BY ALLISON LEE
In April 2025, Steven Nesbitt received a wake-up call that would change his life. “I’ve been a farmer all my life,” Steven told me. “My grandfather lived to be 96, and my father is now 93, so I thought I was immortal.” When he began to feel unwell and struggled to keep up with his farming work—let alone walk up hills—he sought medical advice and was told he had to overhaul both his diet and exercise routine. Like many farmers, Steven had been grabbing unhealthy snacks and biscuits on the go. “I’d just grab something when I could, around my farming work, not thinking of the consequences,” he said. His diagnosis changed all that; now, with a revised lifestyle and some tablets, he leads a much healthier life. But the diagnosis was also a wake-up call that made him think about how he could give back for the fantastic care he received from the NHS.
So, when a friend challenged him to make a life-sized Charolais bull, he set to work. Steven has twice served as chairman of the British Charolais Cattle Society and is currently its President, so crafting a bull was a fitting tribute. There was just one catch: Steven had never made metal sculptures before; his past metalwork was largely limited to gates and hurdles. So he started small—literally—by making sheep, before progressing to the life-sized bull.
“I had enquired about getting some sheep made at a local village fair, but when I was told the price, I thought, no chance, I will make my own!” Steven recalls with typical Yorkshire shrewdness. And that’s exactly what he did. Each sheep took him two to three days to complete, but that gave him the confidence to take on the bull.
Rusty, as the bull is now known, took between three and four months to finish—and it was far from plain sailing. Steven recalls making countless adjustments to the head, nose, and ears along the way. But the effort paid off. Since Rusty’s completion, Steven has been inundated with calls from show organisers eager to feature him. “They have offered me pride of place at the events, and I am overwhelmed at how popular he has become,” Steven says. “Although I don’t really understand social media, I do know that if we had £1 for every like we have received, we would have raised a lot of money for charity, so please, please let’s turn the likes into cash.”
Though it’s still early days, with numerous shows lined up over the summer, Steven hopes Rusty will raise awareness and much-needed funds for two causes close to his heart: the British Heart Foundation, to repay the care he received, and the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MND), in honour of his dear friend Cath Muir, a campaigner living with the disease. “I wasn’t sure what the result would be like,” Steven admits. “But it has far exceeded my expectations, and I have been blown away. I just hope it makes a lot of money for charity.”
Rusty has already made a special appearance at Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm on 10–11 June, where additional funds were raised for both charities. Jeremy and his partner Lisa have even invited Steven to bring Rusty to their pub, The Farmer’s Dog, for a month starting at the end of June.
Steven will continue fundraising until 18 October, when Rusty will be auctioned at Sterling United Auctions, with all proceeds split equally between the two charities.
If you would like to donate to these two charities, please do so by accessing the Just Giving page here https://www.justgiving.com/team/charolais-bull-tour
Allison Lee is a smallholder from North Yorkshire who has written for the Yorkshire Times and other publications. Her website can be accessed here.