Spring Update: The Woolly Pig Company
Spring Update: The Woolly Pig Company
As spring brings new life to our sites at the Woolly Pig Company we are also starting fresh. Over the past year we have gone through some big changes and as we gear up to hit the ground running in 2023 we just wanted to bring you our customers up to speed.
Our team
Over the past few months we have been engaging in a restructure. Gill who has been running the Woolly pig company from the start, is moving on in order to work on other businesses and spend time with her young family, but before leaving has ensured that she is handing the reins over to a team committed to the values this company has.
Running the show now is Ken, our Agroforestry Lead who has now been working with the company for three years and manages our team. Plus our two Site Assistants John, who looks after our herd of highland cows and cheviot sheep and myself, David looking after our mangalica pigs, website and social media.
Between the three of us we have decades of experience in different forms of agriculture, land management and conservation which will be vital in ensuring we raise our livestock to some of the highest standards of ethical and environmental practice.
Our sites
We are now farming two sites in the west of Scotland, Brodoclea woodland in north Ayrshire and Glenaros on the Isle of Mull.
Brodoclea woodland is home to our herd of mangalica pigs who forage under the mix of young native broadleaf trees.
Our pigs are taking part in something called rotational mob grazing, where we move them often so that they always have access to fresh forage and our forest floor has plenty of time to recover once the pigs pass through. This system not only has many benefits for the pigs, but also has benefits for the woodland and many of the species our pigs share their home with. It’s our hope that we can prove that regenerative enterprise can sustain a reforested landscape in low grade agricultural ground and upland areas.
Glenaros is where we graze our growing herd of highland cattle and flock of cheviot sheep. The agricultural areas of this site are just a part of a larger estate where a wide range of habitats are currently being restored. With the recent addition of John to our team running the day to day farming on the island we are really only just getting started creating models of regenerative agriculture on the site. Over time the agricultural systems we are developing here will become a greater part of this wider restoration process and we look forward to sharing this journey with you aswell as the delicious food we will produce.
Our purpose
The long term aim of the Woolly Pig Company is to financially support a reforested landscape whilst creating opportunities for local communities and producing fantastic food. We aim to design systems of agriculture that enhance the regeneration of our sites, bringing in livestock that fulfil ecological niches which will create opportunities for new life in our woodlands. It is our hope that by installing systems that are ecologically and socially regenerative our woodlands will never again become deforested, protecting these places for future generations.
We anticipate that the coming years will be an exciting venture, the three of us can’t wait to see how this develops over time and we are thankful to have you all joining us on this journey.
With thanks
Our Woolly Pig Farmers