The Yorkshire farming couple diversifying into goats and Land Rover Defenders

The lineup in People’s Choice also included British Saanen, Golden Guernsey and British Alpine all providing a new entertaining, educative and interactive side of the show where members of the public make their own decision on which goats they like the best having been invited into the ring.

Sam and Jess Cutler of Marsh Valley Farm in Loxley, near Sheffield started with Anglo Nubians in 2017 and it was their Anglo Nubian that became the show’s first People’s Choice Champion.

“We started with them after having had chicken, rabbits, ducks and donkeys,” says Sam. “We both love animals but it had got to the point where we needed to pick something and stick with it and we have since begun growing exponentially on our four acres.

“We got two wether Anglo Nubians and now have a herd of 22 goats breeding predominantly Anglo Nubian, but also have five British Alpine and now everything has a purpose as we have gone into goat’s soap and a shampoo bar range.

“Most of what we sell is through our on-line website marshvalley.co.uk and everything is in bars, using a cold processed traditional method. It’s flying out and we’ve got to the point where we are looking to expand into hand lotions.

Goat’s milk has become increasingly popular and Sam sees this as their future, allowing them to grow the herd even further.

“I want to start bottling milk for human consumption as raw goat’s milk. It’s fantastic for those who are lactose intolerant and can’t drink cow’s milk but can have goat’s milk and is getting recommended more by doctors for a million and one different ailments because of the properties it contains.

"And especially raw because it still has everything in there, rather than being pasteurised which kills both the good and the bad bacteria.

“I’ve had numerous calls from those who want goat’s milk and there’s no-one in our area doing it.

“As soon as we get to the stage where we can bottle it, fulfilling the health officer’s paperwork, the goat world’s your oyster, as you can then also send it for cheesemaking and other uses.

“Many may already be aware that the properties in the milk are great for anyone who has eczema, psoriasis or dermatitis as the milk is excellent for the skin, cleansing and putting back that moisture.

“Our herd will probably be doubled within 12-18 months when we start bottling.

Sam says they took on British Alpine because he fancied having another breed and says he enjoys having them, particularly as a showing breed.

“We took on the British Alpine more because I wanted to try something a little bit different and in the sun they just glisten.

"They’ll never outweigh our Anglo Nubian numbers and they are notoriously harder to keep but they do help boost the milk.”

Sam and Jess were bitten by the showing bug after having been encouraged by a fellow breeder.

“We hadn’t shown anything in recent times and it was only when we were gathering up goats in the beginning that a lady that ran shows who we bought some from and asked us to go along to a show and see how we went. We did her show that year and absolutely fell in love with showing.

"The next year we did something like 15 shows. We both thrived off it, and we now love taking them out, the competition and the friends we have made the length and breadth of the country. By time summer comes we and the goats are out every other weekend.”

Sam says this year’s show was a seminal moment for them because it was the first time they’d had a milker in the Best in Show lineup that includes champion and reserve kid, goatling and milker.

“We had champion goatling the first day and then reserve Best Milker in the show with our first kidder Anglo Nubian.

"We’d had a kid and goatling as champion previously but getting a milker in there was good, because trying to get a milker to look good whilst milking and still have a nice udder and teat is tricky. It has taken some longer than I’ve been alive to get to that point.

“She was homebred from one of our originals. Her great grandmother was one of first we ever bought. Marsh Valley Elaria was reserve milker and our goatling champion was Marsh Valley Frostino.

“One thing is for sure and that is as we grow the herd we will still be showing at shows like the Great Yorkshire Show. I’m on the goats committee for it, we’ll be here and at least a couple of others no matter what.”

Although the goats just pay for themselves at the moment Sam says the advancement he sees of the herd, plus their new business in providing Land Rover Defenders as wedding cars that he and Jess launched last year and is growing fast, could be the perfect mix.

“We do a multitude of things. Where we live was the old Loxley Post Office which we ran as a local convenience store, until January this year.

“We were looking to diversify and that’s where the Land Rover thing for weddings started officially last year in January 2023. We have two vehicles currently and having done 16 weddings last year we have already done over 40 this year.

"The Defenders are chauffeur driven by myself and Jess and we get bookings from all over the UK. Our plan is to get a third one into our fleet and keep growing.”

Sam and Jess married in 2021 and their first baby is due in December.