Sheep Farming to Goat Farming – is it feasible?

An inquisitive mind and a noticeable growing demand for the end-product led Chris Dickinson to start his own goat meat business from the mixed family farm in Penrith, Cumbria.

Having grown up with goats at home, it was no surprise to his family that on his return to the farm after working for the NFU for six years, Chris wanted to start-up his own venture with goats.

“It was on a farm visit when I was working for the NFU that I realised there was an opportunity within this niche livestock sector that could add value to our existing farm business,” says Chris.

“The gentlemen I met was rearing Boer goats, the only meat producing goat breed, and it was working for him, and with the uncertainty around agricultural payments and volatile markets it made me think about the possibilities at home.”

The importance of research

Chris explains that the research he did before beginning this new project was a vital starting point if the business was to succeed.

See also: How to carry out market research

“I did a lot of reading around the subject to get a decent understanding of the potential of the market and the product itself.

“I looked at who was stocking goat meat, visited people who were already rearing Boer goats, asked the opinions of butchers and retailers and read about the health benefits of goat meat.

“There were also a couple of Nuffield Scholarships on the topic which were very valuable to read, and I attended some of the British Boer Goat Society meetings to meet other producers and learn more about this breed.

“I then did a business plan which was a really important step to cost out the business model and see if it was feasible.

“Looking back, this was not hugely accurate of my actual costs, but it gave me the bones on which to get started. Realistically, you can do all the research and cost everything out but it’s only when you get started that you get a feel for whether the business has legs,” he adds.

Purchasing of stock

Having decided to go for it, Chris’s next challenge was to find the genetics needed to get up and running.

“There are not many Boer goats in the UK and the breed itself is very susceptible to disease. So, unless you’re purchasing from a high health status herd, there is a big risk of buying in diseased stock.

“I did initially consider using AI (artificial insemination) to cross a dairy goat with the genetics of a meat goat but the costs associated with this method were way too high for a start-up business and with AI such a new practice in goats and success rates still relatively low, there was no guarantee that we would get the return.”

See also: Alternative farming business ideas

However, as luck would have it, Chris was put in touch with a lady who was emigrating to Africa who had over 130 Boer goats she was looking to sell. “I went to see her and the next thing I knew I had brought the majority of the herd,” he says.

Already having the sheep and cattle on the farm meant the infrastructure was already in place to deal with and manage the goats. The system they have in place sees the goats grazed outside for the majority of the year and brought in for kidding.

“Goats are seasonal breeders but it is possible to have five kiddings in four years, which from a financial point of view is more efficient when compared to your traditional sheep farm.

“Does (female goats) are all served naturally, with most kidding in December and January. We breed some of our own replacements, and some of the good billy goats are sold on for breeding. The rest we aim to finish between seven and nine months.”

Synergies and differences between breeds

Although there may seem like there are similarities between sheep and goats there is in actual fact some significant differences which come with their own challenges.

“As a family, we are used to lambing and calving but goats are a different story. They are not labour intensive but they are very prone to worms and we now have routine worm counts to ensure we are keeping on top of the problem. This also means that you can’t lamb and kid at the same time and graze animals together, so the infrastructure and management need to be in place to be able to deal with this.

“Goats are also very prone to listeria, so you have to be mindful of what you are feeding them to ensure there is no contamination risk.

“From a nutritional point of view there is currently very little information available on feeding goats and so a lot of what we have done has been trial and error. Goats have a digestive system similar to that of a cow and so we do feed the youngstock a rearing nut which is similar to that fed to dairy heifers,” he says.

Markets

“I initially started selling the goat meat into the London market, however recently we’ve been selling to local high-end restaurants and butchers which has meant we’ve reduced our haulage costs and started to build a relationship with local businesses.

“We sell half or full carcasses and all the processing is done with the purchaser. I would have liked to have done the cutting-up on-farm but it’s another significant cost, and not necessarily a strength of mine, and have therefore focused my time on the rearing and marketing.”

When he first started out, Chris used a university friend to design a logo and rather than establishing a complete website he developed a landing page containing all the relevant information. The rest of the marketing has been done via social media and face-to-face by ringing and speaking to people and sending samples.

See also: Five free forms of marketing

“Long-term I would like to continue growing the business, but I also want to be profitable during this process. I am in a fortunate position of being a price maker rather than a price taker as I am dealing directly with my customers. But, it can be easy to get caught up in investing more when it’s going well and it doesn’t always end up going well.

“The quality of the carcass is very important to me and I want to take the time to get this right. I have had a lot of people say to me that they’ve been let down in the past by the quality of supply and so delivering a consistent product to the end user is something to work on.

“It has been a learning curve to date but a great experience and I am learning life skills all the time. I couldn’t have done this without the support of my family and also having another job ticking over to help financially. There is a demand out there for goat meat and we are lucky to be able to produce a unique and sought-after product that adds value to the existing farm business,” says Chris.

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