Hevingham stockman Steve Howard retires after 44 years

After a long career working for the Birkbeck family at Rippon Hall Farm, stalwart of the breed Steve Howard reflects on his time with the widely-renowned Hevingham herd.

Steve Howard retires from Rippon Hall Farm at Hevingham in Norfolk after 44 years

Steve began his job in 1980 for estate owner Diana Birkbeck, owner of the Hevingham herd in Norfolk and one of the British White Cattle Society’s most prominent contributors.

Steve says: “I started at Rippon as a tractor driver on a 730 acre farm with about 55 British White sucklers and their followers - about 120 head in total - plus several horses; hunters and racehorse broodmares. Those British White numbers have stayed much the same over the years, until a gradual reduction from 2019 onwards to prepare for my retirement. Doug Balderstone was the manager when I first started, where there were five of us plus a groom working on the farm at that time, and we would all get involved in helping with the cattle.”

As time went on, Steve’s involvement with the cattle would grow as he began to assist the head stockman at shows during the 1980s, where the Hevingham herd was very highly regarded. Steve continues: “Showing cattle in the early days with Dougie at the Norfolk, East of England and Royal Shows, we had success with homebred bull Hevingham Foghorn and cow Hevingham Snapdragon, as well with stock bull Moorside Black Knight at the Royal Show.” This experience would later lead to Steve becoming the herd’s showman in his own right, turning out some superb prize winners.

Describing how his job began to evolve at Rippon Hall in the 1990s, Steve says: “I took over from Dougie as farm manager in 1991, and there were just three of us working the farm by then. Winter feeding of the cattle was a timely procedure back in those days as we were still feeding saved windrowed sugar beet tops. The cattle would be bedded down in a round bale corral to protect them from the wind, which would be situated near the beet fields and moved annually. From there, they would be led out daily to strip graze on the tops once they had wilted down. The cows always loved beet tops, and care had to be taken that they didn’t over indulge. Eventually as beet harvesters got bigger, saving the tops became impractical, so we changed to grazing stubble turnips for a few years before eventually changing to a semi-permanent outdoor site, still with a bale surround that would be renewed every two years, but now feeding fodder beet in hesston feeders within the pen with hay or haylage, which became the winter feeding regime until I finished in 2024.”

A herd favourite: Hevingham Bluetit at 5 years of age, winning the Breed Championship at the East of England Show in 1997

During his first decade as manager at Rippon Hall, the herd were still a regular feature on the show circuit. Steve says: “A favourite cow of mine that had a very successful and lengthy spell in her showing career was Hevingham Bluetit, and success with Hevingham Dynamo followed later. We also had some other notable bulls of the time; Hevingham Flamboyant, born in 1992, and Hevingham Sheikh in 2004, both of which were retained and used in the herd. By 2008, we were down to just two of us on the farm and one harvest help. Unable to devote the necessary time and effort it takes to turn out quality show animals, I sadly had to pull the plug on showing the British Whites.

Their role on the farm carried on as normal, the only notable change being the introduction of an Angus bull to run with half the suckler cows, the intention being to add value to any stock we were finishing or selling as stores. Over the next fifteen years we had two exceptional Angus bulls from the same breeder, which were long-lived, had docile temperaments and very few calving problems. This made them, to my mind, an ideal cross to put on the Whites, complementing the purebred side of the herd for replacements and pedigree sales.”

Steve is pictured here with Hevingham Bluetit, showing in the British White breed classes alongside long-time friend Leslie Cook of the Albany herd

Sadly, in 2012, Diana Birkbeck passed, and the next chapter of the farm saw Diana’s niece Amanda take the reins. Steve says: “Diana was a wonderful employer, always positive and cheery with a great love for her horses, dogs, and cattle. In the 32 years I worked for her we never had a cross word, and as with Diana it's been a privilege to work with Amanda for the last 12 years. In the run up to my retirement, I've gradually reduced the cow numbers down to between 15 and 20 cows as a more manageable number for the next phase of Rippon Hall Farm, and long may they continue to be a part of the estate. I hung up my wellies in April 2024 after 44 years, with many happy memories.”

The Society’s membership will no doubt be wishing Steve a wonderful and well-deserved retirement, having worked hard to maintain a herd with such historical significance to the breed alongside managing the cattle in a truly practical way, and always giving a friendly welcome to breeders old and new alike.