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OUr Story
We’ve been around a long time!
The Ballycrochan Herd was established in 1947 making it the oldest pedigree herd of Holstein Friesian cows in Northern Ireland.
It was Aubrey Patterson who introduced new bloodlines from Holland and some of the top herds in Great Britain. Developing the Ballycrochan Herd was his life’s passion.
Aubrey (above left) was a well known character in Bangor and beyond, for all of his 87 years. As well as having an eye for quality cattle he was a great storyteller and enjoyed making everyone laugh.
Today, the farm is run by his wife Kitty and daughter Karen alongside our trusted herdsman Raymond McCartney (above right).
Raymond has been part of the Patterson family for over 50 years.
Long before he left school Raymond was riding his bicycle to Ashfield Farm to help Aubrey look after the cows and tend the fields.
You’ll see Raymond in the yard every day; he’s full of stories about his life on the farm and the animals he looks after.
Nowadays he is often surrounded by grandchildren Amelia , Rudy and Teddy as he goes about his rounds! You can never have enough help at feeding time!
The cows are milked twice a day by Raymond and new to the team, Conor Lightbody. Aubrey's grandson, Max, pictured right, can often be seen in the parlour at weekends.
It’s a time consuming job and there are no days off! Even on Christmas Day the parlour can be heard humming from 6.30am until 9.30am and again from 4.30pm until 7pm.
The milk quality is achieved through a ‘free range’ system where the herd can enjoy a grass-fed diet for up to 9 months of the year. They are housed indoors during the cold, wet winter months where they enjoy home-grown silage, harvested in the summer when the grass is sweetest.
