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Farm diversification: How a young farmer developed a goatmeat business
Goats have always been a feature on his family farm, near Hutton End, Penrith, Cumbria – his mum bought her first herd of pedigree Golden Guernsey goats 20 years ago for showing – but they have now become an integral part of the mixed enterprise at North Netherscale Farm.
He is now finishing 200 specialist goats each year.
Establishing the farm diversification, creating the herd and choosing a breed
When researching business ideas, Mr Dickinson was interested to read that globally goatmeat was the most consumed red meat and was increasing in popularity in the UK.
But he knew if he was to do it he had to make his business stand out. That’s why he decided to rear specialised goatmeat animals from the Boer breed. And this is where his business name, the Tailored Goat Company, came from.
Mr Dickinson describes the Boer breed as the “Beltex of the goat world”. Originally from South Africa, the breed is designed to get up to weights of 50kg quite quickly and have been bred specifically for healthy, low cholesterol, lean-meat production.
Compared with dairy-bred goats, the Boer breed can reach slaughter weights faster and from less feed.
As luck would have it, a herd of 150 Boer goats came up for sale in Bury St Edmonds in 2016, which he decided to snap up.
Mr Dickinson says: “It is rare for a herd of that size to come up, but the lady I bought from was moving back to South Africa.”
They were a high health status closed herd, which is important with goats as they can be susceptible to disease.
Adapting sheds for the goats
A lot of the infrastructure was already on the farm to house the goats, but a scholarship from the Henry Plumb Foundation for £3,000 helped him adapt some of the housing and equipment.
“Goats like to stretch, so we had to make the gates taller and position the hayracks higher. We also had to install electric fences in front of the normal fences outside as they have a tendency to get stuck. They are not the same as sheep,” he says.
Through the scholarship Mr Dickinson also had access to a mentor, which was fellow Cumbrian farmer John Geldard.
Mr Geldard has been successful in diversifying his business, setting up a farm shop and building a brand. He was able to advise Mr Dickinson in this area.
Specific fields were also set-aside to rear the goats in through the spring and summer.
“We don’t mix graze sheep and goats due to health issues. We have had some issues with Haemonchus [a parasitic worm] in the past. Now we do periodic worm counts every month and work with a local vet and honorary secretary of the British Goat Veterinary Society, Ben Duston, on our annual health plan.”
Article taken from Farmers weekly
