UK FARM:

Shepherd boy for a day

By Stephen Ng

Some of us would have secretly wished to experience life on the paddock, when visiting Australia or New Zealand, but the amount and time spent with sheep, goats and the cattle, is somewhat of a deterrent for many, who would otherwise have enjoyed back-to-nature stay in the outback.

The idea of being a shepherd boy for the day no longer has to take a back stage, especially when it is now possible to bring the entire family to experience farm life, with some 5,000 sheep and other farm animals.

The children, especially those below 10, would definitely find the stay interesting because they too can enjoy feeding the lamb and the kids.

For the adults, spending an hour or two would be sufficient to feel what it is like to shepherd the sheep into then pen, with the help of some well-trained sheep dogs.

It is no wonder that a total of 146,000 tourists have visited the 100-acre UK Farm, between May, when the agro-resort first started, and December last year.

Located within the Modern Agriculture Project in the district of Kluang, the resort is an hour’s drive from Singapore, and about three hours from Kuala Lumpur, making it the latest attraction for tourists from the island republic. Singaporeans make up 45 per cent of his guests.

In fact, as its agro-entrepreneur and Managing Director, Goh Un Keng, 46, put it, the number of visitors to UK Farm (named after Goh’s initials) has, in fact, increased seven fold, from 5.587 visitors in May 2010 to 35,936 in December because of the school holidays in Malaysia and Singapore.

“One thing a lot of people will notice is the cleanliness around the farm,” he said, showing a posh and modern public toilet which has been recently renovated.

“We have tourists from overseas who are deeply impressed with our management of the farm,” he added. “Even our Taiwanese visitors said they were pleased with what they saw.”

The rest of the visitors are either local, or from Taiwan and China. Goh has recently signed an agreement with his partners in three countries to bring in 5,000 tourists from China, another 5,000 from Taiwan and 3000 from Hong Kong every year.

How it started

UK Farm first started in 2007, when Goh was invited by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry to set up the sheep farm after demonstrating his ability to successfully manage the HACCP certified fresh goat milk production facility – the first in the country and one of six HACCP certified goat milking stations, at Parit Yaani in Yong Peng, Johor.

He first invested in 1,000 sheep for a start, but the number gradually multiplied to some 5,000 within a span of three years. The 100-acre land, which he leased from the government, was gradually turned into a self-sufficient integrated farm, with sheep, goats, ostriches, horses, passion fruits, pineapples, organic vegetables – and soon, by August this year, grapes and apples.

Besides the Ostrich Park and Passion Fruit Plantation, there is also a Herb Sanctuary, Mushroom Farm, Sakai Village, Lotus Pond, Deer Farm and a mini-zoo.

Visitors can take either the UK Farm “safari-style” bus ride or go horse carting around the farm. Instead of the car honks and screeching of brakes, here, one will enjoy and learn that the sheep “baa…baa….baa” (or rather, bleat) and the goats “neah, neah…”

For once, Old McDonald’s farm came alive. The green pastures, planted with high protein Guinea grass, make the farm most inviting.

For the feeding station, the pen houses some 15 species of sheep and goats from ten different countries, which allows children to learn how to differentiate the different species.

“Since our visitors especially from Singapore enjoyed farm life, we decided to turn this into an Agro-resort in May last year,” said Goh, promising that there will be many more activities for the entire family.

Goh has also urged teachers of schools and kindergartens to organize day trips to the farm as part of the children’s education, so that they will learn to appreciate the farm animals. This is also the best classroom there is to learn how to differentiate between a ram (male sheep), an ewe (female sheep) and a lamb (young).

In 2011, Goh hopes to bring in some 300,000 visitors to the farm. “We are confident that this agro-resort has the potential to attract both local and foreign tourists,” he said.

If visitors are keen, they can also learn the entire farming process in the Parit Yaani (in Yong Peng) station, starting from bringing the goats for milking, learning about the disinfection practices, inspecting the quality of the goat milk, installing the cup milker, pasteurization and bottling goat milk.

The Yong Peng branch was, in fact, Goh’s first agro-based project, where he started rearing goats for the milk in 2001. Here, he currently has 2,000 goats which produce milk to be exported to Singapore and Brunei.

Accommodation

Day visitor, M. Karuppiah, 55, who toured the farm, said he enjoyed the Sakai Village the most. “I find it intriguing to see the Orang Asli wearing clothes which they made out of the tree bark,” he said. “This is a culture which needs to be preserved.”

Karuppiah was also impressed with the tree house and the cage set up to trap the tiger. “I plan to come here to stay with my friends for a couple of days,” he said, after being shown around the entire farm. “I enjoy the afternoon breeze. It’s something that I can’t find in Subang Jaya where I live.”

Visitors are allowed to harvest the pineapples and the passion fruits, besides riding on some of the animals.

Groups of students can stay overnight in the dormitory, which can take up to 250 pax a night, while families can live in the chalets, which can take up to 40 pax a night.

To make sure guests can stay in touch with the rest of the world, Goh provides WiFi access to his guests. There is also a camp site of two acres, with space for 300 camps, and separate restroom facilities. Campfire, BBQ and roast lamb facilities are also available.

The success of this farm is due to the hard work of Goh, and his 60-men team, in helping to realise he objectives of the Core Policy Agricultural Development Programme under ninth Malaysia Plan, formulated to transform the country’s agriculture sector to become a modern, viable and competitive modern agriculture sector.