Ruminations18 Jun 2025

Growing the World's Best Wool

In this episode, we sit down with Jen Hunter and Andy Wear of Fernhill Farm and Fernhill Fiber, recognized as the 2022 Sheep Farmers of the Year by Farmers Weekly. With decades of shepherding under their belts, they share insights on how they've transformed their hilltop farm into a thriving cultural and ecological hub, cross-breeding 6 types of sheep to produce premium wool, on-farm events with 20,000 attendees, how EOV data informs their management, and more.

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00:00 Intro

01:25 Fernhill’s Fiber Experience event

07:19 Setting the stage

11:10 Jen’s background

15:57 The history of Fernhill

22:38 From shepherding to Holistic Planned Grazing

28:24 Trading weddings for wool

37:17 Join the movement

38:18 Financial planning

47:23 Field observations

56:27 Balancing ecological & nutritional needs

01:00:38 Ecological monitoring

01:09:16 Partnering with HD Wool

01:11:17 Cross-breeding 6 types of sheep

01:21:47 Future aspirations

01:28:27 Final Thoughts

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MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE:

– https://www.fernhill-farm.co.uk/

– https://fernhillfibre.co.uk/

– https://fernhillfibre.co.uk/events/fernhill-fibre-experience-21st-march-2026

– https://www.fieldmargin.com/

– https://www.3lm.network/

– https://fernhillfibre.co.uk/eov-regenerative-verification

– https://www.hdwool.com/

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This episode is brought to you by Savory’s Regenerating Members, a global community restoring over 100 million acres through Holistic Management. For less than $1 per day, you can help regenerate 400+ acres every year: 👉 https://savory.global/member

Want to sponsor an episode? 👉 https://savory.global/podcast

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Music written & performed by https://www.youtube.com/@travismcnamara9313

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