Leicesters, the local breed to our farm.
One of our neighbours is a fantastic sheep breeder and has an abattoir on his farm. This means that almost all of the lamb we sell has travelled the shortest distance possible between our two farms to hang in our fridges.
Pork
Pork
While we are not currently breeding any pigs, we have, in the past, bred Gloucester Old Spots & British Lop pigs, Britain’s rarest breed pig. The British Lop is a large docile, lop eared, multi-purpose pig. A very hardy breed they can be kept outdoors all year round.
The purebred is suitable for both pork and bacon production.
We source our outdoor bred pork from a fantastic farm in Yorkshire.
Chicken
Chicken & Cockerels
We have scoured the country to find the best free range Chicken & Cockerels, after trying many and getting our customers feedback (as that’s most important!) we have found Packingtons Free Range Chicken to be the most flavoursome juicy bird we have ever tasted. Our customers have raved about the chicken after the first time trying it and keep coming back for more.
All Packington Free Range Chickens & Cockerels roam free on established English pasture, consisting of various grasses and clovers, with strategically placed perches and shelters offering shade, food and water.