Emma Wynne-Jones, herdess, environmentalist, and holistic thinker, has recently touched down in the UK from America where she’s worked for many years riding horseback as a carbon cowgirl.
Emma was attracted to Farm2Fork because of its grass-fed credentials and our happy animals. After meeting Ollie at the Savory Conference in San Francisco back in autumn 2015, Emma made her way here.
“Ollie is one of the very few agrarians in the UK managing his farm holistically. And the only one I had personally met,” says Emma.
“We ended up sitting next to each other one evening over dinner and got to know each other a little bit. I was excited that there was someone in the UK applying holistic and regenerative principles. I contacted Ollie when I knew I was returning to the UK to see if he needed a hand.
“For me, farming any other way makes no sense. When I landed on American soil three years ago, I began listening to and observing the land. I wondered whether anyone was regenerating the grasslands, as I could see that the monoculture GM soy and corn crops were the antithesis of soil health, biodiversity and resilience. Upon asking these questions, many doors opened, and I discovered the work of Allan Savory among others. Since I went to the USA initially to immerse myself in a particular lineage of horsemanship, I decided to clock my hours in the saddle as a carbon cowgirl – mindfully sequestering carbon and restoring soil health, through holistic management of livestock. I have always followed a holistic approach to personal and professional life. Perhaps my background in Music, Education and Healing is responsible for that. As an artist, teacher and healer, I always seek balance, beauty and harmony at a whole-part-whole level.”
Currently Emma is learning what happens at Farm2Fork and building a deeper understanding of its holistic context.
Besides the daily moving of cattle and sheep, other livestock related care, and tending to the goslings, Emma has been armed with a hammer and is busy building mobile chicken pens for the Farm2Fork 100% pasture-raised chickens – ready for your table/freezer at end of September!
She adds: “These will be beyond free-range salad-bar chickens. Unfortunately the commercial label ‘Free-range’ and ‘Organic’ chicken certainly does not guarantee the bird will ever leave the barn and go outside, and almost certainly won’t be eating fresh organic greens like ours. We are excited about the nutritional profile of our birds versus other commercial chickens on the market.”
And what next for Emma? We certainly hope she’ll stick around on the farm. “I hope to practice and develop my stockmanship and land stewardship skills and identify how I can best add value to Greenway Farm and Farm2Fork.
“I would like to do my job here on horseback where possible, and also have a working stock dog… let’s see how things shape up…..”
