R2Kast - People in Food and Farming: Recent Episodes
Wallace Currie
Brought to you from Rural2Kitchen. The podcast where agricultural minds open up. Sponsored by the Scottish Farmer. Follow us on all platforms here - https://linktr.ee/rural2kitchen To get in touch email rural2kitchen@gmail.com
Today Ed and I welcomed another live podcast to the Howden stand! This time in Scotland at the Royal Highland Show!
We were welcomed by Andy Frazier, Liz Haines and Rob Waiwright to talk new books, neurodiversity and playing for the Lions!
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Agroforestry, community farming and chasing the olympics?
Today we have our second episode of the Nuffield alumni podcast! Today is our first scholar on the series!
This man has been integral in making this series happen! David Rose, was born into farming and has shaped his agribusiness around conservation where food security is paramount. The farm is home to various businesses, community groups and more!
David talks about his scholarship in 2001, the topic itself and where it has seen him go since!
Great chat with a true Nuffielder!
Enjoy.
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Veg, tenancies, creating an accepting industry and flooding to the point we need a new name for it!
We welcome Ben Andrews onto the podcast today. Ben tells about 1/3 of his farm being flooded as high as 5 feet in some places for notable periods of the year, the struggles with farm tenancy and the uncertainly that can come with it.
Farming a mixed system of livestock, arable and vegetables in Herefordshire as far as Be. Has been able to date back his family have moved all of one county at max!
Another topic for discussion that really shouldn’t have be as Ben says is the ‘least interesting thing about’ him is the fact he’s gay. Working with many others in the LGBTQIA+ community through Agrespect to create a more accepting industry which is well behind where it should be…as we talk about just look at any Facebook post relating to farming with as much as a couple getting married and see the comments!
A man farming in truly challenging conditions and trying to find solutions!
Enjoy!
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The first of two bonus episodes this week!
Ed, Wallace and Yaz headed down to Malvern to attend the Three Counties Show…the day turned into a gorgeous day and had some fantastic food, drink, livestock and more on show!
We filmed a podcast with three notable figures in the sector in this area, Emma Smith, Ben Andrews and Karl Franklin all of whom you can hear in the R2Kast!
we fought through the noise of the rain which you will hear at one point! Enjoy!
thank you to Howden Rural for the support and hospitality!
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Three bearded men walk into a podcast and find whole dose of craic!…check the spelling!!
Today we welcome Northern Irish brothers with a whole lot of stories behind them!
One, Glen rapidly finding his way in the world of beef genetics with a focus on the Speckled Park (composite breed of Aberdeen Angus, Shorthorn and British White Park) a mere 4 years after leaving the army.
The other, Chris building up his new whiskey (spelled it that was to keep him happy) brand, Dragon Claw, operating a world famous tattoo studio…oh and he won Northern Ireland’s coolest man beating out Jamie Dornan and others. Clearly a dreamboat!
We talk the obvious, as well as the reality of Afghanistan, addiction in various forms, perfectionism, man flu and how to fold a towel!…I also try a NI accent, I’ll let you decide what you think!
Not to be heard if you dislike a hearty dose of profanity but absolutely to be heard if you just fair enjoy a bit of craic!
Enjoy!
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Norfolk horn, farming therapy and an award in the House of Commons
Today we welcome Olivia Shave! Olivia is the person behind ecoewe where she farms and actively pursues methods of rare breed sheep monetisation battling the idea of ‘rare for a reason’.
A columnist, a believer in keeping rural traditions alive and much more!
Olivia speaks about a major trauma that saw struggles for the family and farming has been the main healer!
She’s actively involved in the six inches of soil movement and speaks about the mental and technical impact of the production!
A few weeks back she found herself at the House of Commons picking up the sustainability champion of the year at the inaugural woman in agriculture awards!
Great lady, great story!
Enjoy!
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Boobs, fundraising and inspiration!
Today we welcome a legend in my eyes! Lucy Thornton who has has in her words 42 jobs to date and really has tried everything but had three main loves, animals, teaching and the woods!
Currently working as a lecturer in Wildlife Conservation Management at SRUC Barony where she runs forest school, teaches and is involved in a lot of college activities.
3 years ago she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and chose to document her journey on social media in the most inspiring way! She now finds herself fundraising for CoppaFeel!, a charity in which she plans to walk the Indian Himalayas with!
An utterly AMAZING woman!
Enjoy!
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The Nuffield Alumni Podcast
Today is the start of something new! You have met a lot of the Nuffield scholars on the podcast lately. David Rose, a Nuffield scholar realised there was a lot of excellent stories out there not being told on the basis people had drifted form the Nuffield community and maybe don’t use social media for instance! This is our way of showcasing these people!
With support from Howden Rural I bring you the first episode to introduce both the president on Nuffield UK Rupert Alers-Hankey and Marketing Manager at Howden Rural, Fraser Searle!
A chat to show what’s to come!
Enjoy!
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Falling 20 metres into a coma world records and climbing the Burj Khalifa without ropes!
From one world record chaser in the last episode to someone who holds many!
Today’s guest, Alain Robert from France who now lives in Bali has spent FIFTY years free solo climbing…for those that don’t know what that is it’s climbing rocks and buildings with nothing but yourself, no support and no ropes!
His legacy as he says is on rocks but he has some phenomenal building climbs as well including the tallest building on the planet. He once fell 20m bust everything he has, displacing his wrist to this day and lost 45% of his blood, was in a coma and more. He’s even been declared 65% disabled.
This is a man who breaks boundaries and does it in style…oh and he’s been arrested about 125 times!
Bloody great guy!
Enjoy!
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Shearing, shearing and a world record attempt in shearing!
Sometimes you meet people that do a lot of things and sometimes you meet people that have dedicated their whole life to one thing.
Today’s guests has broken barriers her whole way through life! To this day she is the only woman to have made the coveted Top 30 at the Golden Shears in New Zealand, she spent 8 years on trailers at the start of her career before ever shearing with a woman and is now going for a big one!!
Una Cameron, under the tutelage of Matt Smith is aiming to break the female 9 hour strong wool world record of 458 held by Sacha Bond however Una is after 1000!
She speaks about nutrition, training and all else that has to go into this!
Oh…and did I mention she’s doing this at 51!
Great chat with an amazing woman!
Enjoy!
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Veterinary, Nuffield and…Farming in Qatar?!
Todays guest, Miranda Timmerman is someone I’ve followed for a while as miranda_vet however never actually realised she was a Nuffield scholar until I sat and listened to to her topic on gastrointestinal parasite management at last years conference!
Not only was the topic very interesting but also a stand out from a presentation perspective (my favourite part)! Miranda has travelled a lot both with work and recreationally!
Nothing quite like where she finds herself now, working alongside her husband at Baladna Farm which produces all of the dairy product in Qatar after a dispute with Saudi Arabia in 2017 that saw dairy products no longer sold to Qatar!
A very interesting chat with someone who just always says yes!
Enjoy!
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4-H, dancing, Tanzania and…Banana bread?
Ever meet someone and just get on straight away? That was myself and today’s guest and I’m quite certain she’ll have that impact on most!
Maddy Bretey-Smith from Iowa in the states was one of the American team in Tanzania that we spent a week with last year!
She has been in 4H her entire life and now as a staff member leads a team that she once saw as the peak to be involved in, she joined as a member and now is overseeing global integration and much more!
A great person advocating a phenomenal youth development group! She also loves cats so what more could you ask for?
Enjoy!
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Getting into farming, calf rearing and millions of views!
Our guest today, Josie Eccles studied at SRUC Barony and studied during the online Covid environment!
Josie doesn’t come from farming and after studying animal care noticed agriculture was where her heart was! So the door knocking began and phoning people just asking for a chance now here she is choosing the clients she reads calves for all the while sharing the trials and tribulations in the most entertaining way on TikTok as weejosie2.0!
Great advocate for the sector that brings in people from outside the sector!
Enjoy!
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Cow calf contact, horse racing and…judging in the UAE!
Today’s guest has been a target in the pod for a while! Anna Bowen is a Nuffield scholar who looked originally at the practise of killing bull calves. She was a COVID scholar and there for things got delayed, the practise her topic was based on was (finally) outlawed and she made a shift to cow calf contact.
You can see Anna thinking outside of the box as she goes, putting herself in the mind of a calf and her transferable skills from the equine industry is very interesting!
I’m always open to hearing everything, hence this podcast but only on 2 or 3 occasions have I so quickly considered my opinion like I did in this episode….you’ll have to listen to why!
Thank you for making me and most likely the listeners think differently!
Enjoy!
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Vet nursing, vet medicine and working 13 hours a day round uni!
I speak to a lot of people, some people shine for their ability to overcome challenges, some a job I’ve never heard of or heard much about and some just inspire you for so many reasons! That last one is the story of today’s guest, Leah Griffiths!
Leah, like many other teens wanted to be a vet and didn’t quite get what was required and pursued vet nursing which she enjoyed but realise large animal was her passion, she then got a job calf rearing while vet nursing and started to think “I’m going to go for vet medicine”. She applied without telling anyone and is now a couple of exams away from finishing first year!
You hear so many people who want to be a vet that don’t make it and the dream stays a dream! Leah is one of the few who did the work to make it a soon to be reality! One of the nicest ‘where do you see yourself in 5 years’ we’ve had!
We speak about that challenge of missing potentially good vets due to grades too!
Great episode with an inspiring young lady!
Enjoy!
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Almost 2 million followers, travelling the world with hoof trimming and the best beard on this call!
First off…200 episodes! Well it’s actually 207 because of bonus but that’s not got the same ring to it! The networking tool, source of much hilarity, education, reality and feeling of being part of something this has all offered me is insane so for every person that never misses an episode, those of you who have only listened to one you’re all stars!…especially to the one person from Singapore who has listened since about episode 3!
Today’s guest, Ant Thomas is a hoof trimmer who posts what he’s up to as Keeping Cows Moovin has carved (is that a pun) a career not just technically but backed up by content creation.
Genuinely we’ve spoken for more than a year and never managed to make this happen! I’m so glad we did!
Enjoy!
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Quiz today on general knowledge, music, science, the month of May and a fun last round a wee bit different from the norm!
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Fixing a politically engrained issue in Canada and living -40!
Night 2 in Brazil I jumped in the pool again on my own when everyone was bored of it…as it felt like nothing short of warm tea I decided to jump out and heard someone shout “hey Wallace” and I instant recognised the person as the 2024 Nuffield Scholar with hands down the coolest title!
Tatum who works in credit is from an indigenous population in north Battleford, Saskatchewan! She is aiming to look at the resurgence of indigenous people in agriculture…let me tell you the barriers people have faced purely based on their origin is insane and not too much of a distant memory yet!
You can also tune in for my most embarrassing story yet in the first few minutes!
A pretty bloody inspiring episode with my Canadian mother in Brazil!😂
Enjoy!
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Born in Malta, raised in Sudan and buying fat cattle in St Boswell!
That may have started sounding like a Royal Navy apprenticeships advert but it’s not 😂
I’ve always been an avid believer that as good as I can be in a classroom there is only so much experience I can have and to pass on experience and knowledge from a vast vault is so rich in merit. With this we put on an industry day where we bring in people from the sector to talk about the depth and breadth of it and Louise has always been brilliant!
Louise Forsyth, part of the team at Forsyth’s butchers truly has such a cool background and now has dedicated her life to buying prime cattle for the butchery!
The most all over story we’ve had in (apart from Gunnar Garfors) and with a true advocate of the sector!
Enjoy!
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Enjoy the weekly R2Kast Quiz!
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A stroke in her 20s, revitalising cider and one of the Mumford and sons?
To conclude what has been a remarkably enjoyable series interviewing the full 2024 cohort of UK Nuffield scholars we welcome Polly Hilton onto the podcast.
Polly, who’s behind find and foster fine cider noticed orchards had lost the respect and utilisation they once had experienced and wanted to try change that.
During the process of building a client base and finding orchards to work with she suffered a stroke and to see what Polly has achieved since then is nothing short of inspiring!
She’s now embarking on her Nuffield journey to look into the topic she started her now thriving business on!
A great chat with truly one of the world’s sweetest souls!
Enjoy!
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Harper Adams, Motivation and…Vices?
Today’s guest, Alex Hardie and I spoke years ago (both new to our current roles in education) we started having a chat a few weeks ago again.
I expected us to talk about his role as business development manager but we barely did! We had a brief chat about Harper, I invited myself there, I convinced Alex to do a Nuffield Scholarship and that was about that.
Where this podcast shines, along with the episode with Neil Barrett is we just opened up! We spoke about what motivates us, what wakes us up in the morning and also the struggles with challenges throughout life!
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Research, regeneration and…cattle cubicles of compost??
Jamie Jack and I had a chat a few weeks ago and instantly I thought he’d be class for the podcast! Originally not from farming he wanted to go into video game design with naturally had me interested!
He soon realised that wasn’t his career and gave farming a go before studying at SRUC. This was followed by research, a job that turned out not being what it was advertised for but as a stockman role which he loved and now finds himself working for pasture for life 4 times a week and farming compost one day!
Very interesting chat with someone ticking the boxes for the reason I started these interviews!
Enjoy!
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Lions, Elephants and Saving the Planet
Tonight’s guest has dedicated his life to wildlife conservation mainly based in Africa but also to further reaches of the globe.
Born in Zimbabwe, staying in South Africa Ivan Carter is somewhat of a Steve Irwin of Africa. Not only conserving but also researching the topic as well Ivan is a well known TV and now social media personality sharing all things conservation.
Amazing chat with a very inspirational man.
Enjoy!
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For each well of my travels I intend on releasing a wee update of what’s been happening.
This one covers travelling from Holland to Switzerland and then my week in Switzerland!
Enjoy
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For each week of my travels I intend on releasing a wee update of what’s been happening?
This covers my amazing week in the Netherlands and also the stuff that went bad in Brazil!
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Grain, journalism, hunting and…ecology?
Today’s guest, who if I released video you’d realise is my Canadian double! Matt McIntosh (yes he mentioned his strong ties to here) from a grain farm in Canada works as an agricultural journalist primarily and his goal is to shift that in the other direction with farming being his main income.
He is very aware of issues that could prove damaging to agroecology in his county and is carrying out a Nuffield scholarship to look into why and how it can be fixed!
Really enjoyable chat with a lovely guy!
Enjoy!
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Nuffield, psychology and a retirement plan of…a pilot licence and a PhD!
If that doesn’t make you want to listen I don’t know what will!
You’ll notice I’ve had a lot of Nuffield scholars on lately and every single one of them has been impacted by today’s guest.
Wyn Owen, an 1998 Nuffield scholar (as he says you could do them when you were 12 back then) from a peaty upland farm in wales left applying for Nuffield until the second last year he could and it changed his life.
Operating as a mentoring and leadership coach that works with high performing individuals around the country he truly believes that without Nuffield none of this would have happened.
A great man, a great story and someone who after 6 short months of having met I truly look up to!
Enjoy!
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Let me know what you think of this! I love quizzes and thought why not make one!?
I can’t bring myself to call it the R2Kwuiz!
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Can you farm carbon?
A question posed by 2022 Nuffield scholar, Ben Hunt! When I hear it I immediately in the current world consider carbon a commodity in that question. This was the same for Ben when he started out but as his travels progressed he started to consider carbon the resource with an after thought as a commodity!
Ben is an agronomist, he’s worked for British sugar, worked in Canada and New Zealand and much more!
This is a discussion with two main themes, 1 the title ‘can you farm carbon?’ as well as the navigation of the waters on the way to farming for himself!
Great chat with someone I really enjoyed hearing them think before they answer!
Enjoy!
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Coos, House of Commons and a fight with Robert Mugabe
Today we welcome one of those episodes I have less than no idea about someone’s sector!
Neil Parish, who at heart is a farmer who grew tired of his father complaining about policy and taking little action. So he did.
After about 15 years in council Neil had a shot at contesting Torfaen, a safe labour seat which he lost by 24.5k votes…after that things started to go in his favour working his way up to European Parliament!
I’d try explain the journey but feel Neil will go a better job than me so just listen in!
A great chat with a man, who at 67 is still keen for another craic at the whip (not a political pun) of policy still!
Enjoy!
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For each week of my travels through Nuffield I intend on releasing a wee update of what’s been happening!
This one is the pre-CSC in London followed by the first few days in Brazil…before it all went wrong!
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Diversity, pigs and fatherhood!
Back in July 2021 I phoned a guy called Flavian who I’d heard talk about casual racism in farming and spoke for about 2 hours on the phone and then released a ‘people in farming’ essay… a few months after he was on the podcast and now 3 years on it’s time for an update!
He’s now a dad primarily, has his own farm with his partner, Nic, various diversifications and so much on the go!
Great chat with a proper pioneer!
Enjoy!
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Mobile phones, therapy and…farming?
This was a great chat! It went in a direction I never expected! Dan Smith works with Jamie’s Farm as a farm manager but by extension find himself moulding the futures of teens from poor background! I can’t sell this enough, listen.
Dan is carrying out his Nuffield on how to inspire this generation to care about regeneration!
A deep and amazing discussion with a great guy!
Enjoy!
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One could say this is faultless!
On this episode of the All In series we welcome instant social media success story, Luisa Hendry!
Luisa who from a young age lived all things rocks, whether that was films, TV or the real thing!
Then at a school open day realised you could study it and it’s been her life ever since!
Ed and I were out our depth here but very interesting!!
Tune in for some craic, rocks and of course, tinder chat up lines!
Sorry for the slight technical issue near the end!
Enjoy!
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Farming ladders and mobile milking parlours?
Today’s guest, a day before I was an official Nuffield scholar cemented a mention in my final presentation! Listen to find out why! 😉
Oli Chedgey was brought up on a very small holding! Farming was what he always wanted! Starting with a few sheep having met farmers working as contractor.
Bustling that business up to 600 with someone else running it Oli jumped to dairy, but in a very unconventional sense, with a mobile parlour!
Following on from Michael blanches Nuffield the farming ladder Oli has built on that and is looking to see how people can buy into farming!
Great chat with an amazing business man!
thanks to Howden insurance and Scottish Farmer for their support!
Enjoy!
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Cover crops and guarding the queen?
Today I embarrassed myself! Today’s guest is from a farm but after doing a degree in politics, working through the grenadier guards he didn’t originally see himself going back!
With a very business minded brain Toby Simpson came back to the family farm and wanted to implement a regenerative tweak to the farm. Amongst others Toby saw major merits in cover crops which he has focused his Nuffield scholarship on.
Having presented in findings in November it was class to delve deeper…like the tap roots do!
Enjoy!
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Sheep, Semen and Young Farmers
Today we welcome a friend! Always enjoy having a chat with someone I know and learning more than I already did!
Ailish Ross was lucky enough to be graced with my presence in our times at uni! Coming completely not from farming Ailish has carved a career in the sector very quickly!
In 3rd year giving a lambing a go followed by milking pretty quick out of uni Ailish had a job! Embryo transfer and AI were what followed, then the AHDB and then for the last 7 years working with the Texel sheep society currently operating as events and sales cataloguing manager.
In recent weeks she has been chosen as one of the elite NSA Ambassadors.
On top of this, after starting young farmers she has had a rapid progression through the organisation with a lot of success!
Great chat with a great person who’s growing and growing!
Enjoy!
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ONE HUDRED AND EIGHTYYYYY 🎯
Luke Littler really put Darts back on the scene at the turn of the year with his rise to the World Darts Championship Final at 16! Luke currently sits at 31st in the world and sure to rise (he says with no understanding of darts)
Today I (as Ed got stuck in Orkney) sat down with Rab Smith, ex-WORLD NUMBER 4! We’ve had the privilege of picking the minds of some people right at the top of their game, Stevie Nicol, Rose Davies but never someone to reach the dizzying height of, in his words ‘one win away from number 1!’…
The mentality of Rab, 47 years on from his major triumphs in the sport was still there…hadn’t touched a dart in 4 years and I got the chance to play with him…he knew exactly where the Oche was, dart board to the millimetre right height and there was a small wager that you’ll hear in the video…I failed!
A great story with a gentleman who truly reached the top of his profession who welcomed me into his own home!
Thank you to magicmind for their support, check out the website www.magicmind.com/rukitchen20 and use code rukitchen20 for 56% off!…16 double top % that is!!
Enjoy!
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Business, drones and…robots?!
Today we welcome someone who I wrote about during my masters a fair old bit!
Sam Watson-Jones started the Small Robot Company. A business aimed at creating a system where per plant farming can treat a field as a million plants instead of a field. This means less requirements for chemical and fertiliser, just where and when it’s required…think of it as a very specific variable rate technology! This month unfortunately SRC had to go into liquidation with various investors seeing it as being to far ahead of the rest of the market as is.
Sam is now deducting his Nuffield scholarship to per plant precision!
Very interesting chat with someone I’ve been a massive fan of for some time!
Enjoy!
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Looking good!!
I’d like to think most of the time I have an idea of what I’m talking about with a guest but would be fair to say today that was not the case!
As I mentioned during the chat, as I sat here in a triple Tesco get up interviewing the founder and editor in chief of Femme Magazine, Brontë Clare Mitchell! Creating a quarterly magazine aimed at showcasing rural fashion and lifestyle came with stresses though!
We speak what it’s offered Brontë at such a young age, her uni times, fast fashion, Rupert…of course and so much more!
Great chat with an interesting entrepreneur!!
Thank you to Howden Insurance and the Scottish Farmer!
Enjoy!
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Goats, goats and…goats!
In June you may have seen me walk in to the goat tent with RHS TV loudly exclaiming that this was in fact ‘heaven in a tent’…I stand by it! A top 2 animal up there with cats!
Today we bring on a Nuffield scholar who started as an English teacher and after a chat on a plane with her partner, Fraser decided to buy some goats. Obviously at this point it wasn’t time to ditch the full time jobs but there was time!
Fast forward today and with three figures of milking goats Rachel Yarrow of Norton and Yarrow Cheese is trying to find a pasture based goat system that could be implemented large scale here in the UK!
We talk tenancies, getting into farming and so much more…also some goats!!
A great chat with a goat nerd!
Thanks to Howden rural and Scottish farmer for their support!
Enjoy!
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Marbles? Marbling?
Today we welcome Gwion Parry! Gwion has been successful in a Nuffield application this year with a focus on a grading system for meat that allows the UK to tell the consumer what to expect as opposed to the outdated fat class and EUROP Scale!
Gwion ‘studied’ at Aberystwyth university before a brilliant time in New Zealand. He then headed home to join the home farm but wanted his own business and found one that leaves him as one of only around 5 in the country. He scans cattle for far depth and marbling, a techniques used heavily in stabilisers which Gwion runs at home. It’s now branching out into other breeds too!
He’s got a few flights awaiting him and I look forward to following!
Thanks to Howden rural and the Scottish farmer for their support!
Enjoy!
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What’s the difference between, you, me and the next person?
The answer that question could be a few things but class in society isn’t one of them. Our guest today is an utter saint of this sector…and literally and OBE (as of this week).
Navaratnam Partheeban, or Theeb is a vet…by the way listen to the name change tradition in Theeb’s culture (Tamil), it’s really cool and also leads to a lovely lineage!
Sorry, he’s a vet…he’s a Nuffield scholar, he’s an OBE, he’s a lecturer but there’s still something even more impressive about this man.
Partheeban was victim of negative racial comments from a client before said client was sided with by his manager and he knew it was time to leave and also change the industry from within which he has done.
Co-founder of the British Veterinary Ethnicity and Diversity Society, a Nuffield scholarship carried out researching diversity in the sector and a new curriculum about to get read out through all vet and agriculture institutions it’s fair to say this man, unlike some is completely deserving of that OBE title.
A chat with a gentleman changing the world one step at a time.
Thanks to Howden Rural and Scottish farmer for their countries support!
Enjoy
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As this podcast started a second series aiming to showcase anyone with one rule, no ties to food or farming I expected roughly where that would go given Ed and I’s interest…sport and travel! Which in fairness it has almost been exclusively!
Today we bring on a PROPER thrill seeker, seeking a thrill that not only has the potential to be but proven lethal at times…that goes today is Ricky Forbes, someone who knew wanted a career of thrill or adventure, ex-host of Tornado Hunters, motivation and all round sound Canadian!
Trust me, this is FULL of INSANE stories!
When we filmed this it was during that cold snap here in the UK, I said to Ricky ‘sorry we’re late mate, it’s a bit cold here’ failing to mention it was -3…before he said ‘not a problem my man, we’re the same here’s…his same was -42 C! Considered my pride well and truly through the digestive tract by now!
I also need to thank Suzette for all the nerdy tornado knowledge in this one…Suzette! You even get a mention and shoutout from Ricky!!
Brought to you by magic mind who you can get 56% off with at checkout using the code rukitchen20
Enjoy!
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A PhD, farming 200000 hectares and saving lives.
Do you ever get the feeling you’re just meant to meet someone?! I got that sort of initial feeling the second I shook today’s guests hand!
Today we welcome Keith Dawson onto the podcast! Normally when someone has a PhD that’s a pretty big thing but we barely mention it in today’s episode! Keith was an environmental scientist in agriculture WELL before it was cool and has been involved in various projects over the years.
His most notable are establishing farming businesses in Poland and Ukraine consolidating rentals from thousands of landlords to ultimately farm around 200000 hectares in the west of Ukraine alongside his partners. After a few successful years there and various careers given to numbers of households in the country they changed the plan. They decided to farm much less (few thousand hectares) of potatoes aimed at crisping and those that don’t for start production!
That’s still not the best thing about Keith though! He’s been instrumental in the pick ups for peace charity and it just seems like his whole purpose now sending pick ups across the continent to Lviv to literally save lives…but hear that for yourselves here!
A great episode with a great man that I have spoken to for hours on end back in October on the P4P mission out to a wonderful city.
Thanks to Howden Rural and Scottish Farmer for their continued support!
Enjoy…and support if you can!
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The first ever for the R2Kast
We’ve had people like Claire Taylor, Alec Pirie and Christine Cuthbertson who have appeared on two episodes (one as an individual and one on the group series) or even Jane Strawhorn who has appeared in an individual episode, group podcast and even and extra for our group who went to Africa!
Today’s guest finds herself as the only one to appear on two episodes both times as an individual!
Sophie Gregory came into farming from accountancy and has properly grabbed the bull by the horns! Running her own organic farm alongside her partner, being on the arla board or her new Nuffield application success she has done a phenomenal amount! Great guest for the one to open the potential for repeat episodes on the R2kast!
Check out episode 108 before this one to hear her whole story!
Enjoy!
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Deer, calves and…flowers?!
Today’s guest, Laura Awdry grew up on a deer farm in New Zealand. She then decided to travel to the UK for a couple years before meeting her now husband and they found themselves expecting!
Throwing herself into the deep end at her partner, Sam’s farm she started her calf rearing business with a hundred calves in a rented shed from her father in law which in his words he ‘thought he’d have it back in a year’…16 years on Laura rears 600.
Along with Sam and the kids they have now started a Duchy tenancy only moving in this year with a pretty impressive system on the go aiming at cutting costs.
Laura is carrying her Nuffield out looking at sustainability and profitability of the dairy beef sector!
Enjoy!
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I have filmed…well 170 episodes and to me this is the wildest!
Our guest today is not only an ESPN pundit, he’s not only an ex-NEW England Revolution manager of 10 years in the MLS but he’s also a European cup winner who played for a decade in ‘that’ Liverpool team.
Barcelona around 2010, Real Madrid in the late 50s, maybe even AC Milan around 1990 but few top the Liverpool of the late 70s into 80s.
Stevie Nicol was the right back for a fair chunk of the 80s lifting the division 1 title 4 times, the FA Cup thrice, European cup once and representing Scotland including one trip to the World Cup!
He made the PFA team of the year and was once voted the PFA Writers footballer of the year before finding success as a manager in the states as well!
A great that with a great guy who truly made the peak of his profession.
Sponsored today by magic mind, thank you for your support, ed and I have enjoyed the product and we want to share it with our listeners! Check it out at www.magicmind.com/rukitchen20 and use our like rukitchen20 for 56% off!
Enjoy.
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Philosophy, accountancy and soil!
Today’s guest has fitted a LOT in!
Coming from a small farm in Yorkshire, Tom Scrope went to uni to study philosophy (I had a wee chat about this with no idea about what was going on) before starting working in accountancy!
At a soil convention Tom came across an academic called Ben and they started a business together, Soil Benchmark! A very interesting data driven business which looks at soil profiling and mapping the country and creating a knowledge transfer area. A lot of this above my head but I found it very interesting!
He’s taken this to Nuffield and plans on looking at knowledge transfer models implemented in all soil affecting/affecting industries!
Great episode with pretty bloody clever guy!
Enjoy!
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Queens, DB5’s and Wheat!
Our guest today grew up on an arable farm and knew it was always for him but has went around the houses before ending up at home!
Jamie stoles studied agriculture because operating as a mediator and consultant between farmers and researchers for the national trust and then the crown estate!
After a while doing this he took over the management of the family 1000ha arable unit with his two cousins!
His addiction to all things cars is the main bane of his bank account’s life but he’s since taken on a Nuffield scholarship looking at vertical farming integration into UK agriculture on a large scale!
Just some good craic this really!
Enjoy!
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Belfast, Cairo and goats in Somerset
Todays guest Cormac White stubbornly decided at about 4 being a vet was his career, and it happened. Some fun at uni before travelling with his career followed!
He found himself after graduating heading to New Zealand and Egypt to practise. Seeing some pretty horrendous things that’s he ‘hopes’ he won’t see again! Eye opening experiences with wonderful people was his explanation of Egypt!
After this he headed back to the UK where he met his now partner and how practises as a farm vet with a focus on small ruminants which led him to consultation on these animals.
Seeing a gap in the market he has taken on a Nuffield scholarship to look at the potential for small ruminant dairy here in the UK with plans to head to Europe, New Zealand and most interestingly, Mongolia!
Great chat with a really good guy!
Enjoy!
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That’s just plane crazy!
Every year I love a look at the Guinness Book of World Records and have done since I was a kid, whether it was Ashrita Furman with what I remember to be over 600 records himself, Robert Wadlow and Sultan Kösen as the tallest people ever and currently respectively or even the weird and wonderful such as the most watermelons smashed by the head by Roberto Rodriguez! It could have been a record conceptualised out of complete stupidity and absurdity or the absolutely peak of human ability…I just loved it all! Today we welcome a guest with 10!
Gunnar Garfors has done 22 US States in 24 hours, 5 contented in 24 hours 19 countries in 24 hours and many more but one sticks out, Gunnar is the first person to go to every country (a feat completed by roughly 200 people)…TWICE (a feat now completed by less people than have been to the moon, THREE.
This podcast is two geography nerds geeking out on the planet with one who has fallen in love with travel in recent months and the other surely THE expert…with Ed bumbling along for the ride!
His current task is writing about living on the equator, Antarctic and Arctic circles! That’ll be up there with Kate Rawles book for me!
Amazing story, a very entertaining hour and an insane connection made!
Enjoy!
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Supply chains the most important link?
Series 4 begins with a fantastic guest and another of our 2024 Nuffield cohort! Thanks for the support last year and let’s top it again this year!
Today we have Amy Stoner who always wanted to work in food in some capacity starting as a teenager she made an interactive business allowing kids to cater their own parties!
After school it was Food Nutrition and Wellbeing and Food Industry Management at BSc and MSc respectively.
Them with the training of a friend to drive up and down a field in the UK it was driving a chaser bin in Australia next before travelling and working with her partner around Australia! They then decided to travel south east Asia for a while before the dreaded ‘stay home and stay safe’ so back to Oz and working on a farm until they flew back to the UK!
Amy now works in raw materials for Samworth Brothers working with salad products for sandwiches to go!
This led her to Nuffield scholarship which will see her investigate ‘UK Food Security: A forward thinking approach to ensure resilient fresh produce supply chains!
Another belter form an inspirational young lady!
Enjoy!
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R2Kast Christmas special!
The roles were reversed for this one where Ed interviewed Wallace about everything that’s been going on in the last few months which is a lot! We spoke about the podcast and what else I’ve been to from charity fundraisers to travelling across 3 continents.
We go into a lot of depth about my life changing trip to Africa and my short trip to Ukraine. Not least before touching on my Nuffield scholarship where we are just getting started!
A fun one to end the year and hope it shows that there’s lots more to come in the new year when season 4 comes!
A massive thank you for all the support across an insane year of podcasting with over 90 episodes being listened to in SEVENTY countries! Mad year! Onto the next!
Hope you had a lovely Christmas and are looking forward to a brilliant new year!
Enjoy!
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From the lowest point at 19 to owning almost 400 cows at 28. Today’s guest, Ifan Roberts came from a farming family, his grandparents and parents operated small dairy farms in wales and he always knew it was for him but just in a much larger scale! After two years of college and around this time his parents divorce which he explains as the lowest point in his life he came out of college hungry. He knew that hunger was for big numbered dairy but didn’t know how. After getting a job on a dairy farm in Leicester of 550 he was getting his start!After a couple years there and a manager leaving he was pushed into that position and in recent years has moved that herd to 1100, almost 400 of which he owns! On that farm, the man who offered the job was now vice president of Nuffield, which is how I know ifan! He will soon be starting his Nuffield scholarship on inspiring dairy entrepreneurs…I mean who better?!?Enjoy!
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Wanna go a cycle?…for 13 months?!A couple of months ago, as a lot of you will know I went to Ukraine with Pick Ups for Peace and spent about 15 hours in a car with a man called Bill! We got on like a house on fire and really got to know each other! We spoke about the podcast and he said his sister would be a good guest…trust me! He was right! Kate Rawles comes on to share her story today which starts with career confusion that took her to the states to study some of her PhD but really what mattered was being near mountains. Places to cycle became a theme for Kate’s life with cycles such as the Rhone valley which she describes as small, Texas to Alaska and her life defining journey of the top of South America to the bottom! That’s quite a feat, eh? Did I mention she stopped off, deep diving into communities and trying to help with environment and humanitarianism at heart!Oh and did I mention she built the bike out of Bamboo!Want to hear more after the episode, check out her book, The Life Cycle, 8000 miles in a bamboo bike and her website, Outdoor Philosophy! I say it every time but I know you will!Enjoy!
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Myanmar you listening? Today’s guest, Hattie McFadzean studied a few modules at uni that guided her into a slightly different path! Having come from a family where both parents were from farming but not farming in Hattie or her brothers lifetime Hattie found a new interest in farming but with focus on sustainability and the climate.In what can only be described as some pretty impressive procrastination as she wrote her dissertation Hattie applied for a job working in Vietnam before being transferred to Burma where she spent two years.Just before the 2020 Burmese coup and a mere 3 days before lockdown Hattie came home which she mentioned was a lucky move!When she came back she now works with Promar as part of their sustainability team and is carrying out her Nuffield scholarship on how dairy farming can place itself better sustainably!Enjoy!
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The greatest word ever developed!That’s a pretty strong title I get but I completely mean it! People with autism, ADHD and Dyslexia amongst others in the past would have been called disabled and now the term neurodiversity has been coined I think it can only ever be a positive change for that demographic! Todays guest, Liz Haines is not only in my Nuffield cohort but also runs a farm, holds a position in the AHDB and much more!Last year liz was diagnosed with ADHD and a lot of things started to make sense. Liz is studying her Nuffield scholarship with a particular focus on neurodiversity in agriculture and I can’t wait to read it!Enjoy!
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Not all those who wander are lost, even those in Wheat, OSR and…Oak trees? One of my favourite things about the podcast is when you get the chance to open up about the career. You normally have heard about most of it but there’s always more to learn! Oak was one of my closest friends for 3 years back in my first three years of my undergraduate! Many a beer was drank, late night studying and much more! He’s travelled the world, driven semis, been in the police and now operates as an agronomist! I very much enjoyed and I’m sure you will too! Enjoy!
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What would you rather, Gillian Anderson filmed you before you even knew, you gave Daniel Radcliffe abdominal thrusts…or both and you get paid for both experiences?!That’s today’s guests story! Chris Jenks was the year above me at school and was always the one that was good at whatever he turned his hands to, school, fitness and in particular drama! That year was known for its thespian ways and chris is not the only one in that small high school year group to make it in this competitive sector but todays episode is about Chris! A mainstay in the beloved sex education, a police DC in Karen Pirie soon to be for a second season and also playing alongside his self professed hero as a kid, Daniel Radcliffe!A mental story, from a lovely guy that’s only 27!!Enjoy!
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What’s your favourite mineral?A question I didn’t expect to be answering on today’s episode! Our guest today is Dr Annie Williams! Normally I bring people on the podcast who have dabbled in a few things, now Annie has but it’s clear to see that she has one passion and she completely embodies ‘mineral nerd’. A job in the topic, followed by a PhD in the field and now carrying out her Nuffield scholarship on the topic! Annie sleeps, breathes and I assume eats minerals! This is an episode for people who like to delve into one topic! Enjoy!
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10 years for £1?Todays guest is one who’s’ story I’ve always been aware of but not him directly! 7 years ago you may of heard of the Great Orme tenancy being made public for the ripe old sum of £1/year! Thousands of applications, one successful family and a bloody good story into the bargain! Dans life seems to be shepherding with nature at heart! The passion is clear and his interest in not only a sustainable business enterprise is inspiring! He’s not over fussed on the carbon side of things compared to that of biodiversity, one I feel we’ve been lacking for some time! And his plans for Nuffield are bloody exciting! You’ll love this, I did!Enjoy!
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Soap, moisturiser and…milk??After pursuing a career in academia to achieve her PhD in biochemistry today’s guest took a change of course!Natalie Hepburn and her partner decided to adopt and Natalie took a step back from full time work! Atkinson this point she realised she could diversify on their small farm and utilise what they had! Most farm diversifications look at utilising people by bring them to you but Natalie’s plan was take a product to them! She looked at various goat based product and is now following a Nuffield scholarship to see how to market farm produce better! Great chat! Enjoy!
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Getting grubby or get in the scrubs?Todays guest openly says his path was always laid out to follow in his fathers footsteps as a doctor! He speaks about spending most of his younger days after school waiting in wards and corridors in hospitals and it was just where he felt comfortable!A few changes for Harry Winslet and he found a fescues for food production with a particular focus on veg.5 years ago he took on a role with G’s Fresh! G’s is a company I’ve been aware of for sometime and in my head envisioned a small place producing high quality lettuce…the high quality part is correct but it’s a 16000 hectare juggernaut spanning two continents and well in excess of 10 countries! Harry developed a keen interest in the utilisation of peat and will be looking into peat use the world over as part of his Nuffield Scholarship! I for one can’t wait to follow the work he does in the coming months!Enjoy!
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Fancy a cuppa?!?Todays guest, Lucy George is welcomed to talk about the transition from leaving a stable job to take on her parents farm and shift it from a relatively conventional horticultural unit in the direction of tea.Where I think of yea being grown is Kuwait, China, India and of course South Wales! Lucy was game for the challenge and has created a well oiled, diversified business that not only produces tea plants but also kombucha! This is properly one of these episodes I feel like I know nothing filming but very interesting!Lucy speaks about her plans to chase a more sustainable tea providing model for the UK by travelling to various places the world over with Nuffield.Enjoy!
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RAVES AND FARMING?!?This is a proper fun one! I love ever podcast I film but this is just a little different! Today we welcome Huw Evans on! Huw from London at 25 along with 2 other 25 year olds decide it was time for a change. With only a dissertation based on agriculture and a keen enjoyment walking around that type of environment as a youngster behind him the three of them put what money they have as well as selling assets to buy a farm in Abergavenny in Monmouthshire.Next they embarked on their journey to create a regenerative farm. With the podcast I have a lot of people seeking this system but very few acknowledge the financial challenges it will bring, Huw and the team did acknowledge that. That self awareness has allowed them to create a separate business to create a financial stability elsewhere to allow the farm business to flourish on its way to profit ability.That separate business? RAVES. They have weekly rave music on varying in genres as well as hosting weddings and other bespoke events in their picturesque location and buildings.You’ll love this!Enjoy!
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Today we welcome another addition of the 2024 Nuffield Scholarship cohort!…I start it by saying welcome back to R2Kast 142…it’s 152!Jock Gibson came from a farm but found himself away from the business before certain events caused him to jump back in. There’s more than just a farm however! Edinvale operates as the home farm utilising grass and forage with minimal extra inputs and MacBeth’s butchers works to try and minimise sending off stock elsewhere to be sold. It’s cuts out the middle process and means they can sell added value to their own customers.Jock saw a potential to explore the aforementioned grass and forage system and will travel around the world with Nuffield to do so! Enjoy!
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When I went for my Nuffield interview I was waiting to go in and spoke VERY briefly to a gentleman with a splendiferous moustache!I was instantly hooked in what he does, we arranged a podcast and pretty rapidly I realised, “Christ it’ll be awkward if one of us isn’t successful!”However, 7 weeks down the line, we both were! Our guest today is David Tavernor! David has worked in buying for various supermarkets and now owns his own insect farming business, Fly2Feed!He speaks about the potential of insects as a protein source for people directly and for livestock feed as well as a fertiliser.His Nuffield scholarship will explore insects as a livestock feed the world over and hopefully be able to implement it back home as well as with his own business! Enjoy!
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A special one for a special number! Next on the pod we have Rose Davies who is an Olympic runner from Newcastle, Australia! Ed met Rose a few weeks ago when she came to Dumfries to see her friends from back in Australia that are currently staying with him to play rugby here. On this All in episode we go into detail on all things running from qualifying for the olympics to travelling the world with running! An incredible story where you can really feel the passion and love for running that rose has and how that’s got her to where she is now! Enjoy!
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Today we welcome someone who is used to success!Jack Young who is a major part of the family business Overton farm, a farm, butchery and coffee shop growing in popularity for some time expedited during covid! Jack is a Carluke YF member and has had a lot of success in the organisation, national champion in tug of war times 2, various other awards and recently was award Mr West Young Farmer of the year alongside Miss Young farmer, Abby Forsyth!On top of this last year he won the agri scot business award! So yeah, a lot on the go! A great episode! Enjoy!!
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Fun day for me this! This episode marks the first of hopefully 23 over the next few months aimed at showcasing this years class of Nuffield Scholars! If you’d like one with me as a guest we’ll get Ed in to interview me! Today for number one we have Saba Erum Amir! Saba moved here late 2000s from India and completed a BSc and MSc in Biotechnology! After this moved onto study a PhD in Poultry Gut Health with a focus on Prebiotics! After that working as a knowledge exchange fellow at Aberystwyth university lead her to read and write around the agricultural sector more than before and developed a keen interest in the dairy sector! Saba will look into the importance of cow calf contact in dairy. Saba sees cow with calf systems as the future of dairy! Listen in to hear if I agree! Great topic and one I look forward to following! More Nuffield scholars to come! Enjoy!
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For episode 147 I was super keen to get a snooker player on! Not knowing anyone to fulfil this I wasn’t sure whether I would manage it. Then when we had Bethany on the pod I told her about the idea and she told us her friends grandmother was one of the first ever female snooker players on the scene! An amazing conversation where we discussed the challenges Hilary faced, not being allowed to play in some places for just being a woman! A fantastic story where Hilary really does show her love for the sport still to this day! Another great listen! Enjoy!
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Today marks the day I’ve released more episodes of the R2Kast in this calendar year than in total before it! It’s almost been going 3 years…If you’re in farming in Scotland you most likely know this guest. Let me try that again.If you’re in farming…young farmers in Scotland you most likely…definitely know this guest. Our guest today, David Mitchell and I went to uni together for our HND. What’s interesting about that is we had completely different experiences in that course, mine mostly positive and David’s mostly the opposite which is extremely useful to hear in my now profession. David is a WORKER, their enterprise portfolio is one to be commended on the home farm and away from that he has found major success in young farmers from an office hearing perspective and also has his name on the illustrious wall, alongside Andrew Neilson as joint winners of the stocks person of the year! A great chat where David helps explain how that process works…which was poorly placed as I required no training as an ex-Lower Nithsdale male members 3rd place stock judging participant!Great chat with a proper agvocate…Enjoy!
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Since R2Kast 113 (32 ago - which is only 4 months btw) I haven’t uploaded video, now the reason for this is MAINLY that dealing with the best part of 10 hours of video a month is a lot, I had iPads, iPhones and my Mac all uploading at once. However I should have made an exception today!! 📱 💻 Todays guest is Katy Tunstall and throughout, as you’ll hear her gorgeous kitten Parnsip was running around and checking everything out! ❤️ 🐈 As much as I loved parsnip it was also an excellent episode and probably one really based on the complete mantra of this podcast. Back in June 2020 someone asked how do you get into farming and that’s essentially where this product came from…Katy is the person to answer this question! ⁉️Katy with a lawyer father and a gym owning mother finds her self making her way with sheep which has reached the stage of a full time shepherd job which unfortunately had to be cut short but she still had her own with her partner and plays an active role in the Hebridean sheep society! 🐑 There’s a lot more to her story that I know you’ll love when you tune in! 🗣️ Enjoy!
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Today we welcome a friend. A friend I’ve only met once but by god it was some weekend!Lower Nithsdale headed down to South Wales in early July for an exchange with Wentwood Young Farmers. That’s when I met Nerys and there was some drama, I got concussed, the group took rafts down the river and much more!Nerys is so much more than that though! She is actively involved in Wales YF, deep involvement with rural youth Europe and European rally!A great story of what young farmers can offer you in Wales!Enjoy!
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Today we welcome superstars. Roger and Richard Nicholson of the much loved Cannon Hall Farm come on to talk about the transition from a difficult start for Roger to employing around 250 staff. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY.Roger was brought up on a farm which had to be sold by ways of compulsory purchase. The full farm sold for £7100…no 0’s on the end there, 7100. They then moved on to another place, Cannon Hall. Unfortunate events meant that, with assistance in paperwork from his mother and some Orr her help from neighbours, Roger took over the place at 16. Cough cough years on and they now operate one of the most successful diversified enterprises in the country with vast arrays of income streams from farming, hospitality, retail to farm tours, social media and television.Also…how cool is this? They have a zoo licence!!!A really great success story as the fourth registered farm park in the UK.Enjoy!
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Todays guest, who has the best Instagram name there is Claire Whittle…or Dr_Dowhittle is a perfect inditement of what is wrong with the acceptance system of vet schools. Claire has managed to break the mould and proved that being that 7 A and advanced higher student at school isn’t the only type of person to make a good vet.Claire’s story starts in retail and now finds her self in her own words trying to get her self out of a job and I genuinely believe she means it! Claire mentions at one point ‘you know those moments that live to define your life and change the way you see the world’…and honestly this podcast was that for me.She’s a Nuffield scholar, a vet, someone recovering from cancer (which we never even got to on camera) and this podcast is SOLELY about regeneration with a 90% focus on dung beetles! You will love this, I promise!Enjoy!
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This podcast has three main sections, a painfully successful start to a career in a male dominated industry, a fitness journey and…a literal near death experience!Bethany who I met at a haunted castle experience 4 years ago seems to be forward for awards consistently and always is knocking down barriers to progress in what is the biggest construction company in the country, Balfour Beatty! She also has set her sights on bodybuilding and was really getting there with stage performances looming, Covid caused an issue at first and then a major challenge came her way!At the start of the year a friend of Bethany’s won a like, tag and share competition on Instagram to head to Base Camp of Everest…I’m entering the wrong ones clearly!!With three months training they headed off and we’re doing fine until Gorakshep (the last town before Base Camp). Try to remember that Gorakshep is still 5100m up! At this stage Bethany started to have some major issues…you’ll have to tune in to find out what! An insane story with someone who hasn’t ruled out an attempt at Everest itself one day! What a gal!Enjoy!
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Much like Friday today I welcome on another friend, this one much newer in John Austin!John, from a dairy farm tenancy in Dumfries talks about the volatility of the milk price, discussing pure vs cross bred cattle for milk and his life away from the farm.He speaks about his November and December taken up by Christmas tree harvest as well as his time in young farmers from Lower Nithsdale chair to D&G chair and convert to Croatia!Fun chat with a great guy!Enjoy!
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Today we welcome on a friend. It’s always fun to talk to someone you know well and still find out more about them! Todays guest I’ve known since 2014 when I went to Ayr to start out my academic career! Louise Paterson from ex-QMS Monitor farm, Hartbush in Amisfield near Dumfries has a fair old story to tell!Whether it’s the exemplar farm she comes from and works on, her new job as a land agent, her young farmers career which has seen her secretary, treasurer, 80th year secretary and much more of Lower Nithsdale as well as not holding the post of Dumfries and Galloway District chair! Another great episode!Enjoy!
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Two hours ago I had sent a total of 7 messages to todays guest and now we’re making sure that we stay in touch after a good bit of craic! Izzi Rainey who studied textiles with a focus on print at Glasgow school of art always had a hankering for cows. You can see her love for cattle throughout as her face lights up with similarity to that of the queen when cows appear at her fancy party thing she had! Izzi lives and breathes art and cows and has created a business out of both of them! On the art side, alongside her friend Lara has created a business almost 10 years old supplying upwards of 50 shops with goods and on the farm side has taken a very sweet token retirement gift from her father of 3 heifers to a notable sum of 75 split between Lincoln red and highlander aiming for beef boxes in the local area! Cher them out @batesmoorfarm on Instagram! As always!Enjoy!
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In the UK we have Greg James, in Norway they have Martin Holmen!Martin and I met in Tanzania and the best way for those of you that know me to describe Martin is this, we were told we were on the same energy level and in truth I think he might even top me! An inspiring story of a kid from Norway becoming a nationally known TV and radio personality who had to run after this podcast to finish his script to introduce the world renowned Oslo Philharmonic!On top of this Martin is the national chair for Norwegian 4H hence our meeting in Tanzania at the global summit!I don’t want to ruin a really important part of this podcast so please listen for the full story but Martin goes quite in depth about the struggles and fears he had heading to a country that is very unaccepting of the LGBTQI+ community as a gay man!Great episode with every emotion!Enjoy!
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Diversifications come in various forms, today we welcome a man who farms full time and is working his way up in the world of comedy!Grant Barr from as mixed a farm as you can get, beef, sheep, dairy and arable…the full shabang recently found himself performing at the fringe but there’s a lot more to his story! Having been involved in young farmers for some time Grant also finds himself chairing the national committee of competitions and events overseeing in his words a group of people that make his job very easy! A fun fact is grant has been a national SAYFC champion…to find out what in you’ll have to listen!Just a fun episode with a couple lads enjoying a bit of craic!Like I did be sure to..Enjoy!
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Over 15 thousand likes in the last week, over 0.2 million followers and a devout following on Facebook live! Figures of a pretty notable account, is it in the states, is it in Australia? No it’s about 2 miles from my flat in Dumfries! Ben best comes on to talk about his families utter juggernaut of a social media presence, Dalscone Farm. They stream for half an hour a day in the farm to the whole planet and have a never ending 24:7 stream in twitch allowing their viewers to follow the stories of their animals.Ben speaks about his dedication to education as well and the importance of promoting the sector!A great episode with another analytical geek which I loved!Enjoy!
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Today I get to share the best episode of the R2Kast to date. That in no way belittles anyone who has been on before, this truly has everything!
For those who follow me on social media you will have seen my travels with 4 other members of SAYFC to Tanzania and Rwanda for a global 4H summit and signing of a partnership between SAYFC and RAYF respectively!
I could say what you’ll expect to hear in this podcast but there’s no point, I advise you to get a cup, a biscuit…or listen when you have time to proper take it in. I won’t say the topics but I’ll say what’s involved, a group that felt like a family for a fortnight reminiscing about the extremes of emotion they went through together, happiness, sadness to the point of confusion and so many ‘you had to be there’ stories!
As always, enjoy!
Todays guest is a family friend of ours and seeing her grow as a person since the little girl I remember had been nothing short of inspiring!
Isla found herself wanting to follow in her dads cattle showing footsteps, which she has but on top of that has created a career for herself in the sector at the age of 22!
She ventured to Harper Adams and fell in love with it! Her third year placement was carried out with McDonald’s and what an experience she had.
She had also travelled to Australia and New Zealand and currently finds herself in the running or the national agriculture student of the year award!
Good luck with the award next month isla and enjoy your new graduation position with ABP!
Enjoy!
8 years ago this week the McMaster family based on the Southend of the Isle of Arran held their inaugural stock judging, a bit of fun aimed at showcasing their Texel flock prior to tup sales.
This also marked the first official event that Arran Young Farmers. This was a club that I made a point of starting along with a few others from the island, acted as chair, and a few other jobs to get it going and unfortunately over time the club stopped operating after what was a good few years. Due to Arran being home for me I assumed that was it for me and YF…little did I know I’d find home again!
After speaking at a couple of events for the local club Lower Nithsdale I knew it was time to go back and I feel like part of the family straight away!
Today we start a series that could literally take years to complete! I would like to have every SAYFC club in the podcast, so if you’d like your club to be involved, get in touch!
There was only one place I was starting though, in this episode, Ross, Joanne, Evan, Tasha, Aileen Molly and for that matter myself speak about what this wonderful club has to offer, what we’re up to (including a fundraiser currently well in excess of 10k) and what’s next given next year is the 80th year!
It’s a belter and I look forward to welcoming your club on!
Enjoy!
I am lucky enough that in the two things in my life that take up the most time, lecturing and podcasting I get to spend time with some amazing minds, I’m surrounded by passion and find myself in an eternal state of pride for the current food system as well as healthy optimism for its future! Today we welcome yet another one of those people that make you think HOW have you fitted this in and that person is John McCulloch! As I moved to the Dumfriesshire area this was a name I always heard, he seemed to be at everything that was anything and as my involvement increases that is more a more right! An ex-Three S’s member, current Stewartry member, acted as their chair 3 times, the current Dumfries and Galloway district vice chair and on top of that finds himself leading up the Agri and Rural Affairs committee as their chair at national level. That’s just some of his SAYFC involvement! Out of that John is a prize winner for his efforts of promoting agriculture, has been a stockperson and now finds himself starting out as a trainee auctioneer with Wallet’s Marts!Amongst showing and many other commitments John us now pretty well established in our sector!I mentioned age at the start, Johns age? 24. Mental.Enjoy!
I get so many inspirational people on this podcast but Heidi was one of those ones you sit back and think HOW HAVE YOU FITTED THIS IN at such a young age! Heidi was very clever at school and that has continued onto vet school! She openly talks about her struggles with eating disorders and I can’t express how positive an episode this is!We speak veterinary training, recovery, strength, fitness, close bereavement which she has put to amazing use as well as working with Tom Pemberton!It’s a great story I don’t want to ruin!Enjoy!!
Today we welcome 3 NFU Scotland regional managers, Holly, Lauren and Sheena operating out of Ayrshire, Argyll and the Islands and Forth and Clyde respectively. NFU operate as our primary union and lobbying organisation for the rural sector in this country. The regional managers act as the main point of contact for members in that area. As well as this the main opinion gatherers to lobby for a better future. We cover these three ladies’ pasts, currents and futures. Thank you to A-Plan Rural and The Scottish Farmer for their continued support. Enjoy!
Charlie, who used to be branded as the globe trotting farm girl now Charlie Farms has travelled the world with agriculture and now farms at home on a mixed unit that at the time of recording was having challenges to get harvest started!Charlie is one of those people you listen to and think ‘she’ll give anything a go!’ whether that is her placement year which led to further work across the globe (hence the original name), in YF she has sailed through the ranks and acts as her regions chair, or even just the employment of progressive techniques at home!A great episode talking mules, flights, gin and…true crime!Enjoy!
Gemma along with her colleague at Genus talked to our 3rd year students studying Livestock Management Systems as part of their agriculture degree with SRUC. Straight away I knew she would be getting an invite to the podcast!
Gemma left the UK for a period of time after her degree heading for the US and used her dissertation knowledge on embryo transfer on a unit that used the technology. I would say that it's clear Gemma was hooked!
For the last 5 years Gemmas has been with Genus as part of their beef team and will soon be moving onto QMS!
Along with her partner Hamish, they have a farm as well!
One of those stories with someone that is clearly passionate and I don't want to ruin too much a Gemma is an amazing story teller!
Enjoy!
Josh, and his partner Abigail were sick of the London rat race and after seeing a billboard on a bus on the daily commute decided it was time for a change.
One, an artist and the other a mobile application developer they set their sights on Spain, Portugal or Josh's homeland South Africa. Due to circumstance that you will hear in the episode the decision was made to head for Wales where they now operate an enterprise as well as being parents to their wee one, Ada!
The first attempt was organic duck production which had reached a point where a deal was about to be made that would send the business to the next level, then disaster struck...you'll have to listen to find out what!
However the change led them to their new venture, worm farming to sell worms and also worm casts...again to find out what that is you will have to check!
Amazingly honest episode and massive kudos and respect to Josh for that!
Enjoy!
Holly, not from a farming background as a youngster had a fascination with fossils and saw a future in the sector however younger teenage years saw her direction change and the goal was set as being a vet. She chased the dream and caught it after years of weekend, holiday and uni dedication she was qualified.
Holly worked at a few practises and loved the role, almost too much really taking the job home with her, a nice evening read for Holly would be a nice disease case to research. Focussing both on large animal and small she got a comprehensive coverage of business acumen and various species.
During her time as a vet one farmer in particular, Adam asked her on a date, a boundary Holly questioned breaking at first, fast forward to today and they have 2 kids and run an organic 700 cow Friesian x Jersey herd where Holly is in charge of heifer replacements from calves.
She now posts on instagram to promote the sector and show what happens on the ground on farm as Cups.On.Cows!
Enjoy!
From very near Wrexham, Will Evans laid the foundations for people like myself who have found themselves in the agricultural podcasting game. Having the struggles of having to record a Skype call to a landline it's fair to say he had it much harder than we have these days.
Will keeps himself busy running the home farm alongside his wife and father, being chair of the OFC, writes for Farmer's Weekly and much more...oh and did I mention that he has 4 girls to look after as well!...4 future employees? Will's wife Sarah has started a very successful diversification in the form of home grown veg boxes being sold direct and indirect in the local area.
Will was also one of the people on the pitch at that famous pitch invasion vs Notts County a few months back with Wrexham! Some story!
This is a discussion with a man I could learn a lot from as could you! I know I'll be doing what I can to be at the OFC next year.
Enjoy
Matt, otherwise known as thehonestfarmer_ was originally from a farm and found himself following the route of working in drama. One day, in the middle of summer in a script read in a black room he decided that was no longer for him and a change was needed. I did make sure to ask him if he felt the same way stuck in a filed in December but you'll have to listen to find the answer.
Matt, went to Harper Adams and felt like farming was his future, fast forward a few years to now where Matt is 29 works essentially full time on an arable farm, contract keeps stock over winter on said farm, runs his own flock and shears in his 'spare' time.
He talks of his journey to be at one with his own mental health over the years, the struggles and the realisation of the power of actually talking about it.
This, much like episode 99 with Neil Basset is a chat between two guys and we both proper open up and that to me is precious!
Enjoy!
On an exchange Ed and his brother, Tom hosted Duncan and one other from Australia and after a few days together Ed and Duncan became good mates even though they live have the world away from each other. This was their first chat for longer than the odd Snapchat and what a chat it was between the three of them!
Duncan, who it turns out comes from a farm of around 110000 acres but that wasn't the topic of discussion for todays chat!
We were here to chat about the reality of Iraqi deployment, domestic employment and more. I don't want to give much away, I'll leave that to you to listen!
Enjoy!
Sometimes you hit record and can't believe how much someone has done - this is one of them! I simply thought we'd talk pick ups for peace but I found Vince to be one of the most interesting people I have ever spoken to, an inventor, a businessmen, a philanthropist and I think maybe a genius.
He has developed precision tech for ag, he has travelled the world and helped many and now he finds himself involved in an initiative that helps the front line in Ukraine backed by his connection in that his wife is Ukrainian. Listen to the pod to hear the nicest meet cute!
Great story by a great person promoting a phenomenal initiative that I have no signed up for as a driver and will be sure to be on the next mission that time allows for heading to Ukraine.
Enjoy!
Damian, who has worked in finance, sales and owned businesses in those sectors too has had one constant in his life, training dogs.
At 16 he took on his first client and has never looked back…fast forward 30 odd years and he found himself pacing around the room as he paid the world record fee for a dog he hadn’t seen in person! Oh did I mention the dogs he trained were exclusively gun dogs and the dog he broke the world record with was a sheep dog?
At 50 Damian made the plunge to be a new entrant farmer, now almost 2 years on he is selling up and moving to a county away from what has been home his whole life!
We talk mental health, the impacts, both positive and negative of farming and much more…also a bit of whisky chat that I pretended to understand 😂
Enjoy!
Grant and Jacalyn both from farms were in Avondale and Mauchline YF' respectively. At a young age they met at the Highland Show and in Grants words he was in the car home with his mum asking 'can you get a bus to Tarbolton?' - a proper meet cute, eh? They have set up as PT's under the name GJCoaching and hope one day to have a gym on their farm so they don't have to rent the one they currently do in Hamilton. Both compete at fitness competitions and have even competed at the Hyrax world championships against some Love Island competitors..much to Jacalyn happiness...and for that matter Grant's dismay! He did win the farmers carry though so it's a win really! Both play an active role at Grants farm and are involved in Young Farmers which has lead them to create the first Fittest Farmer for SAYFC members in the west region with intentions of making it national in the future. This is just a bit of craic and three people taking the piss out of each other...a personal favourite is during the love island chat I should go on to which Grant says "Oh here comes the camera man onto set"...we can't all look like Greek gods, Grant! Or maybe you can...sign up to GJCoaching now!
Enjoy!
Iona, from a farm in Muirkirk always loved the farm as a kid but as a youngster probably didn't see it in her future!
As she left school her intention was to go into physiotherapy but a last minute change of mind realised who she liked about that potential job was the paediatric side and therefore changed her field of study to primary teaching.
Iona completed her degree at the Dumfries campus of University of Glasgow and flew off to New Zealand for a short break.
On her return she saw a job opening at Dumfries House in Cumnock and now heads up a team as part of the Farming and Rural Skills team there!
Iona tells her story which is fuelled by a strong passion for telling the story of farming to the future of the nation.
Great chat with food, farming and...swans of all things! You'll have to listen to why!
Enjoy
Today we welcome someone who I have followed probably since before the podcast started
Sophie Bell from county Cavan has played a key role in taking the home farm from a conventional suckler system that proved clunky around the full time jobs she and her family have to a contract rearing unit.
Starting with dairy beef they gave transitioned into contract rearing heifers!
On top of this Sophie has a devout following on Instagram and personally I absolutely love her TikTok’s 😂
As mentioned she does also have time for a full time job and Sophie, after her degree start d as a veterinary pharmaceutical tester…that took me about 6 attempts to spell correctly!
Enjoy!
Halfway through this podcast I ask Erin’s age, she’s 20 and what’s she’s done in that time is insane!!
She has won the British young handler with her sheepdog, Moxy as well as the one man and her dog duo at 15 and 16 respectively!
She’s been a student and young farmer NFU ambassador which taught her a lot and in a very Kaleb Cooper-esque moment let her go to London and ride a train!
Oh also Erin runs her home farm of 350 ewes and a dairy calf rearing unit!
The farm is where the original sheep dog trial in 1873 occurred! How cool is that?!
Enjoy!!
In his younger days our guest from today, Ross found himself playing rugby at a good level and football even better. However after his international level volleyball PE teacher noticed how tall he was in his first week of secondary school and Belmont academy his trajectory was marked out!
Ross explains how the volleyball scene works, the opportunities for skill development, international travel and more that it has afforded him as well as his methods of funding what is not quite a sport that pays too well!
He works as a PE teacher, has his own PT community, workitout and a few things in the pipeline!
Enjoy!!
For fans of the All In series that we launched last month a lot of you will know my co host, Ed! For those in the Dumfries farming community I’m sure that is the case also!
I wanted to hear Ed’s story more in depth than we did in the 100th episode!
Ed, from a now dairy farm tells about the transition to beef, arable and dairy, the reasons why and more!
He talks about fitness, his time as Lower Nithsdale YF chairperson, rugby and much more!
Great chat with someone it’s crazy to think is only 21!
Enjoy!
100 years ago this year a group of young people farming in Caithness got together and without realising it kickstarted the largest rural youth group in Scotland!
Fast forward to now and SAYFC offers opportunities that dwarf that of some careers! International travel, professional development, a safe social space and so much more activities, events and experiences!
For some years the running of SAYFC was facilitated by a national council which was essentially a voted on group of members from around the country that required progression through club, district and regional level!
That has recently changed with a restructure based around 6 focussed committees that sees a senior leadership team of the CEO, Penny alongside national chair and vice, Jane and Ally as well as the regional chairs, vices and 6 committee chairs and vices also!
Those 6 committees are Agri and Rural Affairs Communications and Marketing Competitions and Events Development and Wellbeing Finance International Travel
In this call we had myself, Aimée Margrove, Laura McCulloch, Grant Barr, Jane Strawhorn, Ally Brunton and Skye Watson to talk about them and their committees!
What this means is I have now set the challenge of having every club on the podcast so please get in touch! Lower Nithsdale get first dibs! 😉
Enjoy!
15 months ago I was one of Josh and his now wife, Leah’s best men! A gorgeous late March Day in St Andrew’s that won’t be forgotten soon.
About 13 years previous we annoyed the hell out of each other at school and subconsciously because bloody good mates basing out relationship on FIFA, a bit of drama, teenage drinking, being head and vice head boy of the chippy together and most importantly, WWE!
Now, Josh works as a chef and truly has found his calling!
Hear his story of getting to the stage he’s at, his intentions for the future, how to make what he calls ‘simple’ meals and more!!
Enjoy!
I introduce this podcast by saying: ‘For those of you yhat know me I’m pretty good with an axe, todays guest is maybe as good!’
Glen Penlington is the current male Stihl Timbersports British champion! Builder to trade, Glen was always interested in sports, taking part in rugby, golf, cricket and others throughout his early years!
His dad competed in timber sports and therefore him and his sister, Zoe (the current female champion in the same sport) were always around it!
Ed and I proper get into questioning the intricacies of a sport that has always interested me!
Oh and did I mention he was on 2017 worlds strongest man, Eddie Halls YouTube channel showing the big man the ropes…or saws of timbersports!
Good luck to Glen defending his championship on Saturday! Find it on the website!
Today we welcome a good friend of mine into the podcast! John, from a beef and sheep farm in Dalry, Ayrshire always enjoyed working with livestock but didn’t see farming at home in his future.
Veterinary was always the goal and work was required for that! John mentioned that he was clever but by no means didn’t have to try, highers required effort and his firs year of vet school came as a bit of a shock!
Getting through the first year he got into the swing of things in the second and 4 years later was qualified!
A few vet practises followed before settling at his current practise, alongside his partner Chloe at ark vets in Lockerbie!
He tells stories about getting into veterinary, his travels to SE Asia and NZ where he both worked and holidayed!
Always enjoy chatting to someone in or as you ALWAYS learn something about them!
Enjoy!
Todays guest is a well known figure in scottish farming however lives closer to Oslo than Edinburgh!
Born and bred on Bigton Farm on Shetland, Aimee knew her career would involve animals she just didn’t know to what extent exactly…horses, farming or otherwise!
I’m her teens Aimee and her sisters unfortunately lost their father. At the time the decision was made for her eldest sister, mum and grandfather to continue with the farm with assistance from Aimee around her degree which she studied at the Aberdeen campus of SRUC, Craibstone!
During the time Aimee was studying the farm was approached by BBC’s successful This Farming Life offering the family the chance to share their story to the masses in turn showcasing what Shetland and they had to offer!
All of this together saw the farm with the Countryfile Farming Heroes Award in 2018
A story where in Aimee’s words you don’t know how strong you are until being strong is you’re only option…a joy to see a business transpire from uncertainty to the current plans for the future!
Enjoy!
What can you expect to do in 9 years? In some ways, a lot…one that doesn’t spring to mind is become a fountain of knowledge on a subject as diverse as organic dairy farming!
Today we welcome Sophie Gregory onto the podcast, Sophie posts her farming life to instagram under the name farmer_in_training justified by her words “I don’t think you ever become an expert in farming!” however her depth of knowledge with a focus on organicity and regeneration backed up by a loving passion is powerful!
After welcoming her first wee one into the world when she was 18 Sophie took up a career in accountancy to be able to balance parenthood and income. 5 years later her husband wanted to get into dairy farming much to Sophie’s dismay, 9 years on and 10 months off of starting their second 10 year tenancy they run a notably progressive system running Irish Fresian cattle.
Sophie also sits on the board with arla and spends a lot of time working with the cooperative to ensure a better future for their producers or in other words the owners!
When I went to uni, there was a course which looked at management skills and entrepreneurship, this module was taken by more than just the agriculture students, there was also RBM, activity, tourism, and outdoor pursuits. On that activity tourism group there was a lad called Dylan Goodison. We spent an hour or so together on a project and apart from that I barely knew him!Since we left uni, it’s been inspiring, watching Dylan’s travels throughout the globe to 59 countries, including a trip to the top of Kilimanjaro, learning various cultures and religions, and some dangerous stories on the way too!One of the many things I found interesting during this discussion was the parallels I in particular was able to pinpoint between our astronomically different lives! For me Arran was and always will be a home but I knew I had to leave to achieve, what at that point I didn’t fully know but turned out to be creating content both for academia and social media, for Dylan Wexford holds the same emotions and travel was his future. After finding that thing Dylan has sunk everything he has into it, money, time and energy to the point of social sacrifice but with ALMOST no regrets, me the same. The most striking to me was reconvening with that idea of a forever home in Arran and Wexford for myself and Dylan respectively. We both love those places for the supportive upbringing they offered us before openly accepting and assisting in our leaving of it for self betterment. We both love the idea of going back but don’t think it’ll be permanent, certainly for some time.In recent times, Dylan has spent a lot of his travels with his partner Celtia and watching from the sidelines, it has been a pleasure to see them travel together, bring out the best in each other and experience what is currently almost half of the planet.Tonight we welcome Dylan and Celtia to talk about raw global travel field by broadening their understanding of global culture by getting to know small communities the world over by living there and acting as a welcomed member of that community. This isn’t a jump off a plane at an airport, tick that country of the list story…Celtia, studied translating to monetise her tri-lingual ability which had Ed and I feeling inspired yet lazy and questioning the failings of our nation that purely assumes “everyone else will know English”. Translation wasn’t for her but she continued her studies and finds herself carrying out an MSc in Social Policies and a migration Studies!My now favourite couple find themselves for 6 months in Mexico split into 3 2 month stints in different parts with various plans for what’s next!
Rarely does someone need no introduction but Ben is kind of one of them…ESPECIALLY in the rural podcasting game! You may look at me and think my upload schedule is prolific and 106 episodes is crazy…Ben reckons he has uploaded over 500 across all platforms! Over 200 of his original series meet the farmers and hundreds more across his other media businesses! A wealth of knowledge and an interesting mind I could have listened to for hours and I’m sure you’ll feel the same! Enjoy!
Annie, from a dairy farm was always involved in farming whether that was through the home farm or YF. However there seemed to be a theme throughout that cattle nutrition was her thing from day one. Originally she wanted to be a vet however an aversion to science proved problematic throughout her school life…your guess is as good as mine as to why she chose to study animal SCIENCE at SRUC in Edinburgh! Nutrition really caught on here, carrying out her dissertation on dairy nutrition at the Crichton Royal Farm in Dumfries! Basically straight after finishing uni (before her graduation) it was time to travel for Annie, NZ, South America and more was what was next for Annie before coming back to find her career in nutrition where she still is! Great story with someone that should be more confident in her ability!
Today we welcome Ioan Humphreys onto the podcast, you may know him as @that_welsh_farmer or from being all over the telly lately all for the right reasons!As a youngster growing up on a farm, farming didn’t seem to do it for Ioan but circumstances happened and the weight of the farm being in the family since 1908 caused him to make the decision to take over. His vision for the business in no way aligned with its operation at the time and built a 32000 bird ‘Bentley of bird sheds’ shed to start an egg business.We speak about the challenges of the egg sector, the corporate manipulation of public opinion to avoid blame family difficulty and his wee tattoo that’s shows he’s petrified of grass snakes…you coulda chosen a Boa, Ioan but you do you!
Today we welcome Jack Iredale onto the podcast. Jack was born in Scotland and emigrated to New Zealand as a baby. In New Zealand he took up rugby and judo before moving to Australia with his family. His mother, an olympian taught Jack the ways of Judo guiding him to win the Australian Junior Judo Championship in his words 'a couple times I think'. All the while this was going on Jack was playing on other sport and in truth it was the only thing for him, soccer!
He has battled type one diabetes, 3 major ACL injuries and only managing to fully hit the ground running at 20 he has found himself working up from Greenock Morton (the town in which he was born) all the way to Bolton Wanderers a club with a history of legends such as Jay-Jay Okocha and Fernando Hierro, notable premier league pedigree and more. At the time of recording Bolton have just guaranteed their place in the play offs so in the next month Jack may find himself playing in what is commonly regarded as the most intense league on the planet, the English Championship.
A bonus episode with Jane Strawhorn, Colin Mckinnon, Ewan, Emma and Len (this farming life) and Christine Cuthbertson! Sponsored by A-Plan Rural conducted through SAYFC…hence the noice in the back, the tent was busy all day!!
After living in Dumfries for the best part of 2 years and having a podcast for the vast majority of that time I realised there was another ag podcaster in the area and suddenly discovered Farming Funny which has to be one of if not the most popular farming podcast in Scotland! Run by Nick and James who come from the polar opposites of farming, James from the way coast arable and Nick west coast sheep farming have also lived somewhat parallel lives! Meeting in Aberdeen at uni, then trying something different…for Nick sales in London and for James driving tractors he would deem toys in Australia Then both came back to their respective home farms to put their major stamps on things! James putting a fair few generations eggs into a successful biogas themed basket and Nick moving away from the conventional and into easy care sheep! Lots of laughs had, I’d you enjoyed the three of us go and check out farming funny’s episode ‘the influencer’…shut up! I hate it as much as you!
Sometimes record on a podcast is the first one said you realise you’ve underestimated your guest.I read Hannah‘s bio on Instagram what in store! Pretty quick I realised it was more than good! I could try explain but feel a notable journalistic inadequacy so will simply tell you some notable events from her last 10 years! Life changing injury at 16Made the choice of changing career plans at SEVENTEENBeat two cancer’s by 2426?Public speakerOn the telly sometimesOwner of her very own visitor centre to help the disabledTravels the world for charity workAmbassador of 4 animal based charities that she actively contributes toOh and did I mention the fact she has released 19 books, sold 35000 in one 5 hour period, literally doesn’t know how many of her books exist and is a best selling author many times over!TWENTY SIXHear the insanely inspirational story of Hannah Russell here!
A big day for the R2Kast with this being the first episode with 3 digits! In 2 years over 100 episodes we have spoken to 130 people throughout the food and farming sector across 4 continents and now it's time to branch out. The people and groups in food and farming will continue as is but you will start to see 2 extra episodes a month with ANYONE! The only rule is that they have nothing to do with food and farming, the first person has been to 59 countries at 28!
Before that however we need to meet out co-hosts for this series, Ed and Wallace!
Enjoy!
Today we welcome Neil Barrett onto the podcast.
Neil posts, his daily life on Instagram under the account name NJB HoofCare is a hoof trimmer to trade.
He tells his story about hoof trimming, Instagram, previous jobs and his inspiring career but at the heart of it this is a podcast talking about the importance of being at one with your mental health.
Two heavily bearded dudes with a passion for agriculture talking about their lowest points, the methods used to get out and our favourite beard oil! Truly enjoyed it and learned a lot about a topic that we need to know more about, please listen to this one!
As a sector that is required by those lucky enough 3 times a day you would like to think we wouldn’t need to protect ourselves from increasing input costs, only marginally increasing output costs, anti farming propaganda and more however we do!We stand stronger together and that is where the NFU and in Scotland, the NFUS come in!Today we welcome Emy, Penny, Beatrice, Lisa and Sarah into the podcast to tell not on there but the organisations story from 5 very varied perspectives! There’s a hell of a lot more than 5 people in this organisation so if you’d like to hear more I’m sure we can make that happen!
Proper fanboy moment for me! I have been a fan since what turns out to be Karen’s SECOND ever video! I like to think I’m not a stalker but it’s not helping here! Karen posts stories about her fame in County Kerry on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram and by god it’s entertaining!! On top of this she is an area manager of Aldi! Karen talks about how her family ended up there, tragedy and much more! Enjoy!
Rhys was brought up on a small dairy farm in Wales. Always interested in the sector he also was keen on fitness and showed promise as a rugby player. He played semi pro for 10 years but also carried out a degree in rugby coaching! He came home to the farm and started to carry out personal training for a few friends and over time that grew to the points it’s at now. 4 employees including himself, around 240 clients and bricks and mortar expansion on the horizon! He also spoke about his family’s experience with Down’s syndrome which has been entirely positive apart from the way it was dealt with in the hospital. Real thought provoking episode that delved into some deep topics! Enjoy!
80% of businesses are missing out on tax relief worth almost always at least £5k. Today we welcome just the man to help you find out if you’re one! Thorfinn comes from London and has had various businesses himself. Through running these he found funding available for research and development in his business. He now finds himself working for Easy R&D helping others claim what is some cases has been over 100k per annum. That can continue year on year if you continue you carry out eligible practises. It’s also important to mention that your R&D doesn’t strictly have to be successful but prove you are in fact carrying out progressive methods that could better the business for yourself and the sector itself! Check if you’re eligible here - https://assessment.easyrnd.co.uk/sf/85c1b9a3?fpr=wallace88
Couple of days ago we welcomed the lovely Holly Thomson onto the pod!Much like many young folks the country over Holly always wanted to work with horses but unlike many made it a reality! A true hard work pays off story! Holly went to NZ after uni and found herself milking cows albeit the plan was to work with horses but the desire for an equine career was still there! Upon coming back to the UK she started her whirlwind of creating the In The Country magazine, a quarterly rural based high production quality release. COVID brought an end to that but new beginnings for Holly! She then took on a livery yard and is the manager to this day! Also she may or may not have a wee announcement!
Henry Bung, from north west Cameroon talks to us about Fungom Farms, a community group aimed at battling food security in the area. The group are responsible for feeding 370 families across 5 villages in the area. They grow cassava, wheat, palm oil amongst others as well as rearing goats, pigs, cattle and donkeys (for transport). They make honey and bread while operating a completely closed circular economy! Great chat learning about a new culture which is always eye opening and reminds me that as a nation countries like the UK, USA and such may be more economically and demographically developed but we have so much to learn.
Tonight, we welcome the wonderful Justine of rack of glam on instagram onto the podcast! Since leaving school, Justine has tried various careers over the years such as Aupairing throughout Europe, working in health and welfare, a job her kindheartedness was perfect for. However, it does lead to bringing home some of the troubles emotionally, and she realised she had to find something different. On top of this Justine, tried a few qualifications but never found that thing that clicked! As lockdown hit, her and her partner started delivering products from a local butcher shop in the area! Alongside this Justine was diagnosed with ADHD, a diagnosis that brought understanding, relaxation and ability to look forward and work with what she never understood before! Delivering products from the local butcher shop was fun. However, Justine started to find an interest in butchery. Now a couple of years into her career in the sector, you can see her passion and positive outlook shine through! She speaks about the challenges and benefits of being a female in the industry and she was just a joy to speak to throughout!Enjoy!
Today we welcome Louise Penn onto the podcast. Louise found herself travelling the world just before Covid and then decide to come back on the last plane available. Having studied at Newcastle University she wanted to pursue a career in agronomy. Where she now finds herself working full-time, a great story with a really passionate youngster in our sector. Enjoy!
The reason I originally started this podcast was to showcase the various jobs you can find in agriculture today. We have an absolute perfect example of someone who doesn’t come from the sector but has paved her career and what a career it has been. Milly Fyfe comes on the podcast today. Milly has been the CEO of the shorthorn cattle society, she was national chair of the National Federation of Young Farmers, she has been a regional manager of RSABI, otherwise known as the Royal agricultural benevolent Institute with this, she finds herself as a director of the Oxford farm in conference!Believe it or not, we are not quite at what Milly is doing today…everything mentioned so far is in the past. Currently Milly Fyfe is at home with two fantastically name children working on the farm with her husband, on top of this she runs her own PR and marketing company, as well as her own podcast similar to the R2Kast showcasing those in food and farming, “the countryside kitchen meets” and on top of that, a weekly blog showcasing affordable meals that parents can make themselves, “no fuss meals for busy parents”.As always, enjoy!!!
Olly who had contracted in this local area for years decided to start posting some videos on Facebook during Covid that got picked up by some teachers! Since then Olly has seen an exponential growth forced by a prolific upload schedule! Really interesting chat that was filmed on an Instagram live hence the random questions half way through! Enjoy!
QMS are the main assurance scheme in Scotland for promoting Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork. They work the world over to increase exports and make sure Scotland can compete on a global stage!
GRANFER! You’ve probably went onto TikTok and heard a young lady shout GRANFER before her granfer (Cornish papa)shuts down a new TikTok comment! Proper fanboy moment for me with this pod and really interesting to speak to an extremely insightful young mind!!
Sophie, from Manchester grew up with parents who farmed in a few places across the UK. Her mother and father started a good trimming business and after a go at the police Sophie decided to join her dad after her mum left the business! 10 years on and a strong father daughter team they are full time with various clients trimming hoofs all over the area! She has now joined the hood trimming content creation with her Instagram, thefemalehooftrimmer to document it all! You should check it out! Thanks for a great chat Sophie!
Stuart, Rachael and Pauline told about the potentially industry changing funding stream aimed at strengthening rural communities in the south of Scotland and north of England through funding a research aimed direction at the dairy sector! Promising times ahead I’m sure you’ll agree!
Blythe, born in Zimbabwe had to leave at a young age before heading to a farm in Scotland, studying in Scotland and deciding to head back to Zimbabwe on the last flight before the second lockdown closed them! She works in Zim managing a team advising in flower production and acts as an advisor to Blueberry farmers also. On top of this she is involved in trials being carried out on the flowers!…also, what an accent!
If you’ve heard of no dog gardening this is the man who popularised it and brought it to the masses. Charles, from a dairy farm never saw a future in that sector for ethical reasons. Since then he has ventured into crop production on a horticultural scale, been involved in scientific trialing, written 14 books and built up a following across all platforms of over 1 million. Including over 500k on YouTube. A topical chat with a progressive mind…with me trying to not get confused!
Michael, not from farming always knew he wanted in but didn’t know how. After a few jobs getting him a well grounded network in the sector he still wanted to farm himself. One failed tenancy application after another never stopped his dream and now farms his own farm still with plans to evolve. On top of this however he still found time to carry out a Nuffield scholarship, the farming ladder - one in which I advise you read, or at least skim! It’s an engaging read with stories from New Zealand, Australia, India, Cambodia, USA and France. People in these nations tell the points of challenges and benefits of being a first generation farmer there for Michael to bring back to the UK.
You may have seen the Instagram account adventuresofashepherdess and the lady behind that is today’s guest, Bizza! Bizza studied at Cirencester before tackling a season of lambing in Glasgow, Orkney and Iceland! Her day job is as a rural advisor and the rest of the time works on the home farming enterprise which is comprised of a commercial sheep flock, her own Greyface Dartmoor’s, a feed and agricultural store, shoot, fishing and holiday home. That is however still not the MAIN experience that drew me to Bizza. She has spent some time working in South Africa with rhinos and speaks about the potential of rhino horn legalisation. You’re going to want to hear this!
As Jane Craigie Marketing approaches 2 decades in the business it is one of the most recognisable names in the rural sector in Scotland. Jane started the business with the intention of never employing and over the years has built up a marketing business built on grounded morals and has deservingly established a strong long term client network. Oh and you bet there needs to be employees now! Very interesting story with 3 of Scotland’s best Agvocates
Emily, is one of few Quinoa growers on the UK, has a vineyard and grows cereals. Her father and uncle were beef farmers but Emily saw a chance to change and has diversified into two very different crops for the UK. A great story with a forward thinking person.
Ben, is a 4th generation British Alstroemeria grower. It was very interesting to hear his story talking about the business starting in the 30s all the way to today and how the production has stayed the same but the challenges have increased. Ben is at the forefront of fighting for the flower industry with his British Flowers Rock campaign! The team are award winning and it’s an all in great story! Enjoy!
This year RHET Ayrshire and Arran becomes 20. Alec, Christine, Elaine and Willie do a fantastic job to tell the story of the countryside initiative from a breadth of perspectives. RHET, an initiative pushed by our now king connects schools and farms and fills a niche in education the countries youth about where their food comes from. Until recently they had the great displeasure of me as their vice chairperson and it was an honour I didn’t take lightly however due to relocation I had to step hence why the sponsorship of this episode will go to RHET A+A.
A young Rachel Stratton had an avid interest in farming, whether that was lambing, showing or even breeding and in the day of her final school exam decided to fly to Cyprus to experience a new country. Then after a few more travels and a trip back home Rachel really started seeking a career in the sector. Her travels have taken her to 20 nations, soon to be 21 including Germany, Italy, New Zealand and her current (most of the time) residence, Norway! A great podcast for anyone considering travelling to know what problems can be faced and how to take them on!
Luke comes from farming but quickly established a self-made career in the sector for himself. Farming tatties, wheat, barley, OSR and other crops Luke tells the challenges and methods associated with crop production. He dedicates a lot of his time to education, social media and spreading the story of food production!
Kriss Woodstead comes from a farming family but was in no way ‘passed on’ the family business! Zoë Colville is a hairdresser to trade. Why are they on a food and farming podcast you may ask…WELL, if you follow any social media farming accounts in the UK, these two are probably at least one of them! With a combined following of over 60k they are great agvocates! We spoke about family trauma, personal trauma, how Zoë has felt she’s been accepted into the industry, dog attacks, social media, book sales, merchandise and a lot of laughs! Enjoy the last episode of this year and see you in 2023! Thanks to or primary sponsor A-Plan Rural Insurance as well as the Scottish Farmer for supporting!
A couple months ago a guy messaged me on Instagram, “I have a question for you, I’ll probably sound like a **** and it might offend you, do you mind if I ask you?” My favourite thing about it was he didn’t say ‘don’t be offended…BUT’ like a lot do, he told me I probably would be and he was happy with that! I liked that!It was a great question, that would have offended some people but I loved it, you don’t need to know what it was but for the last 6 weeks I’ve spoke to this guy who I have personally described gives off an ‘aura of being a knob’ and I completely mean that! After he sent me the cutest video of one of his animal compadre’s (not seen on screen🦌 👀 ) I knew he was a softie as well!This man has went from a smallholding in wales with non farming parents who bought some sheep…to study history, masters in anthropology, and a masters in social pedagogy before getting into farming by buying some pigs, then a few sheep. He proceeded on a drunken night to buy a sheepdog online,the best dog he’s ever had and a dog he still has to this day at least 10 years on, Twig! He has been in charge of 8000 sheep at points in his career, he has experienced turmoil worse than anyone I’ve had on this podcast, he has experienced exponential growth and it’s all done with inquisitive decisions and a full heart!…which lead him to win this years British Farming Awards ‘new entrant - against all odds’ gold prize!A bloody great story that goes on for a quarter of a conventional working day or a 12th of our guest for R2Kast 72’s working day, James Edwards!
This young couple, who have a lovely wee boy Hamish come from a family who have farmed in Aberdeen, Iona and Arran! They are new to Arran and have been establishing themselves in the industry in recent months! A real heart warming talk with a fantastic young family with a bright future ahead of them!
“I want people to be farmers, not have to rely on farming!” Raj Regis is a Rwandan farmer who has progressed his career to chair of agriculture in Rwanda at THERTY THREE! He carried out his dissertation on the potential of sweet potato, a readily available crop in Rwanda that is somewhat looked down on by the public. Since then, alongside the CARL GROUP Ltd (of which he is the R in CARL) they have produced breads and biscuits from sweet potato to increase vitamin A in the diets of the masses. This is a vitamin that there is a blanket deficiency of in his country and to have a product with a high Beta-Carotene level without gene editing (similar to that of golden rice) is ground breaking.…on top of that they have developed a cheap method of storage that allows a product that used to have a shelf life of a few weeks in Rwanda to now be stored in excess of a year! A passionate man who as a child experienced one of the most documented and brutal atrocities in recent history with an excellent and progressive vision of creating a food secure Rwanda. What a pleasure this was to film! Thank you to Katie Burns for connecting us!With you on December 2nd! …another country ticked off the list! ✅
Today, for our first group podcast we welcome on the CLS team, these guys devote their time to bridge the gap between secondary pupils and the rural sector! Some of the team, Ian, Bryony, Tors and Kirstie tell the history, day to day and more about the company!
This young couple, who have a lovely wee boy Hamish come from a family who have farmed in Aberdeen, Iona and Arran! They are new to Arran and have been establishing themselves in the industry in recent months! A real heart warming talk with a fantastic young family with a bright future ahead of them!
Natalie and Tara are both based on farms…a mere 14 hours apart! They have started their business which aims at helping people build their brand within the last year and it is going from strength to strength! Great chat that I think you’ll love!
Colin was not from farming but after a love for livestock at a young age Colin pursued a career in veterinary medicine. A few jobs, a wedding to another vet and a placement in Tanzania later Colin started with SAC as a disease investigator and now manages the Dumfries vet lab.
Jason, from a wine trading family has taken on the Tablas Creek vineyard which is a worlds first regenerative organic vineyard! They utilise alpacas, sheep and other systems to work alongside the vineyard!
These two ladies married dairying brothers and decided to diversify the enterprise! There is 2 farms being run simultaneously with slightly different systems then between the brothers, Tracey and Aylett decided to start doing door to door deliveries of milk and other groceries which has snowballed hugely! Here the story here!
Phillipa from Ometata in New Zealand talks about her role on the family 40000 hectare farm which is home to 30000 sheep, 1000 dairy cattle and quite a few workers. Those workers need fed and Phillipa makes sure they are provided with a high standard smoko! She also documents get stories in one book so far and possibly a second by the time this episode has been released
Jane, from a farm never saw her career on farms and found her way into her profession as a paralegal after finding herself work in various jobs and for that matter locations. In her very minimal spare time Jane has worked her way through the ranks of Young Farmers in Scotland and will by next year find herself at the highest possible position in the charity as national chairperson!
Colin, otherwise known as my old man was born on the Isle of Arran, has lived in the same house at Bridge Farm his whole life and has over the course of the last 60 years added to the farm on various occasions with his wife Laura. The farm is beef and sheep with about 630 ewes and 15 cattle. For his birthday Colin and Laura (maw and paw) have decided to visit every livestock market in mainland Scotland.
Lorraine has tried a few things in her time, whether that is the police or buying a ‘swanky mansion’ in France! Truth is neither of them were for her and her partner. They have had small holdings in Cornwall and now in France with a particular focus on cider making and small livestock enterprises. In her ‘spare’ time Lorraine also write various books varying from how to succeed at smallholding to murder novels!
Karl tells his story about working up to head chef at a young age before realising it wasn’t for him and within 4 years working up from nothing to almost owning 100 breeding ewes. He documents his story on Instagram and even became a recurring feature on Zoe Ball’s radio 2 show!
Maria and Gordon both come from non-farming backgrounds and after studying different courses at different times and by chance finding themselves working together at a laying unit have now progressed their own business to the point of nearly self sustaining. They have also found themselves winning an RHS Overhead Championship!
Andrea Flemming is not the first generation to take the reigns of her family farm in Minnesota! Running an arable and beef unit and with a previous interest in veterinary we talk about how to farm in all weathers, the methods used to do so and much more! We even delve into mental health as Andrea has been brave enough on numerous occasions to talk about her battles and her coping mechanisms that will hopefully help others! It certainly resonated with me!
Colin, from Dumfriesshire went to Barony College as a Claas apprentice and in the years since has climbed almost as high as he possibly can on the Claas mechanic ladder. His ladder climbing in SAYFC has very much mirrored his efforts with Claas as he now finds him in the position of the west regions vice chair. As well as this Colin has started his own ag contracting business which has built up to 3 tractors in the same amount of years.
Based in Canada, Brian and Mandy produce cranberries for Ocean Spray as well as their own bog brand! An interesting chat as always but I was so out my depth…as are the cranberries!😉. Enjoy!
If you have TikTok you’ve probably seen Katie’s videos pop up on your type as she has about 120k followers on there! Here farming story is just as interesting as her TikTok though having just found her way back into the industry during covid!
Charlotte has 90k followers on TikTok, and posts a lot of REAL posts on there from an education perspective with a large hint of humour! Enjoy another great episode!
Jane will often have in excess of 1500 birds either ready for sale, getting ready or newly bought and sells the country over. This is all while running a farm as well as touring county and national shows with her birds…oh and did I mention she races pigs?
Amy had on Facebook go viral 18 months ago with over 55 thousand shares and 40 thousand reactions promoting British produce and that is very much not all she does! She works with the Farmers Guardian, has been on a TV advert, does social media and oh did I mention farms a very large farm with her dad alone! Bonus points because she is a fan of the R2Kast!
Andrew and Sophie contract farm where Andrew grew up rearing 1000 head of sheep, 80 head of cattle and the best part of 40 hectares of barley and a small amount of rye all for Bruichladdie whisky! A proper field to ‘glass’ story!
EPISODE 50 is here!! Insane to me that we’ve done 50 episodes and it’s a big one for a big occasion! We talk about TV, getting into farming, sheepdogs, diversification and so much more! Emma burnt dinner, I choked on the smoke over zoom and lots of laughs had! Enjoy!!
At on 23 Kathryn has completed a HND in Agriculture, so far been a journalist for 3 years and is a vice chair of the 3 S’s YF club! Learn more in this weeks episode!
Nicola has fitted a LOT into her short career in the industry! Creating a career for herself, being nominated for awards and various TV appearances amongst much more!
Saiorse and Aidan farm in Ireland all while both have full time jobs as well! Hear Saiorse’s story about moving from a home farm with little interest to another one where she is actively involved, has renovated the farmhouse and plans to do the same with another! She plays camogie a sport she explains as female hurling and I’m glad she did as I was ready to ask her about CAMOGLE!
Gemma isn’t from farming and after hearing farmers discuss the impact of Brexit she decided to get involved! She studied environmental science and now farms selling her own produce the UK wide.
Crawford comes from a mixed arable farm which has diversified in various ways and he documents it all on YouTube! A good chat with a nice guy! Enjoy!
Abbie and Andy had literally no background in farming and are now working up to a very respectable enterprise. A great story for all to listen to and show you that you can, with hard work get into this industry!
Becca and Lizzie worked together just before lockdown and got friendly talking over their mutual love of the agricultural industry as well as toasters of course! A couple years on they now run arguably the biggest UK farming podcast at the minute! We talk podcasting, mental health and more!
Joel, arguably the world most famous farmer has developed and pioneered many a regenerative and organic processes that has spearheaded a generation of progressive farmers!
Emma has done it all, whether it’s working with the stars in her media career, consulting clientele around the world on podcasting…yes if I could afford them it would help! However lockdown caused a lot of this work to cease and they found themself taking a short term job on cabbage harvest, 2 years on has worked up in the company!
If you have ever came across farming social media in the UK you’ll know this man! Gareth is often seen on various news, radio and social media outlets promoting agriculture while on his soapbox as he coins it! An interesting chat looking at the importance of wasting nothing from a man who has done it all!
From time to time you meet these people that genuinely seem to have more than 24 hours in the day, Kate is one of them. They has spent her life knocking down barriers and reinventing the wheel. Whether it is being a vet during foot and mouth, running their own farm at home or chairing QMS Kate always fills her day!
Will comes from a farm selling hay and haulage to the equine market and wanted to get into farming himself so started a Lleyn flock, now works with datamars as a marketer and documents it’s all on his YouTube channel!
Katrina has fitted a lot into her short career I’m the industry from working for the market, breed societies, writing for various companies and event promotion!
Louise farms with her dad and has quickly gained a large following on Instagram due to her real portrayal of a dairy farm showing the good the bad and the udderly!
Scotlands favourite couple! Mel and Martin talk about the transition from home farms, to starting their own and working their way up in the industry followed by their celebrity life on the tele!
Lynn and Sandra took a big jump in 2016 and bought a picturesque Croft and have come up with some fantastic and for that matter, award winning ideas to diversify to success. Check out there story here or even catch them on the BBC’s hit show This Farming Life
Charlotte grew up interested in horses and as she reached the end of her teens developed a keen interest in farming, she did an apprenticeship followed by a degree with a focus on regenerative farming and now works with Savills! A great story about how quick you can find a successful career in the sector at a young age.
Kaz was brought up in London and decided a life of being a veterinarian was for him and before travelling the country for experience (with a mishap that saw him in the wrong country), going to vet school and now working full time as a vet he goes over his story in this podcast!
Steven always wanted to be in farming but decided to take an unorthadOX (or Buffalo route) and now runs a buffalo herd producing both meat and milk! At Boglily they now have a butchery, shop and have even been on BBC’s This Farming Life?
Anna was brought up on a family farm that had been in the family for generations, farming wasn’t her main interest but always had a connection to the industry and has combined her passion for journalism with her roots of farming to create an excellent career which has led her to writing her first book about the relationship between urban and rural demographics
Ross started out as a youngster having pet lambs in the family and over the last 2 decades has built up to taking on a major tenancy and putting in a parlour which has been a dream of his! A very feel good story of how hard work truly can pay off!
Perry, not from a farm background has been to NZ working on a dairy, done a degree and worked over the UK as a dairy person and shepherd with him now running the SRUC Barony flock with a very progressive mentality!
Louise works on both her parents and grandparents farms and found fame to the tone of 174k followers at the point of recording! We cover Young Farmers, TikTok and Veganism.
Hazel travelled from Ireland to England for university and has now began documenting her life as a vet on Instagram!
For the best part of 2 decades Adam Henson has been arguably Britain’s most famous Farmer. His family were all known on the small screen and Adam managed to combine his two passions, farming and TV to pave a very successful career in the industry. I should also mention, thank you so much for your continued support over the past year, it has been great fun! I have met some excellent people and have made good friends because of this podcast, please keep supporting and sharing as we go! Also, ideas for guests are always welcome!
Tim has dedicated his life to farming in the US, starting on a home farm selling primarily ducks, pigs and goats on a small area. After this Tim found himself studying crop science and agribusiness before creating a company aimed at finding agricultural graduates careers, on the radio, consultancy, grain trading and more. As well as this Tim has one of the largest agriculture based podcasts on the globe, check it out - Future of Agriculture Podcast.
James writes for the Farmers Weekly a few times a month and also works alongside his father on their home farm. The farm is split 50/50 give or take between arable and grass (often herbal ley’s incorporating as many as 17 species. He has also spoke out about discrimination with a focus on sexual orientation in the industry.
Karol, from Ireland has dedicated most of his life to farming, working on the home farm, shearing the world over and podcasting to highlight the many faces of the industry. With a keen interest in economics he was interested by the business side and started Eweknit clothing.
Charlie talks us through hunting, fishing and how to deal with anti’s. We ponder the morals of trophy hunting and the impact of shootings inclusion in the Olympics!
Kevin Harrison was on ALL of our screens recently through Amazon Prime hit, Clarkson’s Farm! He is a busy man away from the screen being a full time farm manager, chairman of NSA, SCOPS and more! Listen in to hear more!
Born on Iceland, Pálína Axelsdóttir Njarðvík has dedicated much of her life to sheep farming the one breed allowed there! We talked Rettir, policy and future!
Claire ho could have pursued sport as a teenager found her way into journalism and now spends her time promoting Scottish agriculture through various magazines and newspapers! Hear her story on how she has created a career in political journalism. Fun fact about Claire, she was the first to do an article on Rural2Kitchen and is part of the reason we got as far as we did!
Martin has spent his life on farms and talks about the importance of the environment, biodiversity and standing up for the industry!
We talk to YouTube sensation, Richard on his story over the past few years including a book, magazines, radio and a huge following on YouTube.
Christine has travelled the world but dedicated most of her life to the agricultural industry here in the UK! 9-5 she works with the NFU battling for the best future for our farmers. The rest of the time Christine spends her time teaching the kids if Ayrshires schools where their food comes from and has created fundraisers for mental health!
Stephanie of the Farm Safety Foundation, otherwise known as the Yellow Wellies Foundation talks to us about Health and Safety Week. Be sure to check out their website for more on that! We get into the hard truth behind safety on farms and the TOO high figures representing deaths and injuries in UK Agriculture.
Alexander talks about a day in the life of an agricultural consultant and the importance of biodiversity and carbon auditing.
We talk to Louise Allan who was brought up on an Ayrshire beef and sheep farm and in the last few years has filled her time becoming Head Vet Nurse at her practise, running a business preparing cattle for shows and sales across the UK and became a world champion! Listen in to find out what in and much more!
Kirstie talks to us about the conversion from conventional sing over parlour to a robot milking system as well as their New Zealand system.
We welcome Meinir Howells of S4C Ffermio program to talk about her and her partners farming enterprise and TV presenting.
Have you ever wondered where the sticky bit on an envelope comes from? We have a chat with Brian, the owner of a 2500 acre arable farm in the states to find out as well as MUCH more!
We talk with social media star Cameron Wilson about the day job, farming and how he got into YouTube
Today we welcome Rachel and Jake of Our Farming Journey. These guys took over a tenancy in Devon a few years ago and have documented it in blog form on Facebook and Instagram garnering a following of 22 thousand followers on Facebook and 2500 on Instagram. We delve into dog walking rules, taking over a farm, homeschooling and much more. Enjoy!
Jessica studied with SRUC before moving to study a MSc at Aberystwyth University in Wales and is now researching into a lesser known disease that could be potentially damning for the Dairy Industry in Scotland.
Flavian, a Kenyan-born pig farmer in England talks about UK pork production and breeding techniques in the pig sector. As well as this, Flavian opens up about discrimination in the industry with a specific focus on casual racism.
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Jim spent the first part of his career working for HP (Hewlett Packard) and found himself in a career shift moving over to indoor vertical farming (IVF) and today we talked about the potential of IVF, where it is and where it’s came from! This was an extremely interesting, international conversation!
Today we have David Leggat of RSABI. RSABI is a unique Scottish charity dedicated to the relief of hardship and poverty amongst people who have depended for their livelihoods on the land. They provide support in the form of emotional, financial and practical to families and individuals across the rural sector! In an industry known for poor mental health due to lonesome working and other pressures such as consumer demands they are very well placed and do a FANTASTIC job! Individuals can sign up from just £2 per month. Over a year this covers the cost of 6 helpline calls making a huge difference to someone in the agricultural community who is struggling.
And for anyone who needs some support our helpline is open every day of the year from 7am to 11pm at 0300 111 4166.
If anyone wants to support RSABI they can do so by following this link - https://www.rsabi.org.uk/Our-Supporter-Scheme Check them out on the following: RSABI – https://rsabi.org.uk/Home-Page Like on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/RSABI.ORG/ Follow on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/rsabi_/?hl=en Follow on Twitter – https://twitter.com/RSABI?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Subscribe on Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw8F-Kh-Xce65Dy16BDJ54Q Also make sure to follow this podcast, and check Rural2Kitchen out on: Like on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/RURAL2KITCHEN/ Follow on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/rural2kitchen/?hl=en Subscribe on Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUBrufsLmBX2wol3NatRYjQ Follow on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5r1b7kQhXhZZyUly8sfrrO
Discussion about the use of animals fed SOLELY on grass and the welfare, environmental and human nutrition impacts of that. Also from the mind that gave us ‘regenuary‘ Glen and I talk about the importance of sourcing food sustainably.
Music taken from ‘Royalty Free Music: Country’.