About

At the heart of Chiltern Livestock is Harry Bishop and Emily South, a passionate, young couple who live and breathe livestock farming.

From a young age, Harry worked alongside his grandfather where he gained considerable knowledge and expertise working with sheep. Wanting to broaden his experience, Harry went to work in both Australia and New Zealand before moving home to the family farm in Oxfordshire.

A proud Yorkshire lass, Emily grew up on her family’s farm in the Vale of York. Her father had a large commercial flock until sadly it was culled during the Foot-and-Mouth outbreak of 2001.

The Chiltern flock of pedigree Beltex was established by Emily in 2016 when she bought ewes from renowned breeders, Andrew and Becky Bishop and Colin Roots. Unbeknown to Emily at the time, she came away from the Thame Sheep Fair that day with more than the foundation of her new flock. Fate was at work and it was Emily challenging Harry, who had bought much of the stock she had her eye on, that introduced the couple to each other. Over the coming days and weeks, their relationship developed and blossomed into what it is today.

Harry and Emily share their passion for pedigree sheep and together have expanded the Beltex flock whilst developing the Oxford Downs, originally started by Harry’s grandmother, now one of the oldest flocks of the breed.

In February 2020 the couple were privileged to be offered Lesley Weatherburn’s Yeat flock of pedigree Blue Texels which joined the Chiltern Livestock family later that spring.

With the backdrop of a global pandemic, the summer of 2020 saw Harry and Emily begin their journey into pig breeding with a trip to Christopher Bloome’s Pietrain herd in Belgium.

Liking what they saw, the visit resulted in two sows and a boar travelling overseas to make their home in Oxfordshire and form the foundations of the Chiltern herd. Later that year a return visit saw the arrival of four more gilts from the same herd.

Showing has, from the beginning, been an integral part of what Chiltern Livestock have done. Sadly, Covid-19 forced the cancellation of all shows in 2020, but it is something the couple look forward to resuming as soon as it is allowed.

As well as the Pietrain herd and pedigree sheep flocks; breeding MV recipients, teaser tups and the commercial flock are all important parts of the business. Meanwhile, Harry and Emily continue their commitment to providing a contract shepherding service to local farmers.