A FARM which has gone back to basics has become the only small-holder in the country join household names in the finals of a national food competition.

Pepperfield Farm, near Dalton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, is up against food giants Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Waitrose and two other nominees for the RSPCA Good Business Awards' food category.

The award is given to the retailer judged to have made the biggest efforts towards animal welfare.

The 15-acre small-hold is owned by Terry and Joanne Laheney(cor).

"It was hard to believe really," said Mr Laheney, 46. "I am really proud of the fact we are the only small-holder alongside those big companies.

"Our shop would fit one of their counters," he added.

The couple, who started running Pepperfield four years ago, pride themselves on putting the ethical treatment of their animals above all else - especially profit.

"We just wanted to know animals had been treated properly before we put them on our plates," said 41-year-old Mrs Laheney. "It is about caring for them while they are alive and respecting them when they are dead."

Passionate about good, natural food, they started the farm because they could not find the quality of meat they were looking for and wanted to know exactly what they were eating.

Originally, the couple, both still teachers at Darlington's Eastbourne Academy, did not intend to sell produce but simply use it themselves.

But word quickly spread and demand for their sausages, bacon and meat became so high they opened a shop.

They selected rare breeds - buff and blue Orpington chickens, Gloucestershire old spot and Tamworth pigs and Wiltshire horn sheep - for the meat's taste and quality.

Every sheep, pig and chicken on the farm, which is a member of the Wholesome Food Association, is free-range and fed and cared for by the couple, who try to let nature run its course wherever possible.

Animals are kept outside in large pens and are free to roam around as they wish.

The couple also limit their pigs to just one or two litters a year, while many commercial farms make sure sows are in piglet tri-annually for maximum profit. Piglets are weaned at Pepperfield until the mother's milk stops naturally.

All produce is therefore quite literally traceable from gate to plate as shoppers can even see and touch the animals before they buy their meat. No preservatives or additives are used in any produce.

The couple, also finalists BBC Good Food magazine competition, will find out if they have been chosen as winners in October.

Mr Laheney said: "We are representing all the small holders in the country. It's a bit scary, really."

For more information, log on to www.pepperfieldfarm.co.uk

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