Breeding on our farm runs to a yearly rhythm, planned long before the bull or the technician arrives. Each autumn we review the herd, rank the cows and decide which lines to carry forward.

Replacement heifers are reared on the same pasture-first principles as the milking herd, so they grow into the system rather than being thrown into it. By the time they calve, they already know the routine.

It is steady, unglamorous work, but it is how a herd quietly gets better with every passing season.