Kim Brook
Kim has been a passionate ambassador for pig keeping and breeding for years. Not from a farming background, and with a great love for elephants, Kim realised that keeping elephants was not realistic and turned to the next best thing. Pigs! Inspiring and engaging pig keepers is first and foremost for Kim and, being driven by her devotion for pigs, Kim had the impetus to grow and become the Founder of UKs only pig breed charity – the Oxford Sandy and Black Pig Foundation. The diversity of pigs that the UK has to offer and the produce that comes from the UK’s pig breeds is to be celebrated. This emphatic approach has evolved through running Pig Exhibitions, where you will see Kim at various agricultural shows enthusing and bringing people together under one roof. Through this activity she has helped producers and public alike to embrace UK’s pig breeds, British Pork and the importance of supporting local producers. The energy does not stop there as Kim holds talks to anyone who shares the wonderful world of pigs. Surprisingly there is a life outside of pigs, being half Chinese Kim loves to cook ,especially with chilli, and she is married to a very tolerant husband in West Devon
Flavian Obiero
Flavian Obiero, also known as “The Kenyan Pig Farmer”, is a Kenyan-born farmer based in Hampshire. He’s been in the industry since 2010, following a week’s placement on a mixed farm. He’s particularly interested in different ways of marketing pork and value addition. He’s an advocate for increasing personnel diversity in British agriculture and believes it will certainly benefit the industry. Flavian also engages with the public via various social media platforms with the aim of bridging the significant gap between farmers and consumers. Aside from farming, Flavian is an avid cook and rugby fanatic.
Adam Short
Adam is a small-scale mixed farmer from Devon, and a keen champion of outdoor and pastured pig production. As well as rearing native breed pigs & producing pork for direct sale, Adam is our resident livestock genetics & genetic diversity expert, being one of the founders of the company which created the Cloud-Lines.com pedigree system. Adam is passionate about preserving our native pig breeds, as well as using data to help smaller-scale meat producers make the most of native breeds.
Louise Blenkorn
Louise is a highly experienced pig vet based in Yorkshire. Louise’s passion for pigs began from an early age having grown up in a pig farming family in Northern Ireland.
Louise spends the majority of her time working with commercial pig units to improve health and production. She prides herself on her practical approach which she also utilises in many on farm and class room based training courses. Louise is a massive advocate for sustainable British farming.
Louise and husband Neil also have their own farm with pedigree Limousin cattle and Blue Texel sheep.
Amy Chapple
Amy grew up on a beef and sheep farm in Devon and always had an interest in farming. She had her own livestock from 10 years old and bought her first pigs when she started college. She completed an internship at the farm which hosts Groundswell, and came back home to Redwoods Farm to build on her pig herd, laying hen flock and establish a local sales base. She is passionate about local systems, right from the food the animal is fed through to the consumer. Amy focuses on breeding pigs which grow well on forage grazed in the field and the farm was the first to produce soy-free chicken in the UK, which fit in well with the pasture fed sheep and cattle. Amy is also keen to see more integrated livestock with both each other and arable to benefit all and is very passionate about learning by experimentation. Away from the farm, Amy enjoys playing rugby, participating in young farmers and spending time with her dogs.