AN Upton farmer is to be the new face of a supermarket campaign promoting Aberdeen Angus beef.

Susan Troughton's face will be seen in branches of Waitrose across the county.

The promotional pictures show her in the field with her 130 Aberdeen Angus cattle, against a backdrop of the Malvern Hills.

Miss Troughton, who farms 500 acres in Holdfast, just outside Upton, is one of a group of farmers who supply the supermarket chain with Aber- deen Angus beef. She also rears about 180 British Friesians and farms 330 acres of maize and grass for silage.

Her family has been there since 1935 and she has been supplying the Waitrose since 1998.

Miss Troughton says they give her a fair price for her meat, but have very demanding standards for weight, size and fat ratio, which take a lot of work to get right.

The diet of her Angus cattle is supplemented with maize silage, which is grown on the farm.

"What we're doing here is farming in a very traditional and self-contained way," she said. "We rear the calves, which remain on the farm for the duration of their lives."

Miss Troughton said the Aberdeen Angus, which she has had on the farm for about eight years, were a good breed, as they tended to mature quickly. This is essential now all cattle sold for human consumption have to be under 30 months old, to comply with BSE regulations.

"The meat is tender and has good marbling," she said. "It's not a dry meat, like some of these continental meats."

l Susan Troughton and farm manager Bob Sanderson with the Aberdeen Angus cattle.