When it comes to farming, bigger is not always better. Kaz’s Googs’ owners have scaled down their operation — and that’s just the way they like it. RICK BAYNE has the story.
Justin and Verity Uebergang have seen the ups and downs of running a small farm business with Kaz’s Googs.
From tripling the operation to having to shut up shop during the COVID-19 pandemic, they have also dealt with fluctuating markets, fires and personal matters along the way.
Kaz’s Googs had about 1400 laying birds when Justin came on the scene. Within a few years it had built up to 4500, and then it went crashing down to zero during COVID-19.
Today they have a pared back operation with about 200 laying chooks and 1000 chicks getting ready for sale, and that’s the way they like it.
Justin grew up on a dairy, beef, sheep and potato farm near Portland in Victoria, while Verity grew up not far away in the Heywood area and moved back after living in Perth for 16 years.
Justin didn’t want to take over the 365-hectare family farm, which is now run by his brother and father. The 17-hectare property near Heywood came up for sale eight years ago and it was a perfect fit.
“I liked the small size,” he said.
“I had grown up on reasonably sized acreage and it didn’t really appeal to me. I wanted something that involved other people and clientele and not just be out on the farm your whole life. I like that but I didn’t like the absoluteness of that.”
The Kaz’s Googs business was started about a decade earlier by Karen (Kaz) and Fred Wilson. Another owner had the property for about a year before Justin and at that time it had been reduced to about 1200 to 1400 laying birds.
Over the next couple of years, it was ramped up to about 4500 chickens, with most of the eggs going to cafes and restaurants and a few IGA supermarkets, mostly around Portland, Warrnambool and Mt Gambier.
“It was just supply and demand,” Justin said.
“You’ve got to learn to go with the ebb and flow of sales. We learnt that we need to gradually increase, not splurge and then have ongoing expenses.”
When COVID-19 hit, everything went haywire.
“The government closing everything down didn’t have consideration for certain businesses,” Justin said.
“All our clients basically closed overnight, but we still had 4500 birds laying. We were running around like a headless chook trying to sort out what to do.”
By this time, Verity had joined the business and she admits it was a difficult period.
“We had to get rid of them pretty cheaply,” she said.
“They were sold off for $5 just to get rid of them.”
They stuck to COVID rules and set up a drive-through system for people to buy chickens.
“It was a bit of a sight to see,” Justin said.
“We had rows of cars clogging up our driveway. So many people wanted to get chickens once COVID set in.”
They were in limbo with everything closed during the pandemic, so Justin built an Airbnb on the property, which eventually became their home after the other farm house was destroyed by fire.
Then things started ramping up.
“We went from 1400 to 4500 to zero for two years and we’re back up to 150 to 200 chooks of our own to lay eggs for the front store and we started buying chicks and rearing them and to sell as 16-week-old pullets to backyarders,” Justin said.
They sold the business’ sheds, grader and silos to another family enterprise but continue as Kaz’s Googs.
In addition to the laying chooks, they have about 1000 chicks in two different age groups and more eggs ready to hatch, about 50 sheep and some rabbits, guinea pigs and two baby emus.
“We’re slowly building up different animals and would like a petting zoo,” Verity said.
“Eventually I’d like a little café here so people could have coffee and cake and the kids could play with the animals.”
They also plan to build another unit on site, either as an Airbnb or to sell.
While chook sales constitute about 90 per cent of Kaz’s Googs and they haven’t returned to broad sales of eggs, they do have a store at the front of the farm selling eggs, potatoes and chook food, with plans to add flowers.
“We’re not going back into retail eggs, we’re just keeping our front shop stocked and selling chooks,” Justin said.
The shop uses an honesty box system for payments. They had problems with people trying to cheat the system but that was fixed by installation of a security camera system and monitor.
Most of the chooks are ISA browns but there are also some Australorps and Leghorns. All are bred for laying.
“We were just going to go with the browns, but people also like the black and white chooks and eggs,” Verity said.
“Australorps are really cool with blue and green colouring through their black feathers.”
The poultry industry has been impacted by high-profile bird flu site closures over recent months, but it didn’t impact on Kaz’s Googs.
“The only impact it had was a bit of a dip in sales of birds in the Geelong region because the reports made people more cautious,” Justin said.
Showing the value of versatility, Justin and Verity are investigating new feed options with trials of azzola duckweed as a potential supplement.
“The cost of chicken feed has skyrocketed to $650 to $700 a tonne, but trials are showing azzola can pull nutrients from any source and grow up to 40 tonnes of dry matter per hectare with up to 85 per cent protein,” Justin said.
They are also looking to introduce some pigs and potentially use potato waste as a source of feed.
“I see this a lot in farming,” Justin said.
“If you’re able to change and adapt to markets and go with the flow of where things are going, you’re much more likely to succeed.”
Justin admits he was discouraged about large farms that produce a commodity and have to accept market prices.
“You’re at the tail end but you take on all the risk but don’t get the reward for it,” he said.
“We’re not controlled by the powers that be. We’re doing our own thing.”