North Wales farmer puts snails on the menu!

Putting snails on the menu! North Wales farmer hopes his latest entrepreneurial idea could prove a winner

Apart from a very occasional heatwave such as the one this summer, Welsh weather can usually be counted upon to provide the perfect damp, rainy conditions loved by snails. That’s a fact most gardeners know to their cost!

But thanks to Farming Connect’s Management Exchange programme, beef and sheep farmer Richard Hughes is hoping that his proposal to breed edible outdoor snails on his farm near Pwllheli could lead to a lucrative new stream of income. Snails, often served in garlic butter, have long been regarded as a delicacy by many top chefs and it seems that collecting their slime, more correctly termed mucin or serum, could be yet another money-spinner because of its acknowledged anti-aging properties for human skin!

Richard who farms at Penfras Uchaf, Llwyndyrys near Pwllheli, recently returned from a Farming Connect Management Exchange visit to Cherasco in Italy, where he attended a course run by internationally renowned snail breeding academy, Istituto Internazionale di Elicicoltura.

“With the uncertainty of Brexit and agricultural grants, we need to consider all kinds of diversification enterprises to safeguard the future of the family farm for future generations,” says Richard.

“I had carried out some preliminary research following a family holiday in France when snails, or ‘escargot’ as they’re known there, which are high protein yet low calorie, were on the menu in almost every restaurant.

“By the time I applied for a Management Exchange visit, I was reasonably confident that there was an opportunity to create a successful snail enterprise here in Wales, mainly due to our climate.”

Richard and his wife Eleri, a retired social worker, have three grown up sons who are all successful business people in their own right. Alongside developing their own careers, the three boys, who all live locally, have invested time in the family farm business. They credit their dad for giving each of them not only a love of the land and the incentive to safeguard their family heritage but also an entrepreneurial streak.

The farm now extends to 200 acres, but Richard bought the original 70 acre unit in 1974 having set his heart on owning the farm where generations of his family had been tenant farmers for over 300 years.

“It was a lifetime mission to develop the business for the boys through buying adjacent farmland and buildings which had previously provided livelihoods and homes for other members of my family,” says Richard.

Thanks to their father’s planned programme of expansion following business advice received from Farming Connect many years ago and getting involved in a number of diversified enterprises as they grew up, all three sons are now closely involved with the family business. They believe the new snail venture could become a lucrative project.

“Dairying, beef and sheep enterprises, breeding pigs, providing farm accommodation, setting up a glamping site and converting farm buildings into rental spaces and off farm employment has over the years provided valuable income but we’ve always been ready to adapt to market requirements to ensure every element of the business performs at peak levels,” says Richard.

He says the family has a lot more research to carry out, particularly in respect of soil sampling the plot now earmarked for the snail enterprise and then if all goes to plan, of fertilising and then cleansing the soil to ensure no flies or bugs could affect the new residents!

“One of my next steps will be to apply for nutrient management planning guidance which is available through the Farming Connect Advisory Service,” says Richard.

He and his sons are optimistic that for a relatively low capital outlay their latest plan to diversify into snail farming could be yet another winning idea which would sit well within their existing tourism enterprise.

During his visit to Cherasco, Richard and a small group of international students learned how to build an external ‘fence’ which would prevent other creatures such as mice from disturbing the snails and also keep ‘wild’ snails out.

“A ditch is dug in the first instance, and posts are then placed 400mm into the soil before placing plastic/fibre glass in the space.

“After building an external fence, pens of approximately 45m x 3.5m need to be built for the snails, with special plastic netting fence placed around the pens.

“Each pen is split in two, 40% for breeding and 60% for growing/fattening.

“The edge of the pen is sown with white clover in the first instance, follwed by chicory, beets or winter brassicas such as chard with the first sowing taking place in March (40% breeding area) and the remainder in July – it’s a diet they like and makes for top quality snails.”

Richard says that through the contacts he made in Cherasco, he’s already lined up a number of buyers keen for him to get his breeding programme underway since demand currently exceeds supply, but it’s not just the snails which have the potential to make money.

The slime from snails is packed with nutrients credited with having anti-aging properties, and with the right equipment it can be collected, stored and sold to make-up manufacturers. Bottled snail eggs can be ‘harvested’ and sold as snail ‘caviar’ while the snails themselves can also be sold as food for snakes and other reptiles.

“It was evident that the work in Cherasco creates a visitor market in itself because in addition to attracting tourists and parties of local schoolchildren keen for an out of the ordinary experience, people come from all around the world to learn about farming snails.

“Cherasco and the surrounding area is world famous for the ‘Slow food movement’. It has become famous for its specialist produce and I think it would be possible to promote a snail farm to visitors wishing to learn about something fun yet fascinating, and also very different here in Wales.”

Farming Connect’s Management Exchange programme encourages farmers and foresters to learn about new or improved ways of working; to access research and to see at first hand some of the most successful systems operating throughout Europe today. Up to £4,000 of funding is offered to investigate innovative or more efficient ways of working which will broaden their knowledge, technical ability and management expertise by travelling to other exemplar farming or forestry businesses within the EU. Those selected also have the opportunity to host a suitably trained and experienced farm or forest manager currently working in the EU at their home holding.

The application process for the Management Exchange 2019 programme will for the first time involve a two-stage process. The application window for Stage 1 will be open from 1 October to 30 November 2018. The new process allows enables applicants to make an initial outline application which sets out their chosen topic, the reasons for choosing it and their plans for sharing what they learn from the exchange with the wider industry. If approved they will then proceed to Stage 2, which is open from 1 December to 31 January, which requires a more detailed proposal, at which time fully funded mentoring will be available.

Application forms can be downloaded from www.gov.wales/farmingconnect or for further information call Gwenno Griffiths at Menter a Busnes on 01970 636565 or email: gwenno.griffiths@menterabusnes.co.uk