FW Awards 2011: Young farmer of the Year finalist – Andrew Gage
There are few farms where ducks, horses and deep-fat fryers would sit happily side by side, but then there are few farmers like Andrew Gage.
Farming in partnership with his grandmother, Andrew has been in charge of the 65ha enterprise in Suffolk for the past decade, turning it around from a £50,000 loss-making business to one that expects to make £120,000 this year.
Taking over the Haverhill farm from his grandfather and with no farming background, Andrew quickly recognised business’ existing 130 sow pig business was losing considerable amounts of money.
He decided to convert the pig sheds into a high-spec livery to take advantage of the large community of horse riders on the farm’s doorstep.
Over the past eight years, he converted 80 acres of arable farmland into pony paddocks and riding schools and now houses 50 horses on the farm all year round.
While the livery enterprise takes up the most space on the farm, it is poultry farming where Andrew’s main passion lies.
Starting the business from scratch nine years ago with a £200,000 investment, he has increased the business from 60,000 birds a year to 90,000, with plans to almost double that amount by the end of the year thanks to building a second shed.
Contracted to rear the birds through Gressingham ducks, he hopes to eventually increase bird numbers to 240,000 through the construction of a third unit. It’s an entrepreneurial spirit that has involved some risks, but has allowed Andrew to continue farming.
“I’ve had to borrow 100% on everything I’ve ever done,” he says. “When I took over from my granddad, I had to buy the farm from relatives and I would never have made a profit if I carried on the way things were.”
Andrew’s ‘have a go’ attitude has meant he has had some failures, including a £250,000 investment in farming tilapia – a vegetarian, warm-water fish. But he is keen to find new ways to diversify the farm wherever he can, something that was helped by a Nuffield farming scholarship in 2008, when he travelled the world looking at developing farm businesses.
“A lot of the big farms I visited overseas had completely restructured to focus on the positives, so as my passion didn’t lie in arable production I decided to sell 110 acres of land and rent the remaining 80 acres at £125/acre.
“It enabled me to pay off some relatives and invest £30,000 in building a second duck shed. Now I’m making about £40,000 a year in profit from the ducks. I contract grow them so I only have to pay for the labour, bedding and energy and I’ve really worked hard to streamline the operation to cut costs.”
Andrew has just two people working for him on a part-time basis, but he ensures they are fully trained so they can handle all aspects of the business.
“With a small team it is important they are motivated and work efficiently, giving me the opportunity to plan for the rest of the farm,” he says. “In future I would like to buy back more land, and I have just secured a contract as a Waitrose farmer, which should help the business further.”
In the meantime, he has ventured into another enterprise involving cleaning out and collecting waste oil from catering companies. While at first glance it may seem completely separate from farming, Andrew hopes to use the fuel to convert to biodiesel and use it to heat the duck sheds.
“It might seem odd, but I like taking risks,” he says. “I’m evangelical that everyone has opportunities within their farming businesses and with the right vision and attitude those opportunities can be realised.