ARABLE farmer Robert Darling will soon find out whether his diversification scheme has paid off.

For fed up with low cereal prices he decided to branch out into turkeys - not just any old turkey but the "Rolls Royce" of the turkey world.

And the next couple of weeks will show whether his decision was the correct one.

Mr Darling and his wife, Lea, farm 250 acres at Burtree House in Burtree Lane, Darlington, and took out a franchise to rear award-winning traditional bronze turkeys.

"We got fed up farming for very little profit," said Mr Darling, "We are mainly arable and were looking for something which would actually pay, rather than us working for nothing.

"I decided that anything I sell to other people to sell on does not make me anything, so I thought why not sell direct to the public and keep the profit ourselves."

He spotted an advert from leading turkey breeder Kelly Turkeys of Essex looking for suitable franchisees to rear and sell their award winning KellyBronze (correct) turkeys.

They re-introduced the breed to this country several years ago.

The bronze is described as slow growing with fine textured meat and a fuller flavour - attributes which saw it named the best speciality product at last year's British Turkey Product of the Year awards.

The turkeys are fed on a high percentage of grain which contains no medication, animal protein, growth promoters or GM ingredients.

The feed is supplied by Kelly's themselves and the turkeys are reared outdoors during the day and spend the night in open-sided sheds.

The company, which is looking for more franchisees nationally, provide full training courses, manuals and have a telephone help line for producers.

It also has strict quality control, before and after slaughter. The birds are hung for ten days to add to the flavour and franchisees all dress the birds in exactly the same way.

"They only sell A-grade birds," said Mr Darling, "If one was a B-grade for some reason it would not be sold as a KellyBronze.

"It all relies on the word premium, it is the Rolls Royce compared to the ordinary grades."

Because of that the Bronze is only sold for the Christmas market.

The Darling's tasted the Bronze before they decided to take out the franchise. "It was out of this world, they are so tasty," said Mrs Darling.

Because of the high standards and full flavour they are more expensive than the average turkey - around £28 for a 9lb bird and £42 for a 15lb 8oz bird.

"But it is the Christmas dinner we are aiming for, that once a year meal when people want something special," said Mr Darling.

The birds arrived at the farm in June aged six weeks.

Kelly's - Mr Derek Kelly, the owner, is originally from Framwellgate Moor and went to Houghall Agricultural College - select their franchisees with care.

They have to be close to a major road - the Darling's are beside the A1 motorway and just off the A68 - live within 15 minutes of 50,000 people and have clean, easily accessible, farmyards for customers to call.

The turkey's are dressed and collected in branded boxes complete with a sprig of rosemary, cooking tips and name place settings.

The Darling's have already had orders placed through large straw turkey figures overlooking the main roads.

Full details and orders can be made on 01325 463521.