It started with four cows.
In 2012, Tanya came home from university to land that had mostly been used for horses. The horses had never really been her thing. The cows were another matter.
Four became forty-four.
What began as a small hobby herd grew slowly over the years. We learned cattle by doing the work: feeding, bedding, calving, handling, fixing what broke and getting to know every animal.
The herd eventually reached 44 cattle, about the point where a small holding makes one thing very clear: simply getting bigger cannot be the only business plan.
Then we started asking a different question.
Jen’s countryside-management studies brought another perspective to the farm: dry-stone walls, woodland, hedgerows, habitats and the relationship between farming and the landscape around it.
Instead of asking how many more cattle we could fit, we started asking what kind of cattle and farming system might fit our land better.
That search eventually led us to Miniature Herefords.
Four people. One tiny farm.
Tiny Cows Yorkshire is a four-way family partnership. The jobs overlap, but everyone has a particular talent for the bits that need doing.
Tanya - Farmer & Marketer
Cow-obsessed since the original four arrived, Tanya combines the day-to-day farm with a background in marketing and design which is partly how a 29-acre cattle farm ended up becoming Tiny Cows Yorkshire. Daughter to Kath and Kevin and Partner to Jen.
Jen - Farmer & Countryside
Manager
Jen joined the farming partnership with a distinction in countryside management and a particular interest in how small farms can work more thoughtfully with grassland, boundaries, habitats and lower-input ideas.
Kath - Farmer & Maker
Kathleen was the beginning of the cattle herd (the first to bring a cow home!) and brings the practical, handmade side of Tiny Cows Yorkshire to life from farm jobs to future shop pieces and somethinggood to eat when there is baking to be done. Wife to Kevin and Mum to Tanya.
Kevin - Farmer, Mechanic &
Chief Tractor Operator
A retired mechanic who can fix almost anything, Kevin has steadily turned his hand to farming, machinery, buildings and the sort of jobs that usually begin with somebody saying, “Kev (or Dad), can you just…?” He may occasionally look unimpressed about it.
The next generation ....
Jen's girls often lend a hand too particularly when there are new born calves or when something needs halter-training.
Taff the dog!
Our 'retired' shephard and a gift from another local farming friend. Rather than rounding up hundrends of sheep taff now sepnds his days trying to keep tiny cows in order!
A small farm with a bigger plan.
The aim is simple: build a farm business capable of supporting the people who work in it, without pretending that 29 acres can become a giant conventional cattle enterprise. Tiny cattle, carefully run experiences, events, merchandise and one day places to stay can all grow from the same idea: make the smallness part of the value. Provide something truely different for customers a chance to not simply meet cattle but a chance to become part of our story and enjoy a experiance that they will remember forever.