Community & Business
18 February, 2025
Home-grown pigs in demand
FROM growing pigs for family and close friends to servicing customers all over Far North Queensland, the seemingly inescapable birth of Hillbillie Hogs has sent owner Kathy Rowling on a purpose-driven journey.
Kathy is the founder and sole operator of the farrow-to-finisher operation of free-range pigs in Dimbulah.
She has two boars and a small number of sows that regularly breed to produce piglets that are grown for market.
She is no stranger to pigs. Kathy and her family used to raise their own for eating and when they stopped doing so one year, she tried her luck with store-bought pork. It was “that bloody terrible” she didn’t eat pork for about three years.
In 2020 she decided to buy some pigs from a farmer she knew had good stock, with the aim of once again supplying quality pork for her family and selling off some weaner pigs to help pay for the feed bill.
She started off with just two sows and a boar. After the first few litters some friends asked if she could grow some pigs for them, and then a few more friends asked, and then a few more, until Kathy’s hobby had quickly “snowballed” into Hillbillie Hogs.
“It turned into Hillbillie Hogs because the customer demand was right there from the get-go,” she said.
“You’ve just got to love it, otherwise it would probably suck as a job,” she laughed. “But I love that I get to stay home on the farm, that’s the main thing.
“I enjoy handpicking my breeding sows, getting to see the piglets be born and it being up to me how well they grow.
“It’s definitely not a plain process, so you’re learning new things every day.”
