St George's Park Farm, East Sussex
St George’s park farm, is based on Ditchling Common in East Sussex, we are a spring calving block with our herd consisting of 34 breeding cows, with just shy of 100 head of cattle on the farm in total.
We rear all calves to approximately 12 months of age, before selling the majority of the steers as stores. A small number are retained for finishing at around two to two-and-a-half years old. All heifers are kept until breeding age, when we select the best to retain as replacements for the herd, with the remainder sold through breeding sales.
Our breeding goals focus on continuing to develop the herd while improving key characteristics of the Sussex breed. We are particularly looking to introduce more polled genetics, alongside developing a darker coat colour and greater height, while maintaining the qualities that make Sussex cattle such a valued beef breed.
Looking ahead, we are hoping to expand into selling breeding bulls, which will be a new venture for the herd. This year marks an important step towards that goal, as we have retained three bull calves entire rather than castrating them. These bulls will be available for sale next year, marking the beginning of an exciting new chapter for our herd.
Medium herd competition comments
Congratulations on winning the section and the Cow and Calf class. This was a good reflection of the quality we saw throughout the breeding females, with a fantastic crop of calves at foot to take the herd forward in the future.
It was exciting to see that you are keeping some bulls entire to bring forward as potential future breeding bulls. Your stock bull seems to have complemented the cows very well, and it will be interesting to see the careful selection of your next bull to continue this progress.
It was also lovely to see such enthusiasm from the younger stockmen, alongside good, level-headed guidance from the long-standing members of staff.
Once again, congratulations.
Keith Jempson (overall judge)
This is a relatively new herd of Sussex cattle, which is being run by a very efficient team, with cattle that have been very carefully selected.
The cows with their Spring born calves look exceptionally well despite the very challenging conditions of this very dry summer.
Their present stock bull has done an exceptional job in breeding both male and female calves. They have not previously kept bull calves entire, castrating early, but this year they have kept 1 or 2 as bulls, which to my mind is a very wise move.
The 2026 born calves are looking very well with creep just now being introduced.
A nice selection of young heifers, bred by the present stock bull. This bull is now being sold, and they are looking for a new one.
I was impressed with the overall management of the herd and the very tidiness of the farm. This herd is a high contender for the championship herd.
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