Three leading beef farms in Herefordshire will feature in this year’s prestigious national event, Beef Expo 2009.

It will be held on May 21 at the Three Counties Showground at Malvern but will be preceded the day before with a visit to diverse beef producing farms in the county.

Beef Expo, organised by the National Beef Association and sponsored by Lloyds TSB Agriculture, is held in a different part of the country each year and the farms chosen for the tour in Herefordshire are at Leominster, Clifton-upon-Teme and near Hereford.

“We have three excellent beef farms for this year’s tour and we are greatly indebted to the host farmers for opening up their farms to our visitors,” said Clive Roads, chairman of the local organising committee.

The three farms are: n John Price, The Day House Farm, Kingsland – a large-scale beef finishing enterprise based on the purchase of stores at local markets. About 700 Continental cross heifers are finished either at grass or over the winter on a mixed ration of silage, wheat straw, protein blend and minerals.

The farm grows 1,400 acres of cereals, 300 acres of oilseed rape and 650 acres of ware potatoes.

n E B Walker and Co, Tedney House, Clifton-upon-Teme – an organic farm run by brothers John and Thomas Walker. They have 116 mostly pedigree Hereford cows with all progeny, except replacement heifers and a few bulls sold privately for breeding, finished at about 18 months and sold to Dovecote Park. The aim is low-cost production, no purchased fertiliser, based on grass and high dry matter silage.

The farm has 200 arable acres, 50 acres of hops, 225 acres of leys, 275 acres of permanent pasture, 50 acres of grazing orchard and 110 acres of woodland.

n Paul Dawes, Dinmore Manor Estate, Kipperknowle Farm – with a 50-cow Dinmore herd of pure Limousin cattle, established eight years ago.

Progeny of the stock bull, Tonka, have sold for up to 50,000gns, 42,000gns and 28,000gns at Carlisle and his offspring won the best progeny award at the Royal Show last year. The home-bred cow Dinmore Athena is unbeaten in 13 outings, including female champion at the Royal Welsh Show. The Dinmore farm is a mixed farming unit with 700 acres of crops, 600 acres of grass and a 750-acre woodland.

The cost of the three-farm tour is £14 and tickets can be bought in advance from Euan Emslie at 3, Briar Close, Newport, Brough, East Yorkshire, HU15 2QY, by phone on 01430 441870 or email Euan@AppliedRemedies.co.uk.