When Kathy Rowling decided to breed free range pigs on her property at Dimbulah, west of Mareeba, it was to fill the freezer and share great-tasting pork with close family and friends.
Never in her wildest dreams did the mother-of-two imagine the small-scale venture would result in a flourishing farrow to finish free-range pig operation.
Yet here she is, three years on, having more than doubled her breeder sow numbers to meet roaring demand for Hillbillie Hogs finisher pigs.
The rise of Hillbillie Hogs has taken Mrs Rowling by surprise but spend a few hours with her and you learn very quickly why the boutique operation is doing so well.
Having been raised on the land among cattle and horses, Mrs Rowling is comfortable in the farm environment - she also grows Tahitian limes - but she's the first to admit the foray into pig breeding has come with a steep learning curve.
The pigs roam freely, are handled daily, come when they are called and look the picture of health. Mrs Rowling runs a closed operation and follows strict biosecurity protocols including electric exclusion fencing to keep unwanted visitors at bay.
She started with a boar and two sows in 2020.
Last year, Mrs Rowling had five breeder sows and turned off 32 whole Christmas pigs to clients all over north and northwest Queensland - turning just as many customers away.
This year, she has expanded the breeding herd to 12 sows in preparation for further growth.
The piglets are weaned at eight weeks and grown out to 16 weeks at 60kg dressed weight, before heading to market.
Choosing a breed that could handle the extremities of Dimbulah's climate - frosty cold winters and searing hot summers - was critical, and played a big part in Mrs Rowling's decision to try her hand at breeding the optimum pig for her environment.
After some trial and error, Mrs Rowling thinks she's found the ideal breed - a mixture of Durack, Berkshire, Large White and a splash of Large Black.
As a one-woman show (husband Brian works off-farm), temperament is key - not only for the safe maintenance of the pigs but the quality of the pork that is produced.
Mrs Rowling runs a closed herd, buying in boars for the breeding herd and retaining replacement sows.
"I like the boar to have a good ham, and have strong hindquarters," she said. "I prefer board shoulders because they need to carry weight as they get older, and have a good temperament.
"I need my sows to have a natural mothering instincts and good temperament because they are in the paddock; they can't be cranky.
"Every pig gets handled every day.
"The piglets are so use to human contact - they follow me up the laneway to the weaner paddock, or to open the gate. We have creep feeders in the paddocks so they are use to human contact.
"If they stress, they don't eat and they don't grow - they need to be stress-free the whole time."
The pigs are fed a ration specially formulated by a local feedstock supplier.
"It's a myth that pigs can live on grass and forage alone," Mrs Rowling said.
"You end up with a scrawny pig that grows slowly and you can't turn them off to make money.
"The most important time of a pig's life is the first eight weeks - if they don't get good nutrition in the first eight weeks, your pig doesn't grow well.
"I feed them morning and night so I see them a minimum of twice a day - it's only 16 weeks to finishing, that's your window. I need to see them every day to monitor growth rates."
Customers are added to a list, and once finisher pigs become available the customer chooses their own butcher, with Mrs Rowling arranging transport to a local abattoir.
Most of Hillbille Hogs finisher pigs are sold direct to customers, however, she has an arrangement to supply pork to Dimbulah Butchery several times a year, and is in negotiation with two other Tableland butchers shops.
The demand has been incredible, which Mrs Rowling attributes to the taste of the pork.
"My customers want to eat a pig like they use to grow," she said. "A lot of my customers come from properties where they don't have the time or staff they use to, to be able raise their own pigs but they still want to be able to eat good tasting, free-range pork."
When time is available, Mrs Rowling makes soap - Lard Arse Soap and Hog Wash - from the pig fat.
While she never envisaged she'd be a pig farmer, it's a title she is happy to wear.
