About Us
The Friendly Farmer Butchery
The Friendly Farmer Butchery is a family run butchery based on our farm in the heart of the Swartland.
Our animals are hormone and antibiotic free. They are pasture raised and grow up naturally on our predator friendly farm. We are serious about providing the public with quality, healthy meat. With that in mind, most of our products contain no preservatives, colourants or additives and they are gluten free.
We do not have a shop on our farm, but we offer a free delivery service to central points to all areas in and around Cape Town.
OUR FARMING METHODS
We farm with various small grain crops, sheep, chickens and cattle.
The build-up of nitrogen, which the legumes in our crop rotation and cover crop offer us, is an attempt to increase the soil nitrogen levels “naturally” and to decrease the use of artificial (chemical) fertilizers.
This also decreases our carbon footprint, due to the chemical fertilisers being harmful to our environment.
Thanks to the animals’ constant movement over the land as natural grazers, their hooves play a role in the start of the biology in the soil, trampling new bits of plants into the soil to feed the earth life. Another benefit of these natural grazers is that they fertilise the soil with their droppings and urine. Through careful grazing techniques, the animals are only allowed to “trim” the plants, which results in regrowth. This means that the plants grow continuously and act as a “natural plough”, allowing the increase of soil life and increasing carbon levels in the soil. We have adapted our ways of farming to cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal, by working with nature to produce healthy soil, healthy crops and ultimately healthy animals.
HOW OUR ANIMALS ARE RAISED
Our sheep and cattle are pasture raised, meaning they roam freely in large camps and are not raised in a feedlot.
We do not market our products as “free range” or “organic” because “free range” or “organic” animals live off the land, find food for themselves and roam on lands that have not had any form of chemical intervention or fertilizer on them for a length of time.At this stage, where we farm, the quality of the grazing on its own is not enough to raise a healthy, profitable animal.
For this reason, we produce our own feed which does not contain hormones or antibiotics. There is not enough grazing for the animals to live on without supplementing their food. We do not believe in putting our animals through the stress of finding food for themselves under such circumstances. We add just enough supplements which contain healthy vitamins and minerals for our livestock to look good and feel great. The supplementary feed that is given is a mixture of various grains and highquality hay, produced from our own soil that ensures our livestock stays in good condition.
Chickens
Our chickens start off in a cosy room under lights for two weeks.
We plant grazing for them, which consists of a mixture of grasses and broadleaf plants – home to a multitude of insects which the chickens love.
At night, for their own safety, they are moved inside to protect them from wild animals. In line with our predator friendly policy, we believe in removing the temptation rather than catching the “culprit”.