Háafell - Geitfjársetur

The Háafell goat farm

When you think of Iceland, you think of sheep rather than goats. In fact, the first settlers from Norway also brought goats into the country on their ships around 1,100 years ago - the direct ancestors of the "land-grabbing goats" living on Iceland today.

The Landgrab Goat - Landnámsgeitin

If you pay attention to Icelandic place names and field names, goats must have been quite common on the island in the past:

For example, in the west of Iceland there is the Geitlandsjökull , the "Goatland Glacier", a side glacier of Langjökull. The glaciers here feed the river Geitá (= "Goat River"), which finally flows into the Hvíta after around 20 km, and At Hvalförður there is the mountain Kiðafell (= kid mountain).

However, there are not many goats left in Iceland these days and the population is at risk : in bad years there were less than 100 goats left in the whole of Iceland. The main reasons for the long-term decline in goat numbers are the changes in agriculture over the last 100 years. In many regions of Iceland, farmers used to keep a few goats on their farm because the animals didn't need much feed but gave enough milk for the household. When the first dairy cooperatives were founded in rural areas in the 1920s, many farmers stopped keeping dairy goats. Around 1,300 animals are currently overwintering in Iceland. In order to no longer be considered an endangered species, there would have to be around 5,000 land grabbing goats in Iceland.

The largest goat farm in Iceland is Háafell Farm in Hvítársíða with a permanent population of over 180 animals.

The Háafell goat farm

The goat farm is located about 40 km northeast of Borgarnes, on road 523 (Hvítársíðuvegur). The farm used to be a traditional farm with mixed livestock. When the current owner and her husband took over her parents' business in 1989, she acquired her first three goats. The number of goats increased steadily over time, the farm moved into goat breeding and since 2005 Háafell has been primarily a goat farm.

In winter there are around 180 goats here, and in summer there are more than 200 kids. In addition to the goats, there are around 30 sheep, 6 horses, several land grab chickens and silkie hens as well as two dogs and four cards on the farm.

Goats are intelligent animals , curious and capable of learning, and they provide humans with milk and wool as well as meat and leather. On average, a goat produces around 1 to 3 liters of milk per day for around 10 months after giving birth. The gestation period is just under 5 months; most kids are born between March and May. The birth weight of a kid is around 2 to 3 kg.

Goats don't particularly like it when it's wet and raining, so the farmer needs a solid, dry shelter for a goat - with a solidly built, well-maintained fence around the pasture (for reasons - as I said, goats are very curious and capable of learning !).

The focus of the work here on the farm is on the development and marketing of goat products and the use of all associated raw materials.

Awarded the Knight's Cross of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon

Jóhanna, the owner of Háafell, was awarded the Icelandic Order of the Falcon by the President in June 2023. She received the Knight's Cross for " Entrepreneurship in Agriculture ".

The award of the order recognizes Jóhanna's decades of successful work protecting and cultivating the Icelandic goat population as well as her commitment to the Association of Agricultural Direct Marketers.

Summer opening times

In summer you can visit Jóhanna and her family's goat farm and buy their products on site. From June to August the farm is currently (as of 2023) open to visitors daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A visit to the goats currently costs 1,600 ISK for adults (around €11) and 850 ISK for children aged 7 to 17 (around €5.90).

Outside opening hours, a visit by appointment is possible for an additional charge.

We had fun visiting the goats - especially since the animals are curious, some even let themselves be petted, but they decide for themselves when they've had enough. And they are not intrusive, as we knew from some petting zoos in other countries, they don't expect to be fed by visitors or anything like that, so I found that very relaxing!

Shopping in the farm shop

In the farm shop you can buy everything related to the Icelandic goat - cups, drinking bottles, pictures, postcards, bags, pillows, goatskin...

And you can also buy your own products made from goat milk and meat:

There are soaps made from goat's milk . Goat's milk contains, among other things, fatty acids, probiotics, vitamin A and vitamin B. These ingredients are said to help repair the skin barrier and promote healthy skin flora, especially for dry, sensitive skin. Vitamin B is also said to be good for healthy hair growth and against brittle, help dull hair.

In addition to goat's milk soaps, there are also goat's milk lotions, massage oils, hand cream and lip balm.

And to eat there is pickled goat cheese and goat sausage .

It is said that goat's milk is the most commonly used milk for human consumption in the world - and over cow's milk it has the advantage of being easier to digest and much less likely to cause intolerance.

In terms of protein, fat and lactose content, goat's milk is not very different from cow's milk, but it contains more short and medium chain fatty acids than cow's milk and the individual lipid nanoparticles in goat's milk are smaller, so they have a larger overall surface area and goat's milk can be broken down better by the body's own human enzymes and therefore digested more easily.

Goat's milk has a low casein content and a higher proportion of whey protein than cow's milk, which means that many (but not all) people with cow's milk allergies can tolerate goat's milk.

Goat meat is also considered healthy because it is low in fat but has a relatively high protein content.

In the Háafell farm shop you have the opportunity to try out the different products - it's definitely worth it!

By the way, you can also find homemade jams and syrups here!

Goat sausage and goat cheese

There are various sausages made from goat meat, seasoned with various herbs and spices. This sausage was our personal favorite - it tasted "more different" than other sausages I know - and was definitely very tasty!

When it came to goat cheese, after thoroughly trying out the house brand Huðnuknoss (= " Goat's Happiness "), we decided on the " Ilmbreki " variety, which we liked best - "Fragrant Hill", with a lot of herbs, dried berries, oil and garlic. Really, really tasty!

By the way, you can also buy the cheese at some supermarkets, for example at Hagkaup in Reykjavík at Skeifan we also found this delicious, pickled goat cheese!

Here I made little “appetizers” for dear visitors:

I cut the sausage into small slices and mixed it with tomatoes, onions and a little salt and pepper. It was then served on pieces of Skonsur, a nice fluffy, slightly sweet bread.

I simply supplemented the cheese with some of the brine with grated carrots and then served the mixture on Flatbrauð, this thin, soft, dark-baked Icelandic flatbread.

I found everything both really, really tasty!

A friend recommended the trip to the Háafell goat farm to us last year - and it was definitely worth it!

[Translated from here.]