Young couple bring cattle back to farm after 22 years
Cattle have returned to a former Shropshire dairy farm after 22 years as a young couple establish their first beef enterprise and work towards a 200-head herd.
Sam Bourne, 31, and Tash Koop, 27, bought the 80-acre Ruscoe Farm near Whitchurch as first-time farm buyers and moved onto the holding at the end of January 2026.
The farm was previously operated as a dairy unit but had not housed cattle since 2004. More recently, the land was used for winter sheep grazing and silage production.
Both Sam and Tash were raised in farming families and had always intended to remain in agriculture.
However, their expected route into the industry disappeared when Sam’s family farm was sold, leaving them to find another way to establish a holding of their own.
Tash said: “Sam and I never considered not farming; we’re outdoorsy people and it’s how we grew up; we just had to find another way in.”
The couple said Ruscoe Farm offered the buildings, land and location they needed to begin developing their beef operation.
“Ruscoe felt right. It had the buildings, the land and the location,” Tash said.
Within months of moving in, they had reintroduced cattle, adapted existing buildings and started working towards their long-term ambition of developing a 200-head beef enterprise.
Their current livestock includes Hereford and Aberdeen Angus crosses alongside British Blue calves.
The Hereford and Angus cattle will be managed through a lower-input grazing system, while the British Blue calves are being kept under a more intensive housed system to help support cash flow as the wider enterprise develops.
One of the former cattle buildings needed upgrading before the animals could be brought back onto the farm.
Sam said: “The shed that the cows are in now was used as a cow shed years ago but needed a bit of upgrading. We moved the feed barriers inside so silage and feed weren’t exposed to the weather.”
Further investment is planned, including replacing an ageing wooden shed with a more modern building.
The couple have also completed soil testing across the paddocks to guide nutrient management and improve the use of the farm’s grassland.
They upgraded the farmhouse’s Energy Performance Certificate rating to satisfy lending requirements.
Before completing the purchase, Sam and Tash worked with advisers to develop a three-year business plan.
The figures had to show that the beef enterprise could become financially sustainable, while potential diversification income demonstrated that they were considering additional revenue streams.
Tash said: “We had to get the figures up to show it would work, and we looked at creating additional income through diversification to show the banks we were thinking strategically.”
After approaching several lenders, the couple secured finance through Lloyds to complete the purchase.
Danial Helsby, agricultural relationship manager at Lloyds, said supporting new entrants into farm ownership was important for the future of the sector.
“First-time buyers like Sam and Tash represent the next generation of farmers,” he said.
With cattle now back at Ruscoe Farm for the first time since 2004, the couple will focus on expanding the herd and replacing ageing buildings as they work towards their 200-head ambition.
