GROWING up at Moonta Bay, Will Marshall knew from an early age he wanted to work with specialty animals. “I started out with purebred poultry,” he said.
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“But then I saw a documentary on a rare breeds farm in England – the first in the world – and it was hugely inspiring. It fitted the bill with what I wanted to do with my life.
“I strongly believe that it is vital for future generations that we avoid narrowing the numbers of species that we are dependent on. It is very hard to maintain, but conserving genetic diversity within rare breed farm animals is very important, despite what some people may think.”
Will moved from Moonta to Kangaroo Island in 2002, attracted by land values.
“The lack of foxes was also a big plus, particularly when you run poultry,” he said.
And while this summer is proving to be a harsh one for the strictly grazing property, a good hay-cutting season means there is plenty of supplementary feed locally.
“It will be a lot easier and cheaper to access this year, unlike last year when prices were exorbitant as supply was low,” he said.
Will said infrastructure upgrades were also on his wishlist, but expected it would take about three years for the business to turnaround. “Thankfully we have a lot of public support,” he said.
