Quality Pays for Family-Run Cornish Game Farm

Monday 16th June 2008

When Russell Turner started his game farm back in Cornwall in 1987, he set out with the intention of never compromising on the quality of his birds, knowing that he might face lean times and the temptation to cut corners for the sake of profits. True to his word, he resisted the lure of producing for volume and stayed on course, rearing the most plump and healthy seven weeks-old poults for local gamekeepers. Today, with game shooting more popular than it has ever been in the last twenty-one years of business, the Turner family's birds have never been in greater demand.

"It was difficult in the early years because shooting was a fraction of what it is now. There wasn't much business out there and what there was was hard to get. But in the last ten years it has really taken off," says Mr Turner, whose family farm rears mainly Ringneck and Blackneck pheasants.

Mr Turner's farm is based near Lostwithiel, just outside St Austell on the south Cornish coast, from where he supplies his birds to a wide range of customers, from the smallest farmyard syndicates up to local gamekeepers managing one of the biggest shoots in the country. The business is family-run, Mr Turner being ably assisted by his wife Nina, his nephew Ashley and sister Lucy.

"People are often surprised by the size of the bird we provide when they first see one. They are simply bigger than anything they have bought previously. For us, that's confirmation that we are doing things the right way."

Mr Turner's quality drive is shared by his supplier of feeds, disinfectant and machinery, the Cornwall Farmers co-operative of which the Turner family's Willowood Farm is a member.

"We have been working with Cornwall Farmers for over six years because they are local, which we like, and they supply us with the best quality, which is paramount," says Mr Turner. "I get quoted cheaper prices all the time for inferior products but it's pointless going down that road. If you don't give a bird a good start it will never make a bright and alert 21 week-old."

Austin King, Cornwall Farmers' Game Feed Specialist, enjoys a productive working relationship with the Turner's family, one which has led to Willowood establishing itself among Cornwall's premier suppliers of high quality poults and also to introductions, through Mr Turner, to new business throughout the county.

"We are both working at the top end of the market," says Mr King, "and neither of us would have it any other way. This year looks like being another excellent one for game rearing and maintaining the quality is vital. Like Russell, we could look for a lower quality feed, but we have every confidence in our work with the Marsdens range of feeds, which give us a very high quality product to take to farmers throughout the south west."

Russell Turner will be calling on Cornwall Farmers throughout the coming months as he develops the family business. "Every year we've expanded a little bit. There's a limit to what we can do without buying some more land, but we have plans. We don't want to take a step back; I want us to continue to grow the family business."

To contact Cornwall Farmers' Game Feed Specialist, Austin King, telephone 07766 553211.