Richard and Fiona Ritson: A Farming Journey at Swaites

Richard and Fiona Ritson have farmed all their lives, starting out on 120 acres and expanding to 250 through their shearing business before buying Swaites in Cumbria in 1995. Back then, the farm covered 250 acres, but through hard work and adaptability, it’s now grown to 500 acres.

A Foundation in Shearing

The Ritsons built their farm business through contract shearing, working across Cumbria, southwest Scotland, and Northumberland, covering around 100,000 sheep with help from Australian and Kiwi shearers. They finished contract shearing in 2010, but Richard still jokes he’s “never had a bad back a day in his life.”

Adapting to the Land and Industry Challenges

Farming on heavy clay, the family has invested in sheds, slurry storage, and silage pits to make the system more efficient. They started out with Grey-faced Mules crossed with Suffolk tups and an Angus-Friesian suckler herd. When sourcing Angus-Friesian calves became difficult, they moved to continental breeds but soon found calving problems and higher costs.

Through their global shearing contacts, they’ve picked up ideas from visiting shearers who were often surprised by some UK farming habits—like assisting too many calvings or keeping stock that doesn’t perform. It reinforced their focus on results. As Fiona puts it, “We farm because we love it, but it’s a business at the end of the day, and it has to make money.”

Transitioning to Stabilisers

Frustrated with continentals, the Ritsons turned to Stabilisers in 2012 after reading about the breed. A visit to Robert Robinson’s Snipe House herd, where thousands of cows thrived on rough grazing, confirmed their decision. Richard recalls, "I couldn’t believe it—all the cows just came up to you, thousands of cows on the rough grazing."

They connected with Ursula and visited the Givendale herd, purchasing a bull from the feed efficiency unit. Ursula helped them choose a bull suited to their needs. Since then, they have exclusively used Stabiliser bulls and have nearly transitioned to a pure Stabiliser herd through grading up, with most of their bulls being sourced from Charles Geldard’s multiplier herd in Kendal.

Achieving an Easy-Calving, Profitable Herd

The switch to Stabilisers has resulted in a low-maintenance, efficient herd. When asked about the last time he used a calving aid, Richard joked, "You get quite excited when you’ve got to calve one." The cows are smaller, more uniform, and significantly quieter—essential as Richard often works alone, particularly during calving.

They now run 80 cows with 18 in-calf heifers. Calving starts May 10th and lasts nine weeks. All calving occurs outdoors, and cows are only culled if they stop producing strong calves. With cows remaining productive well into their teens.

Bulls are left entire and sold at Harrison & Hetherington as bull beef at 15–16 months, typically weighing over 600kg. This year, they have been feeding Stobbarts’ cake and barley, adding more barley to the mix as the bulls get older. Calves are weaned between New Year’s Day and early January, having been gradually increasing the amount of creep feed to transition the diet over. Heifers are retained as replacements, fattened, or sold as strong stores.

A Focused Sheep Enterprise

The Ritsons have fine-tuned their sheep enterprise also, keeping Cheviots with Aberfield tups for the past ten years. Sheep are on fell land, while ewe lambs remain on the home farm. Lambs are born outdoors in April, and all lambs are sold live-weight at Longtown market, ensuring a streamlined operation.

A Business-Minded Future

Richard and Fiona Ritson run Swaites Farm with a clear focus on efficiency, adaptability, and profitability. They’ve always been open to new ideas, learning from others, and putting practical systems in place that suit their ground and business.

With a strong Stabiliser herd and a well-run sheep enterprise, their goal is simple – they love farming, but it has to stack up financially. Through steady commitment and a willingness to adapt, the Ritsons have shown how flexibility and good management can keep a livestock farm thriving.

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What our farmers say…

We are trying to produce beef that meets market specification and make the most profit possible. Using Stabilisers we are achieving our objectives, we have a low cost, low labour cow and good quality finishing cattle that meet the needs of the market.
- Mel and Pete Momber, Hampshire
I’m excited by the prospects the Stabiliser can deliver for us. The proof was there based on scientific research, backed up by a large gene pool and precise management systems. It seemed the perfect breed for our farming system.
- Will Evans, Machynlleth
On weaning in May at 10 mths old the Stabiliser calves were on par with the Blue and Angus calves. These were turned out to grass until early September then housed. This is when I was surprised by the differences between the breeds, the Angus averaged 480kg, the Blues 490kg but the Stabilisers were 530kg.
- Robin Talbot, Laois – Ireland
In 2011 we bought 46 Stabiliser heifers plus 3 bulls and sold our 3 Belgium Blue bulls. The results were clear to see, by the time we pregnancy tested our 100 cows later that year. We went from historically having 15% barren cows to only 3% barren in a 9 week mating period.
- Jeremy Iles, Gloucester
I have found Stabiliser cows to be very forage efficient. Their ability to put weight on in the summer months means I can save on winter feed costs. This has allowed me to keep more cows on the same resources.
- Jono Cole, Cornwall
We have an easy-care system that is as profitable as any other beef enterprise. We benchmark our herd against the AHDB industry figure and we sit comfortably ahead of the top third performers. I believe we are now producing a carcass with the conformation and eating quality consistency that the market wants.
- Dan Burling, Cambridgeshire
Docility, feed efficiency tested, easy calving, hybrid vigour, fertility, growth AND carcass traits from highly maternal cattle, what’s not like?
- Robin Norrie, Fife
We aim to get most out of grass as possible. The hardy nature of the cattle seems to suit this system very well. Hardly any assistance is required during calving, combined with the excellent calf vigour produce healthy and strong calves which further reduces labour costs.
- Llion and Sian Jones, Conwy
We’re over 10 years into our Stabiliser journey, we’re reaping the rewards. Moving to the Stabiliser has been a game changer for efficiency and job satisfaction, allowing us to increase cow numbers on the same area and finishing bulls averaging over 380kgs at 13 months. Our only regret is that we didn’t do it sooner!
- Peter and Jackie Storrow, Pembrokeshire
Stabiliser cattle are a specialised suckler beef breed with the added bonus of hybrid vigour. The cattle are multi-trait performance recorded to produce EBV’s, this has a huge positive economical effect on our business. All of this is crucial for us to have a financially improving suckler herd on the farm.
- Harri Parri, Llyn Peninsula
We chose the Stabiliser breed for their docility and easy calving traits, but with the added benefit of turning grass into meat. We soon saw all of these traits were true. Our first home bred steers were finished off grass at an average age of 19 months.
- Dyfed Roberts, Anglesey
Despite our rainfall, we outwinter our cows on kale, the stabiliser cow will lay down excess fat, and successfully rear her calf. During the winter considerable cost savings are made. By changing to Stabiliser cattle I keep approximately 50% more cows as they only weigh 650Kgs, which meant more beef being produced.
- Matthew Cooke, North Devon
We started using Stabiliser bulls 20 years ago. The fertility of the breed has enabled us to calve our own heifers at 24 months and reduce our calving period to nine weeks. This together with their good temperament has encouraged us to increase cow numbers. Consequently, the farm is now producing a lot more kilos of beef.
- Edward and Ellis Griffith, Pwllheli
Minimal labour is required at calving time, with easy calving cows and calves up and suckling in no time at all. This gave us the ability to increase our cow numbers with no extra labour. The growth rate of Stabiliser cattle is exceptional, producing high weaning weights whilst converting feed efficiently.
- John and Ianto Pari, Gwynedd
We started using stabiliser genetics in 2016, we have not looked back since, they exceeded all our expectations. Changing to stabilisers has enabled us to calve heifers at 2years old with no problems, cows wean a higher percentage of their body weight, we have increased cow numbers without any need for extra labour.
- Carys Jones, Camarthenshire