Farmer Profiles

Peter Phillips

Pen Parks, South Devon

Peter Phillips took over the family business when he left school.  He comes from a farming family whose farming roots were originally in the middle of Modbury.  On farm Peter fattens in excess of four hundred bullocks per annum, feeding them on ad-lib corn, which consists of crimped wheat and dry barley.

Ninety percent of his stock are steers he says:  “This suits my systems well and we sell them all to St Merryn. I take them to the plant twice a week. I buy most of the stores out of the markets as well as buying cattle from other farmers.  ”Peter has had a long and successful relationship with St Merryn and he adds:  “I have been dealing with John Dracup for 15 years, and I was one of the first to join up to the St Merryn Producers Club.  ”Peter believes that there is mileage in St Merryn driving forward a contract on the sale of all animals so that Peter along with other Producers Club members would have a better idea of the future price of what they are selling. He thinks that the Producers Club should be doing more to promote the sale of local beef to the supermarkets.

He does believe that the Producers Club is run well and he likes the system of the emails, which come through when the cattle have been slaughtered.When asked about the future Peter believes that lifting the beef ban will help substantially in the beef market saying that the industry needs a greater price for the end product as the price of store cattle is too expensive for today’s trade.