Country diary: I'm fond of these steers. Today feels like a betrayal

Long Dean, Cotswolds: Raising cattle to be sold as beef is inescapably at the core of what we do, and it doesn't happen without their cooperationI carry such tension about this morning. Notwithstanding the parched ground, there is enough to eat and the cattle aren't very motivated to move. They've obliged so far, passing through a sequence of fields until they arrived in this meadow about five days ago, but now I am going to require them to come into the handling area. The trailer will be here at 7.30am; I am entirely dependent on their cooperation.A long, low whistle and they raise their heads; another and, mercifully, they come. As they file in and make for the nuts I've brought, I slip out and quietly close the gate. Sending steers - young male cattle raised for meat - is inescapably at the core of what we do, but it never gets any easier. Continue reading...