You are all probably fed up of hearing about the ups and downs that have been part of life here at Oldfarm. And sorry for that.
Life keeps throwing stuff at us, and we have to re-assess and re-imagine. Does this happen to you?
In my previous life I was a secretary, PA, self-employed (so wore many hats), sold houses, ran a shop, Business Advisor, mentor, trainer, and now I don’t know what I’d call myself!
As you know we changed the ‘business model’ last year, and just grew pigs to order. That worked reasonably well in that we had 10 happy customers at the end of the year, who were enjoying delicious free-range pork and ham. Unfortunately, when we sat down and did the sums, it really was not a good financial outcome.
Piglets/Bonhams
A very very small return for a lot of work.
We decided to give it another year. We thought if we upped the number of pigs/customers we might have a better result.
Sows were pregnant.
Customers were lined up – double the number from 2017.
All was looking good.
Then, disaster struck. One sow ‘self-aborted’…. yes, pigs can do this. It can be caused by stress, or they just don’t like being pregnant… anything at all can bring it on. We suspect that she just didn’t like that we had gone away overnight and a neighbour had fed her!
Second older sow continued with her pregnancy, and gave birth to 4 piglets. We needed over 20, and had been hoping each sow would at least have 8 each.
Back to doing the sums, and facing the reality that buying in that many bonhams was just not viable.
Another decision had to be made, and we have made it. After over 12 years of being in the free-range pork business, we are cutting back.
We will continue to keep pigs. There is no way we could go back to eating ‘shop’ pork and bacon. Just no way.
We will run our pig-rearing courses where we will continue to share the knowledge we have gained – sometimes the hard way – over the years. However, now we will just be growing pigs for ourselves and family.
Thank you to all who have supported us. Thank you to all our loyal customers over the years.
It has not been an easy decision to reach, but we are comfortable with it.
A Year In Redwood 
Sounds like a good decision for your circumstances, Margaret. Best of luck with the new direction!
Thanks June…. I think we’ll just concentrate on the self-sufficiency angle.
Hi Margaret, I know how it is changing direction on the farm, I do it all the time and I think most do. You see what works and doesn’t work for your situation and adjust. After do many changes I am now doing the apple orchard. All heirloom varieties and was wondering if I could get some wood from you this next winter of your Beauty of Bath apple tree so I could graft onto some rootstock I have here. That variety isn’t available here in the states and it sounds like a wonderful apple. My email address is gordonmilligan56@gmail.com please email me so we can talk.
Will email you tomorrow Gordon, I’m sure something must be possible.
Thanks so much Margaret, I look forward to hearing from you.
I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had to make this decision, but it sounds like it’s right for you. I hope your customers can find another supplier who will take the same care of their stock, and I hope that you enjoy the freedom from this aspect of earning a living.
Thank you so much. As you can imagine not an easy decision, but it feels right for now anyhow!
At the end of the day, it’s about quality of life, and making a decent living from it. I admire how long you both have endured the ups and downs over the years. Enjoy the next phase of your lives.
Thanks Rory…. we will make sure to save some sausages and rashers for you!