WHEN Peter Bayliss sells up his pedigree herd of cattle on Saturday, he will have some regrets but one unusual achievement to be proud of.

In the 25 years he has been producing top-class animals at his little farm at Felton, he has never had one case of TB among them despite having a badger sett nearby.

Vet Peter Jinman, from Ewyas Harold, said it was an intriguing situation. The land at The Stables at Felton was like an oasis, clear of TB, a disease routinely found in the countryside all around it.

The tiny herd of Felton Limousins’ and Broomhill Belgium Blue cattle on the 15-acre smallholding have been regularly tested over the years but always turned up a clean sheet.

Peter, who is 52, said he took extra precautions to protect his cattle, with good fencing, feed and water troughs built up too high for badgers to use and field licks in special containers they could not access.

Despite such an envious record, he has decided it is time for him to get out of the cattle business and his live and dead farm stock are to be sold on the farm by auctioners John Amos and Co.

The herd is small, just 12 cows, heifers, calves and one bull named Felton Dellaglio. Mr Jinman has described them as of the highest quality.

Peter started breeding 25 years ago, entered all the local shows and has a box full of rosettes to prove it.

He produced four to six pedigree calves a year and had no trouble selling them through the classified columns of the Hereford Times.

But their care is time-consuming 365 days a year, do not make a living and Peter has a full-time job at Bartonsham Dairies in Hereford, starting at 4.30am.

Peter’s late mother Sarah used to help keep an eye on the cattle and later this was done by his father Reg, a well known and popular figure in Hereford Cattle Market, who died last summer.

His wife Jane is a busy nurse practitioner in Hereford, their son James has helped put the business on a computer footing and daughter Sarah played a major role in dressing the animals for shows and leading them in the parades.

But times have changed. Stock farming, like most, is controlled by rules and regulations and that is all before you start caring for the animals.

With the threat of Bluetongue, Peter, who rarely works less than 45 hours a week on his day job, has decided enough is enough.

“I just want some people – or Peter – time. I realise I have never been on an aeroplane and would like to do a bit of travelling,”

he said.

And he wants to go to agricultural shows to see what other people are doing rather than sitting near the cattle pens keeping an eye on his own.

Peter agrees he will find it difficult to say farewell to the likes of Sophie, Ingot, Regal, Bramble, Delightful and Dellaglio but is looking forward to a new and more relaxing era in his life.

The sale at The Stables starts at 11am. The animals can be viewed on johnamos.co.uk