lost a third of their herd to TB, and the price of milk
wa s on t he f loor. Bot h sons wa nted to fa r m but were
out contracting for other people. Their business was
devastated. They’ve now got 400 pigs for us, they’ve
raised 200 lambs and 500 turkeys. The farm is thriving
and both boys are back at home looking after their
land. You need the young people to come in. Animal
welfare is important, but community and people
welfare is, too.”
Almost all their meat is now sold via their website
because Peter and Henri prefer dealing with
customers direct. They hang the meat, cut it when it’s
ready and blast freeze it. When somebody brings it out
of their freezer they’re eating perfectly hung meat.
“We are all about convenience,” says Peter. “If you
hang meat, it goes much further because you lose the
moisture. A kilo of our beef mince will feed a lot more
than a kilo of meat cut straight off the bone. It’s more
filling, it doesn’t shrink, there’s not too much fat in it.
When people eat our meat, I want them to think ‘wow’,
otherwise what a waste of effort.”
Pipers isn’t a certified organic farm but they follow
organic principles and believe that minimum input is
just a s impor ta nt a s org a n ic. “The abbatoir we use
is very important to us – ours is small, local and run
by skilled artisans. It’s the main reason why we’re
not organic, but it reduces stress for the animals and
gives us control,” says Henri, who clearly loves her
animals. “Look how silky they are,” she says, while
peeping inside a pig arc to watch a Wessex Saddleback
PHOTOGRAPHY: MATT AUSTINsow feeding her litter.
1976 Peter and Henri get together in
their first year at college
1979 Peter goes to Australia ‘to do
what a man’s got to do’. After a
year he convinces Henri to join him
1981 The couple marries in Henri’s
home town in Buckinghamshire
1989 They buy the Devon farm and
Pipers begins
1995 Pipers named Best Butcher in
Henrietta Green’sFood Lovers’
Guide to Britain
2005 The online shop launches
2010 Pipers open their doors for the
BBCKill it, Cook it, Eat itseries
2018 Pipers pick up four awards and
a Golden Fork (given to the
biggest winners) at the Great
TasteAwards2018MEAT THE PIPERS
The Peter & Henri CVTRUE PARTNERSHIP
Both Peter and Henri have absolute belief in what
they’re doing. “Farming is challenging,” says Peter.
“But if you have conviction, it carries you through the
difficult times. And by golly you need it.” The couple
are quick to praise each other’s qualities. “Peter is very
much a visionary,” says Henri. “And I’m a details
person.” A nd Hen r i? “She br ing s a n a ma zing
ing redient to our fa m ily life,” adds Peter. “ We’ve
worked ridiculously hard but she’s never lost sight of
the most important things – people and family.”
Henri says she didn’t expect their boys to come
home and farm, but Will did return in 2009 to run the
business side of things. “The great thing is that we’ve
taken it to a certain place and he (and his girlfriend
Abby, who does the marketing) have the vision to take
it forwards.”
Life at Pipers Farm is incredibly busy and their “crazy
days are never the same,” says Henri. “Yesterday I was
helping in the cutting room, we’d just got back from a
food festival and were planning for another. Later
we’re off to Exmoor, to the farms where our sheep
grow, to buy the lambs. We’re also meeting a new family
who might start growing for us.” It’s an exhausting
schedule and Peter admits they have had “ridiculously
little sleep” recently, but you can tell they’re fizzing
and this passion will keep them going forwards. “For
25 years we swam against the tide,” says Henri. “And
now the tide has turned and people are realising that
what they eat affects their health.” As she dashes off to
help with an order she says, “We just want to keep
growing, keep getting new farmers on board and new
customers. There is a strong desire amongst young
people to grow food and we can help get them there.”
Peter nods. “It’s what we set out to do 30 years ago,
and we feel really...what’s the word...chuffed.”
Their shop, plus more about their story, is online at
pipersfarm.com.Peter, left, with a ‘properly
free range’ chick; and
below, with Abby, strolling
the farm’s hedged
perimeter, which provides
“a corridor for wildlife”LIVING (^) | WISDOM