Farming in a Political way! - Somerset Food and Drink

Last year, I met Max and Maxine Cotton of Six Brothers Organic, at their Verland Green Farm, in Baltonsborough to discuss Turkey Farming and . . .first discussed why Max chose Organic Turkey Farming.

?For political and marketing reasons, I guess? he says. ?I believe strongly in the need for man to work with nature, I feel that commercial factory farmed poultry is badly abused, and we should be trying to work with nature and not against it.?

?We operate in the top 5 per cent of Britain?s turkey market we have the highest welfare standards and that?s what our customers want.?

Though Six Brother?s is a part-time concern Max bristles if you call him a hobby farmer. ?This is a business.?

Max breeds, rears and processes all his turkeys on a 7 acre farm and says he loves being part of Christmas ? a passion shared with his wife Maxine.

Some interesting facts by Max:

?In studies carried out on our own organic farm, commercial male turkeys bred to have a very large amount of breast meat and short legs have a fertility rate of less than 10 per cent ? typically between 5% and 8%. Without artificial insemination modern commercial turkeys like these are incapable of breeding and this is fundamentally immoral and against the most basic principles of livestock husbandry. Our turkeys are a more natural shape, look spectacular on the table and mate naturally with a fertility rate of over 90 per cent?

?Our Turkeys are completely organic and free range and have access to pasture and orchards during daylight hours. Turkeys eat a lot of grass and unlike other poultry they love weeds particularly nettles! We keep a rare breed called the Norfolk Black ? they grow slowly in comparison with commercial strains. It?s a strong hardy bird with an old-fashioned flavour.?

You can?t buy a turkey like this in the supermarket. Supermarket turkeys ? the free range turkeys, even the organic ones, are killed plucked and gutted and packed within a few minutes at enormous processing factories dealing with thousands of birds an hour. They are all bred through artificial insemination indoors.

Six Brothers turkeys are killed and plucked and then hung in cold store for up to two weeks so the flavours can develop and the meat can mature. They are then gutted and dressed.

When he?s not farming turkeys Max works as a political correspondent for the BBC Politics Show. He says his main claim to fame is being hit by Margaret Thatcher with her handbag! He is soon to leave the BBC, and go full-time on his farm, extending it from 350 Turkeys to 1,000 birds. The connection with the BBC doesn?t just end there, as Maxine is Breakfast Producer for BBC 5 Live and has to juggle her work commitments with a very large family and of course the organic turkey farm.

What I found most interesting are the concerns about artificial insemination in turkeys. Only a few thousand are produced the Six Brothers way across the whole country. A few hundred of them are organic.

All of their turkeys are killed by Max. He does have some much-needed help in the busy period running up to Christmas. But farming like this means there is no terrifying last journey on the motorway to an abattoir in a plastic crate. Birds are handled individually, gently, and they are treated with respect and with compassion.

You can buy Six Brothers Organic Turkeys at Brown Cow Organics, Stephen Butchers of Glastonbury, and of course from the farm itself. Please call them first though as the Turkeys are selling fast, and the last day for collection from the farm is on the 23rd December. They do a delivery service, but best to call them first to discuss this.

Max told me that, every January, he with a group of other turkey farmers, get together to unwind after it?s all over and celebrate with what he describes as ?a bit of a session?. It is known as . . .?the Turkey survivors? dinner? . . Sounds good to me!

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