Susan Gorst
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Calves, free-range pigs and free-range turkeys
CALVES, FREE-RANGE PIGS, FREE-RANGE TURKEYS, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE: Susan was brought up on a livestock farm in the Lake District. As a child, she wanted to become a farmer herself, but being female and the youngest of three, she was told farming was not a suitable career. It was not until she married that she fulfilled her ambition. She and her husband Mark bought 10 acres (4 hectares) of land near Milton Keynes, moved into a caravan with their three children, and started rearing calves for meat.
Five years later Susan and Mark had added pigs and turkeys and the farm was thriving. Then tragedy struck. Mark developed Huntingdon’s disease, and the strain of running the farm singlehanded caused Susan to have a mental breakdown. To make things worse, Susan felt that the medics caring for her had little understanding of how her condition was impacting her business. “There was no support for farmers,” she says.
What saved her was the calming presence of her turkeys, pigs and calves. “You can lose yourself with animals,” she says. “They pulled me through and gave me the strength to continue the business and achieve what we have today. Farming is a stressful life but it’s also a life of freedom, tranquillity and peace.”
Today, Susan works in partnership with her son, and together they rear approximately 800 pigs each quarter year for breeding, and around 470 Bronze turkeys for the Christmas market. Turkey poults (chicks) arrive at one day old, are kept under brooders (Calor-gas heated lamps which simulate the mother) for four to five weeks, then enjoy a free-range life outside, topping up their diet with foraged berries, fruit from the fruit trees and seeds. They’re slaughtered on the farm at 24 to 26 weeks old when fully mature, then hand plucked and hung in a temperature-controlled chiller to mature for 14 days. They’re boxed ready for collection from the farm gate on 23rd and 24th December.
The farm’s shop originally opened only in December, for the collection of the turkeys. In 2022 Susan decided to open the shop four days a week year-round, selling the farm’s turkey and locally produced meat and vegetables. In November Susan runs two Christmas tasting days, demonstrating how to cook her turkey.
Going to the theatre, shopping and visiting her daughters’ families in Kent and Paris. Susan also enjoys spending time with her dogs, Pilates and going out for meals with friends
Talking Point
Susan is very proud of the traditional artisan way she produces turkeys, which is very different from the way supermarket turkeys are produced. While alive, her turkeys enjoy a free-range life, feeding on a diverse range of foods. They are slaughtered at 24 weeks, once they’ve reached full maturity, whereas mass produced ones are dispatched at 12 to 18 weeks. Susan then dry-plucks them entirely by hand, without even the use of wax or plucking machines. Large commercial producers, by contrast, plunge their turkeys into hot water and mechanically strip them, but this increases the risk of cross contamination as campylobacter and salmonella bacteria thrive in the hot water, she says.
Susan then hangs her turkeys (innards in) for 14 days, to tenderize their meat and enhance their flavour. “Hanging uses time and space, so is rarely practised by large commercial producers who are aiming to produce a meat as cheaply as possible,“ says Susan.
“I am proud of the traditional way we produce our turkeys. From the day they arrive at one day old there is only myself and one other person caring for them. We nurture them through all the stages of life, from brooding to keeping them safe night and day from predators (I get up every three hours during the night for the first week and I have been known to sleep in the room with them). Before killing we introduce the person who is going to do the slaughtering into the flock. This all keeps the birds calm and stress free; if a bird is stressed at this point the meat becomes tougher due to a sudden rush of adrenalin to the body, which is not good for the bird or the meat. Our customers come back year after year and are happy to pay more for a bird that’s been humanely reared and properly dealt with after being slaughtered. For them it’s a once-a-year treat.”
Declared interests
Member of National Farmers Union
Happy to talk about
animal health
animal rights activism
animal welfare
changing consumer tastes
cheap food
diet
family farming
farm education
farm shops
free range
healthy eating
loss of small abattoirs
obesity
pigs
sheepdog trialling
vegan activism
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