Rob Hodgkins
2025
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.
My Sessions
Alternative protein: opportunity, threat or both?
Tom Cackett
Dr Phil Howell
Bibi Rodgers Hunt
Rob Hodgkins
The ‘alternative protein’ sector covers plant-based protein, cultured meat, precision fermentation and other sources. It claims to be more sustainable than meat/dairy/egg production, with a generational and demographic dietary shift towards alternative proteins already beginning. A high proportion of UK farmland is currently used for either forage or feed production, so any significant reduction in […]