‘More Fun Than Selling Manure!’: Genius UK Farm Makes $90K From Goat Zoom Chats

‘More Fun Than Selling Manure!’: Genius UK Farm Makes $90K From Goat Zoom Chats
B&T Magazine
Edited by B&T Magazine



A British farmer, who half-jokingly suggested leasing out her goats for Zoom meetings during a UK lockdown, has made £50,000 (nearly $90,000) from hiring the animals for internet chats around the world, including in Australia.

The BBC reports that Dot McCarthy, from Rossendale in Lancashire, said hiring out her goats for Zoom chats in the US, Russia, China, and Australia had kept Cronkshaw Fold Farm open and staff in work and had also paid for improvements to the site.

The number of people paying for “show goat” Lola and others to butt in on calls had been “insane”, she told the BBC, adding that it was “more fun” than selling manure to make ends meet.

The farm, which features on BBC One’s The Great Staycation, usually adds to its income by hosting weddings and educational visits.

However, coronavirus restrictions in the UK have closed that side of the business down.

Source: https://www.cronkshawfoldfarm.co.uk/goatsonzoom

Instead, the 32-year-old farmer reportedly came up with the idea of hiring out her flock of goats to brighten video calls by briefly having them butt in as a surprise, the BBC reports.

The service, which McCarthy said was the “greatest of all time”, sees people pay £5 (roughly $10) to hire a goat. The goat then joins a scheduled meeting through Zoom’s invitation system with a little help from farm staff.

McCarthy told the BBC it was the shock of her life that it had become such a success. After just putting the service up on her website to “give people a laugh” in April 2020, she reportedly woke up to 200 emails requesting the goats’ presence on calls.

According to the BBC, McCarthy’s goats have now appeared in virtual meetings all over the world, with some people donating far more than the hire charge for an appearance.

One family reportedly books one of her other goats, Margaret, every Saturday morning for a longer catch-up. “They call her Marg and she is one of the family now,” she told the BBC.

“They love to hear her news—from her first hot date to news that she is expecting.”

McCarthy told the BBC that her team had struggled to keep up with the number of calls, but the success had allowed her to keep her two employees on full-time.

The money, she told the public broadcaster, would go towards converting the farm to renewable power to improve its carbon footprint.

Featured image source: https://www.cronkshawfoldfarm.co.uk/goatsonzoom




Please login with linkedin to comment

zoom

Latest News

Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm
  • Media

Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm

Sydney Comedy Festival 2024 is live and ready to rumble, showing the best of international and homegrown talent at a host of venues around town. As usual, it’s hot on the heels of its big sister, the giant that is the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, picking up some acts as they continue on their own […]

Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth
  • Advertising

Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth

The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has announced the final epic lineup of local and global marketing powerhouses for RESET for Growth 2024. Lead image: Josh Faulks, chief executive officer, AANA  Back in 2000, a woman with no business experience opened her first juice bar in Adelaide. The idea was brilliantly simple: make healthy […]