From engineering, Rob returned to his Sussex family farm, introducing NZ elite sheep genetics with the help of a 2012 Nuffield Scholarship where he met his partner, Jo. They set up ‘Kaiapoi’ as Hertfordshire tenant farmers, with 2200 Romney ewes across 800 acres of semi-improved grassland and solar panels, and milking 300 dairy cross ewes. With their landlord taking up SFI schemes, their arable area has shrunk from 2000 to just 800 acres, so Rob and Jo will soon be starting again in France.