A COMMUNITY farm in Chagford has launched its micro goat dairy — a year after a crowdfunding campaign made the project possible.

Last year Chagfarm ran an eight week crowdfunding campaign, seeking £15,000 for more farming equipment and facilities to expand the goats’ milk dairy and ensure the continued resilience of the food supply. It successfully raised £15,685 beating its target by 5%.

Chagfarm aims to make the local community’s food supply more resilient by working closely with Chagfood, another local food enterprise, and complementing its existing vegetable subscription offer. Chagfarm does this by offering local goat dairy products and honey, as well as high-welfare goat meat, pork, woodland poultry, lamb, beef, venison and game.

Last Thursday the organisation launched its raw goat’s milk. The goat dairy products will be met on a first come, first served basis to new and current members of the subscription farm.

The not-for-profit Dartmoor farmers have been milking six nanny goats since April and hope the locally produced, raw organic milk offering will encourage new members and boost the farm’s financial stability.

Davon Friend, co-founder and director of Chagfarm, said: ‘After three years of hard work developing our micro goat dairy, we’re thrilled to finally launch our raw goats’ milk.

‘We strongly believe that pasteurisation and homogenisation are not what nature intended and can’t wait to finally shout about the incredible health benefits of raw goats’ milk, including less allergenic proteins, easily digestible fats and prebiotic properties. Watch this space for a selection of soft and hard handmade cheeses and yoghurts.’

Following the successful crowdfunding campaign, Chagfarm was able to invest in its micro dairy facilities that have, alongside a robust food safety process, been approved by the Food Standards Agency and Environmental Health.

Entering its fourth year of business, the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) enterprise is now on more of a mission than ever to demonstrate its financial viability by recruiting an additional 17 new members by the end of the 2015/16 season in April.

For more information about the project visit www.chagfarm.org