"Today, the price for a lamb at market is about £70 each,’’ he explains, ’’but 18 months ago, it was about £30. I did try to get a deal going with some local farmers, but their attitude was ’What if the price goes up?’ They need to accept the fact that, if they strike a deal, they are never going to get the highest price and they aren’t going to get the lowest price. But they will get stability."
Certainly, Mr Wilson has a game plan for stability. This year he will build a £2m abattoir on his land, using grants from the EU and Defra and, possibly, asset finance. "It will give me total control of my product, from planting a grain of corn for animal feed to producing the meat for my sausages," he says. "It is also better for the meat if the animal does not have to travel a long way to the abattoir." With a need to slaughter around 40 pigs and lambs every week to supply his customers, the abattoir should also generate cost savings.
Apart from moving to a larger farm with 1,500 acres to accommodate his growing herds, Mr Wilson has not previously needed major financing. "I started business because it is not capital intensive," he explains. Growth has been funded by reinvested profits.
