Iceland review - 2016, Page 68

66 ICELAND REVIEW
million (USD 120,000) to be allocated to
support Icelandic goat farming per year.
Before that agreement went into effect,
goat farmers received only ISK 4,000
(USD 32) per animal, for a maximum of
20 goats, limiting state funding to each
farm to ISK 80,000 (USD 640) a year.

TOURIST ATTRACTION
Jóhanna and Þorbjörn are as busy as ever,
gradually making the farm financially
sustainable. Háafell has become a tourist
attraction, receiving more than 5,000
visitors a year. In a former machinery
shed, travelers are greeted and, for a fee
of ISK 1,500 (USD 12) per adult, they are
offered a guided tour of the barn where
they are welcome to pet the goats and
their kids.
Homemade products are for sale,
including soaps with goat’s milk and all
kinds of herbs, lotion made from goat tal-
low and syrup made of either birch or vio-
let. Jóhanna also sells goat meat, including
sausages, and goat hides in various colors.
Goat meat, she relates, is lean, tender and
rich in protein. Goat cheese, produced for
Háafell in a nearby creamery, is for sale,
with all sorts of spices.
When sufficient funds have been
obtained, Jóhanna’s hope is that a cheese
and yogurt-making facility will be built
on the farm. “The drawings are ready
and so is the building permit,” she states.
That would save Háafell the cost of hav-
ing the nearby creamery make the cheese
and transport it. Right now, no other
goat’s milk products are commercially
produced in Iceland, but some farmers
have them made for their own consump-
tion. By having the facility on the farm,
better use could be made of the goat’s
milk and more products sold to support
the farm. According to Jóhanna, goat’s
FARMING
From left: The does, Emilía, Þorgerður and Vala Grand.