No kidding: Goats in coats prove huge hit for farm diversification

Lunan Bay Farm is owned by Neil and Jillian McEwan. Neil also manages Myreside Farm, at Inverkeilor, owned by his parents, a 600-acre arable farm where Neil also runs his herd of goats.

Fred Porchez spinning at Goats in Coats

The couple have been running Lunan Bay for the last eight years, and with no livestock on farm for half a century, the couple decided to add goats to boost soil health. At the time, with just the couple running the farm, goats were considered to be an ideal solution.

Jillian said: “I worked in the food sector previously and I knew there was a market for niche products, particularly goat meat, which we could sell directly to our customers. Producing nutrient-dense food in a way that is working in harmony with nature and selling directly to our local community is part of our farm ethos.

Goats in Coats

“We can’t keep up with market demand for goat meat. It’s actually the most widely eaten meat in the world and we have domestic customers who buy from us because they like what we do on the farm, but we also have restaurants that want to support small farms and like our ethos.”

In addition to goat meat, an increasingly popular product from the farm is cashmere which was launched last year. A lack of processing facilities for small-batch cashmere means the project took time to get off the ground, but a micro-mill in the Borders has been working with Lunan Bay to produce yarn.

Jillian said: “There’s a huge demand from people who want to use natural fibres. The whole sustainable textile industry is going the same way that food did ten to fifteen years ago when people started to think about how their food is produced.

“It’s the same now with fibre, it’s a growing industry across the whole of the UK, with farmers realising there’s much more value in producing their wool.

Goats keen to meet visitors at Lunan Bay farm

“People are willing to pay the true value for these fibres because the see the work that goes into them and for farmers, it’s an extra income stream for them, when normally for sheep’s wool it would be classed as a by-product.”

With a modest yield of around 250gm of cashmere per goat, compared to 2-3kg per sheep fleece, the cashmere is blended with native breed fleece, with the result that even 5-10% of cashmere can drastically increase the softness of various wools.

“It’s an interesting way of looking at how we can take something we have an abundance of, such as sheep fleece which can get thrown away, add a small amount of Scottish cashmere and actually transform its utility and sustainability.

“We sold a range of garments over Christmas and we have sold out of those, but we sell the yarn direct and we are working with local spinners and knitters. Some people want the cashmere they can spin, others want the yarn they can knit with and we are involved in every part of the process.

“Initially, we wanted to engage with the local knitting and spinning community and organised a competition for people to knit coats for the goats who are smaller, such as triplet or premature, with the prize of winning some yarn.”

Jessica and Emmie Cruickshank at one of the goat 'cuddle stations'

The business was subsequently inundated with around 450 coats and images of the goats in their hand-knitted coats on social media prompted requests by the public to come out and see the well-dressed kids,” Jillian added.

The demand led the couple to further diversify and add an agritourism offering to the business and this month started a 'Goats in Coats' farm tour. The venture has been a resounding success, with tickets selling out almost immediately and with a waiting list of hundreds, more tickets being made available for the tours.

It is estimated around 1000 people will visit the farm during the three days of tours. A number of educational information boards about the farm and goats have been produced and visitors have the opportunity to feed the goats, sit on farm equipment, cuddle a goat at one of three ‘cuddle stations’ and learn about the field to fibre experience of cashmere.

In addition, a local spinner gave demonstrations about how the yarn is produced.

Jillian and Neil McEwan

The tours had been given careful planning, with risk assessments being carried out and a range of additional infrastructure installed to make the venue safe for guests.

With the success of their own goat-themed agritourism venture, Lunan Bayis now offering other agri-businesses the opportunity to boost their diversification with the ‘Goat Getter’ scheme.

Jillian said: “We work with rural businesses. such as farms that have their own agritourism offering like a farm shop or petting area, and we rent our services and our goats to these places over the summer.

“For example, berry farms that only open seasonally and don’t want the responsibility of having their own livestock all year round, so we put goats in and they are on site all the time and we go in and check their health and welfare every few days.

“The visitors are getting a new experience and businesses who rent the goats are seeing an increase in footfall and attraction so it’s bringing in more revenue for them,” she said.

This move followed a successful pilot scheme and the firm now has another five venues lined up to take goats this summer, including a local school.

The school already has a polytunnel for growing veg, as well as chickens to learn about egg production as part of its rural skills programme and is now taking the next step into livestock.

Goats have been selected as 'ideal as they are smaller and full of character'. Lunan Bay Farm staff will go in each day to check on the animals and provide farm education during the goats' 'schoole term'.

The business is also eyeing an increase in live goat sales as part of its business growth.