UK

Rhug Estate farm moves from organic lamb to exotic meat

Brexit

Post-Brexit uncertainties forced a Welsh lamb producer to look for an unusual alternative.

Posted on Apr 12 ,10:08

One of Wales's largest farms is moving its production from lamb to another product, quite unusual for the region: venison of Japanese sika deer.

The Rhug Estate is one of the UK's bigger producer of organic lamb but the uncertainty raised by the Brexit process is forcing the owner, Lord Newborough, to look for other alternatives.
A difficult access to the EU market could be disastrous for the Welsh producer, so the solution adopted was to import sika deer from Japan to ensure export markets like Hong Kong or Macau for this exotic meat. Also, the sika deer meat is delivered to some high-end restaurants in London, as BBC mentions.
"Is a highly saleable product that top chefs are calling for and a way to ensure the farms future after the Brexit", explained Lord Newborough. The venison is higher in vitamins and minerals such as omega 3 and significantly lower in fat than other meats.
The area where the farm is located has about 5,000 breeding ewes, producing approximately 7,500 lambs each year. Official figures showed that 93% of Welsh lamb exports were destined for the EU.
"A large percentage of the lambs we produce go to the continent but we don't know what the future will be exporting to the EU. We're very accustomed to sending it across the channel where it's readily received, but getting access to new markets is going to be difficult.
We are competing with the southern hemisphere where they produce a much bigger lamb and dominate markets like Singapore and the Middle East.", said the owner of Rhug Estate farm.
Gareth Jones, manager of the Rhug Estate, is also worried about the lack of perspective after Brexit. "The problem at the moment is that we don't know where we'll be going with Brexit and that's the biggest issue for the agricultural sector, not just in Wales but throughout the UK", he explained. 

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