Welcome to sunny St. Croix, the largest of the three U. S. Virgin Islands. And welcome to Castle Nugent Farms, Senepol Cattle Ranch! Put on your digital sunhat and plenty of computer sunblock, as we survey the ranch, the herd and operations at CN.

Our ranch is located on St. Croix’s south shore on 1900 acres of wide pastures and rolling hills overlooking the barrier reefs and the Caribbean Sea.

Driving up the hill past the Castle Nugent Farms sign, we approach a number of small 18th century buildings that form Castle Nugent Estate. The original greathouse dates back from the 1700s. Ranch owner Caroline Gasperi now lives in the tiny chapel on the estate, and rents the large three-bedroom greathouse as a vacation guesthouse to visitors. The gallery porch of the big house has commanding views of the grazing lands all around the estate, an old mill and the sea beyond.

Corrals and watering troughs beneath a large tamarind tree make a comfortable holding pen at Castle Nugent when we bring herds down from the hills above, in preparation for driving them to the dip at Estate Longford.

Our Senepol cattle spend most of their lives in the fields and hills, giving birth on open land, and eating only the native grasses and plants growing in our pastures. Dry conditions and high temperatures year-round mean CN Senepol cattle must be selected for heat- and drought- resistance.

CN Senepol are easy goers and athletic. This makes moving the herd quick and painless. Heading west toward the 18th century holding pens at Estate Longford, with the Caribbean Sea to the south.

We bring each herd in regularly to either the old pens at Longford to the west, or the dairy at Petronella to the east, and drive them through the dip to control the local deer tick population.

Mauro Gasperi drives the Castle Nugent herd to the dip singlehandedly with a tractor. Senepol are easy goers.

In Africa, the N’Dama cattle aren’t herded but “shown” the way, and CN cattle retain that trait. A CN herd can often be driven by a single person on a tractor or in a truck.

CN Senepol respond to good handling. Good temperament has been an important selection goal. No matter what the pedigree, CN Senepol are culled if they exhibit a bad attitude! The results are a manager’s delight.

We bring groups in for dipping, weaning and tagging. Otherwise they are away on the open pasture. We run between three and five hundred head on almost 1900 acres at Castle Nugent.

Castle Nugent cattledog Winnie stays low
bringing up a young Senepol bull who wandered away to sample a tasty bush.

Our range varies from rocky mountainous terrain to broad sunbaked pasturelands that evoke African deserts.

Rolling hills to the north, and the Caribbean Sea to the south frame the pasturelands of Castle Nugent Farms Senepol ranch on St. Croix, USVI.

One of the sole remaining tracts of undeveloped, continuously active agricultural land in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the whole of the West Indies, Castle Nugent holds a lot of cultural and natural history and tradition in its hills.

Traffic stops as a herd of Castle Nugent cows
with young calves crosses South Shore Road to Longford’s cattle pens. Laprey Valley curves up into the hills in the background.

Estate Longford is a key location in our day to day operations. The residence of ranch manager Kiko Gasperi, Longford is where routine dipping, weaning, weighing and tagging take place, as well as export preparation and trailer loading.

Climbing out of the dip at Longford! The herd swims across one by one, eager to meet their young calves waiting in the pen on the other side.

At Castle Nugent Farms, we feel that the Senepol adds an important piece of living history and heritage to St. Croix. These unusual and beautiful animals are a symbol of the island and its agricultural roots.

Waiting in the corral at Longford for their mothers to emerge from the dip, these CN Senepol heifers are growthy and strong despite the extended dry season. Senepol mothers produce excellent quality and quantities of milk from a native grass diet.

In addition to the outstanding performance of our Foundation Senepol cattle, the proving grounds of our St. Croix pastures, and the dedicated Gasperi family of Castle Nugent Farms, our Senepol legacy lies in our record books. In addition to modern computerized records and digital photos, we register, and keep a paper trail on, every animal going back to the 1960s.

Back up at Castle Nugent on the gallery for a cool drink. These ranchers from Australia took the live version of our ranch tour, and took home CN Senepol embryos to improve their program!

Castle Nugent Farms has been breeding Senepol since 1957 on our ranch on St. Croix, the largest of the US Virgin Islands, a territory of the U.S. At Castle Nugent, genetics and free range have kept the breed's qualities at their highest level through the years. Selection and improvement are a constant active goal on our ranch on the East end of St. Croix, (where climatic conditions are harsher than on the West end of the island) to always reach for the top in fertility, performance and conformation.

Much of the beef produced here at Castle Nugent is sold locally. Popularity of Senepol beef continues to rise as health conciousness does; more people are demanding grass-fed, hormone-free low-fat beef that is naturally rich in flavor and nutrients.

Exportation of Senepol from Castle Nugent Farms for breeding purposes has been steady during the past 10 years. (Embryos and semen are also exported.) Castle Nugent Farms is considered a Genetic Bank for the Senepol breed. Live animal shipments have continued in recent years to all the Sun Belt States (Florida through Texas) and Australia, with the result that CN brand is quite common on many ranches with Senepol cattle.

It’s the “end” of our tour. Thanks for joining us!

Thanks for taking our virtual tour of the ranch. If you are interested in visiting us in person, do give us a call or send us some email!

For more information about Senepol cattle or to request a brochure, call or send address to:

Enrico Gasperi, Manager
Castle Nugent Farms
Phone/Fax (340) 773-2386
POB 895 Christiansted St.Croix VI 00821-0895