UNITED KINGDOM-COUNCIL TO FARM CATTLE.
Bristol City Council plans to rear its own herd of cows in a 200-acre field near the city and sell the beef to schools.
The council’s cabinet is recommended to agree the plan to take over the land next to the M32 in the Stoke Park area which is allocated as historic parkland.
If successful, the council will be the first local authority in the country to do so.
The council’s "Bristol Beef" project will supply meat to local schools under the healthy school meals programme.
The council’s beef could also be sold to "high end" restaurants in the city such as the popular up-market stalls and cafes in St Nicholas Market.
The council already markets organic venison reared at Ashton Court in the estate’s restaurant.
A feasibility study, funded by Natural England, will be carried out to recommend the breeds of livestock, such as Long Horn or Dexters, suitable for grazing on the land, which will continue to serve as parkland for the public.
If the council takes over the land it will get a £1.2m endowment from the developers’ consortium which will be largely used to fund set up costs, and will also provide £40,000 of the yearly £80,000 to £100,000 costs.
The cabinet will discuss the plan on February 26.
