Why we are taking a break from turkeys at Bramble Farm

2021 plans

Things are going to be a little bit different here at Bramble Farm. As of 2021, we have decided to take a step back from turkey farming for a year to focus on planning the future of our family farm. Here, third generation farmer, Adrian Joy, explains why it has been such a hugely difficult decision.

“Many of you may have noticed a lack of turkey chick (or poults as they are really called) pictures on our social media and newsletters so far this year. There is a good reason why…

After a lot of heavy thought and sleepless nights, we have decided to take a year away from producing turkeys at Bramble Farm in 2021.

To be clear, we are not saying ‘never again’ and in this Bramble Farm blog I will aim to share with you some of the rationale about why we have taken this difficult decision.

Having grown up a poultry farmer’s son, I have been involved in the farm to varying to degrees my whole life but returned to take over with my now wife, Sarah, five years ago when my father wanted to slow down a little and retire.

Taking over the farm

While we were handed a good business and had a wealth of knowledge on hand to help us, we knew that the tide was turning on a volume farm business that had predominantly supplied wholesale to butchers and Smithfield Market.

We knew the way forward for us was to focus more on selling direct to you guys, our loyal customers, and so we set ourselves a five-year plan with a clear goal of where we wanted to be.

Last Christmas was our fifth year and, while we have come such a long way with the support of you all and are hugely proud of what we have achieved (including numerous awards for our turkey), we are some distance off the goals we set back in 2016.

While COVID has inevitably had an impact, the reality is we haven’t grown sales as much as we hoped. We estimate this could take 10 years, to make just selling turkeys alone viable.

The challenges of farming

As I sit here today, as a reasonably fit 49 years young, I realise there is a long road ahead. It is hugely important to us to maintain high levels of welfare (checking our free-range birds every two hours, for example) but this leads to its own challenges.

Last year, I averaged around 100 hours a week with two weekends and one week off during the six months we had the turkeys here (not unusual). The six months before that was spent with three months catching up on what we didn’t do the previous six months (plus some much-needed recovery), then three months getting ready for our next lot of turkeys’ arrivals.

Hopefully, you are starting to get a taste for some of the challenges of our farming life. I won’t even go into the problems we’ve faced with rural crime and theft, but suffice to say they’ve kept us on our toes too.

Changing food trends and choices

Dietary trends mean that the average size of the birds sold we sell is going down too, with there now being such a variety of different diets even around just one family’s dining table. Sadly, the smaller birds are the least profitable for farmers.

It is not just the financial implications, however, as the future of farming and its place in the world increasingly come under the microscope.

We are fortunate to be in a beautiful part of the Surrey Hills, and I want to ensure that our farm does its bit when it comes to the environment and sustainability.

Back in March, we planted nearly 900 trees here in partnership with the Woodland Trust. This is just the start though, and we need to do more.

Planning for the future

So here we are, needing to take stock of how we farm and how we progress with the challenges and opportunities ahead in modern Britain.

To be honest, it is a big rethink and that is tough to do while working long hours in a business that is not currently proving to be viable enough for the future.

So, we are taking a step back from turkey farming to use the time to plan and finish projects and jobs around the farm that have been on hold for a few years now. It constantly amazes me how the list continues to grow.

We realise that not producing turkeys this year will be disappointing to many of our loyal customers at Thanksgiving and Christmas but, hopefully, you can see why we have come to this difficult decision.

My family have been farming in the Surrey Hills since 1929 and farming runs through my blood but, for now, we need to knuckle down and work out a more diverse, viable for the future, sustainable and environmentally friendly plan for the next five years.

Thank you so much for your support over the years and for taking the time to read this latest update. We will make sure to keep you in the loop about what comes next at Bramble Farm as soon as the plan has come together.

For now, if you would like to get hold of some of our award-winning, free range turkey, we do still have a few frozen turkeys available, as well as plenty of diced and minced turkey (perfect for barbecues this summer). Please order online and collect on our sale days.

Best wishes,

Adrian Joy”