Farmer Profile: Ray Thomas

When Ray Thomas bought his first cows, it was the superior eating quality of the Aberdeen-Angus that won him over to the breed. He has since set up a thriving meat business.

Ray Thomas claims he is not a ‘proper’ farmer – but that hasn’t stopped him from establishing a successful meat business, providing an excellent shop window for the Aberdeen-Angus breed.

Ray Thomas

He and his wife Carol moved to Westgate Farm, Muddiford, Devon, 15 years ago, in search of a bigger garden. “It was almost by accident that we got the cows, although I’ve always had a hankering to do something like this,” he says. The property came with 12 acres, so the couple decided to buy a couple of cows to keep for the freezer.

“My background is in food – I’m a food technologist,” says Ray. Many years working for North Devon Meats and Marks & Spencer gave him a good understanding of the meat industry. “Over the years we have done loads of different taste panels with all sorts of breeds and combinations – and the Aberdeen-Angus always came out on top,” he says.

So when it came to choosing his own cows, this breed was the obvious choice, particularly given its ease of care, which makes it ideal for the novice farmer. In 1995 the couple bought two cows with calves at foot from Mike Matthews, then chairman of the South West Aberdeen-Angus Society. Pandamonium of Rytha and Ettina of Laurel produced some good calves, one of which still lives in the herd today.

The first steer which Ray finished proved such a winner with his friends that they demanded he produce more of this excellent meat. “We were doing it the traditional way, slaughtering it locally, and hanging it for three weeks.” Over the years he bought a few more to finish, and in 2000 started a partnership with his neighbour, Toby Ansdell, to sell more meat commercially.

Ray's Aberdeen-Angus

“The business has progressed from that. We’ve always stuck to Aberdeen-Angus and last year we did two head a week.” Westgate Angus also sells locally produced lamb, sausages and bacon, poultry and free range eggs, both through its website and at local farmers’ markets, farm shops, village stores, and caravan site shops.  Local caterers provide another outlet, useful for balancing the carcass, he adds.

Unfortunately, the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak led to the slaughter of Ray’s cattle, with the exception of one daughter of Pandamonium – Westgate Phoebe – which was off the farm at the time. He duly restocked with Woodington Pinky Glamour and Zarre 2^nd of Hollands from Carolyn Shard, which still remain on the farm now. “We want a reasonable size beef cow.”

Having previously used Woodington bulls from Rob Venner, Ray bought Gogland Jubilant from Penny Harvey, and is now bringing on a young Bulliford bull for future use. He shares the bulls with Mr Ansdell, who uses them on his dairy heifers due to their ease of calving.

In 2004 the partners installed a cutting plant at Mr Ansdell’s West Plaistow Farm, where they now employ a full-time and part-time butcher and a packer. “We wanted more control over the cuts we were getting.”

So what does the future hold for the business? “We have built up fairly slowly – I think we will carry on trying to do that.” Westgate Angus now has a turnover of £250,000 a year.

“We have a loyal customer base and we could be doing a lot more if we put in a lot more time – but we don’t want to be spending every day doing markets and shows.” Although Ray’s suckler cows remain very much a hobby, it’s not one he’s in a hurry to give up. “Around here we get a lot of stick about the Red Ruby Devons but as far as I’m concerned the Aberdeen-Angus is the best.”