Meet the Farmers
256 episodes - English - Latest episode: 14 days ago - ★★★★★ - 2 ratingsMeet the Farmers is a weekly show that profiles people in the countryside and gives you an insight into food and farming.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
'Move Your Cows More Frequently' - with Ben Thomas
April 15, 2024 04:00 - 40 minutes - 37.3 MBBen meets Cornish beef farmer Ben Thomas. Link to Six Inches of Soil Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and RuralPod Media Ben Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Media, a specialist rural podcast production agency. He is also a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist. You can fin...
Into the podcast archive
April 08, 2024 04:00 - 53 minutes - 49.4 MBWe take a look back through the podcast archive at 3 previous episodes. Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and RuralPod Media Ben Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Media, a specialist rural podcast production agency. He is also a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist. You ca...
The Growing Grower: From 7 Acres to 136 Acres - with Bal Padda
April 01, 2024 04:00 - 37 minutes - 34.8 MBBal and his family run Vicarage Nurseries in the Vale of Evesham alongside his team of 10 full-time staff and 150 seasonal workers. Growing 1,200t of strawberries (4 million punnets) and 100t of raspberries each season on 136 acres, the business supplies UK retailers as well as wholesale and farmers’ markets. The farm and business have grown greatly since his parents first started it on seven acres in 1997, after moving to the UK from Punjab in 1966. Bal joined his parents on the farm in 20...
From Interior Design to the Farm - with Anna Barton
March 25, 2024 05:00 - 42 minutes - 38.8 MBToday we’re heading to Staffordshire to meet Anna Barton. Brought up in London and trained in interior design, Anna never imagined she’d become a farmer. Then she met her builder husband whose parents needed help running their soft fruit farm in Staffordshire, so in 2016 the pair moved there and Anna became an overnight expert in growing strawberries and running a busy café and shop. Canalside Farm stands on the banks of the Trent and Mersey canal and is 26 acres in size (around 10 hectares...
Meet the Beef Farmer of the Year 2023
March 18, 2024 05:00 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MBToday we’re heading to Herefordshire and Ben is speaking to Farmers Weekly’s 2023 Beef Farmer of the Year Ian Farrant who farms 600 acres of land on the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border. Beef production on the farm is part of a larger family partnership which also includes dairy and arable units. Ian is responsible for the beef however and rears and finishes around 650 dairy cross calves on a forage based system. Ian is very keen at finding efficiencies as well as making the farm as sust...
Meet the Beef Farmer of the Year 2023 - with Ian Farrant
March 18, 2024 05:00 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MBToday we’re heading to Herefordshire and Ben is speaking to Farmers Weekly’s 2023 Beef Farmer of the Year Ian Farrant who farms 600 acres of land on the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border. Beef production on the farm is part of a larger family partnership which also includes dairy and arable units. Ian is responsible for the beef however and rears and finishes around 650 dairy cross calves on a forage based system. Ian is very keen at finding efficiencies as well as making the farm as sust...
The one with former MP Neil Parish
March 11, 2024 05:00 - 49 minutes - 45.4 MBIn this episode Ben speaks to the former MP and MEP Neil Parish about his life and political career, including his final days in Parliament and the events that led to his resignation in April 2022. Neil has started a new podcast called 'We Can Do Both' which explores the ideas around producing food as well as looking after the environment. For more information click here (instagram page) or here (acast). Image credit: Neil Parish Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only ...
Six Inches of Soil - meet the team!
March 06, 2024 05:00 - 45 minutes - 36.1 MBSix Inches of Soil is based on the regenerative farming movement in the UK and follows three young farmers for a year. It also explores broader concepts behind regenerative agriculture and the soil crisis. The film follows the stories of Anna Jackson, an 11th generation arable and sheep farmer from Lincolnshire; Adrienne Gordon, a small-scale vegetable farmer in Cambridgeshire; and Ben Thomas, a Cornwall-based cattle farmer who specialises in pasture-fed beef. The film documents their high...
American Apples and Facebook Marketplace - with Kait Thornton
March 04, 2024 05:00 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBToday we’re back in the US, in the far north west, indeed nearly on the Canadian border and Ben is meeting a fruit farmer from Washington State. Kait Thornton grows 180 hectares (440 acres) of apples and pears. She’s a 4th generation farmer at home but also started her own fruit selling company ‘Kait’s Crates’ at just 15. She has cleverly used social media to build her business , starting with Facebook marketplace and now has a huge following on TikTok which helps in raising awareness of her...
Building the Inclusive Farm - with Mike Duxbury
February 26, 2024 05:00 - 50 minutes - 40.4 MBMike Duxbury is the co-founder of Inclusive Farm, along with Ness Shillito. After a career in the wider agricultural sector and then at Vodafone, Mike saw the farm as his next step. Blind from the age of 6, inspiring disabled people and people with special needs is Mike's focus, through the means of farming. Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaime...
Corn, Soybeans and Social Media - with Zoe Kent
February 19, 2024 05:00 - 34 minutes - 31.1 MBFind Zoe on Instagram here. Today we’re heading across to the US, to Ohio to meet 8th generation farmer Zoe Kent. Zoe grows 2000 acres of corn and soybeans and she has amassed a whopping 420,000 followers across Facebook, Tiktok and Instagram sharing her farming life. She graduated from college in 2017 and worked for her dad Mickey as an employee before becoming a partner in 2019 and taking on the business fully in 2021 when her dad retired. She holds an ag business degree from Ohio State U...
Bringing the Cows Back Home - with Huw Foulkes
February 12, 2024 05:00 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBToday we’re heading to Denbighshire in Wales to meet dairy and beef farmer Huw Foulkes. Huw was brought up on a dairy farm but was initially put off farming when he saw his father having to sell his herd. He got the farming bug at college though and ended up re-establishing a dairy on his family’s farm with a micro-dairy of 15 red polls. For his beef he crosses Welsh black heifers with Wagyu bulls. The whole system uses regenerative techniques. Huw also works on another local dairy farm to s...
'Farming is a long term game' - with Ben Cooper
February 05, 2024 05:00 - 53 minutes - 49.2 MBToday we’re heading to Wiltshire to meet arable and beef farmer Ben Cooper. Ben farms 800 acres alongside his brother and father in the Pewsey Vale of Wiltshire, growing wheat, barley, oats and canary seed as well as producing hay and straw. As well as the cattle and the crops Ben has helped the family diversify into 'pick your own pumpkins' and Christmas trees, and he also works off farm carrying out agricultural market research for clients across the ag industry as well as being a teaching...
500 Years with One Family, and still looking to the future - with Clare Mainwaring
January 29, 2024 05:00 - 51 minutes - 47.5 MBToday we are heading to Shropshire to the Oteley Estate which has been in the Mainwaring family for 500 years. Ben's guest is Clare Mainwaring who runs the 2000 acre estate with her husband Ian. Clare and Ian rear two herds of native British cattle – Shorthorns and Highlands, they have a flock of sheep and some pigs. They’re also not afraid of trying new things and in recent years have launched premium meat boxes, held open garden days, market days, created a cafe and farm shop that opens on...
The Compaction Crisis - Talking Soils with Niels Corfield
January 22, 2024 05:00 - 46 minutes - 42.6 MBNiels Corfield is an agricultural consultant based in Norfolk. You can find out more by visiting his website - Home - Regenerative agriculture consultancy for farmers and landowners (nielscorfield.com) Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and RuralPod Media Ben Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod...
Dairy Down Under - with Rachael McGrath
January 15, 2024 09:40 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBToday Ben meets Rachael McGrath who is a dairy farmer based in south west Victoria in Australia. She farms with her dad and the herd is made up of stud Jerseys, Brown Swiss and some cross breeds. They also have sheep and horses on the farm. Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and RuralPod Media Ben Eagle is the ...
Farming in Norway (and New Zealand) - with Ola Utgaard
January 08, 2024 05:00 - 45 minutes - 42.1 MBBen heads to New Zealand this week to meet Norwegian dairy and beef farmer Ola Utgaard. Ola farms in Lesja which is 2 hours south of Trondheim in Norway but is currently working away in New Zealand. Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and RuralPod Media Ben Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod M...
The Big Farming Quiz of the Year 2023
December 18, 2023 05:00 - 1 hour - 49.3 MBFor the last episode of the year Ben is joined by Sue Pritchard (CEO at Food, Farming and Countryside Commission), Stuart Roberts (Hertfordshire farmer and former Deputy President of the NFU), Jez Fredenburgh (agri-food journalist and knowledge exchange fellow at Agrifood for Net Zero Plus) and Ranald Angus (Caithness arable farmer) to round up the year and take part in this year's 'Big Farming Quiz of the Year'. Play along at home as the answers will be revealed at the end. Meet the Farme...
Making a Small Mixed Farm Pay its Way - with Andrew Court
December 11, 2023 05:00 - 40 minutes - 32.1 MBAndrew Court runs the family’s 275-acre mixed farm with his mother and brother. The rotation includes winter wheat, spring oats, spring peas and winter barley as well as oil seed rape. Andrew studied agricultural engineering at Harper Adams before returning to the family farm. He is also involved with the Institute of Agricultural Engineers, is the new chair of the Farmers Club under 35s committee for 2024 and part of the Just Farmers network. Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media...
The Green Farm Collective and the Route to Regen - with Michael Kavanagh
December 04, 2023 05:00 - 39 minutes - 36.4 MBToday we’re in Shropshire meeting farm manager Michael Kavanagh who is also a founding director of The Green Farm Collective, a company set up for knowledge exchange, to trade carbon and biodiversity and regeneratively farmed produce. Michael has also previously managed farms in North Yorkshire and Essex. In 2014 he transitioned 600 acres of the arable farm that he currently manages to zero till and his rotation is diverse consisting of milling wheats, heritage wheats, malting barley and qui...
Christmas is Coming - a revisit to see Paul Kelly
November 27, 2023 05:00 - 33 minutes - 27.2 MBChristmas is coming so Ben heads to Essex to speak to turkey farmer Paul Kelly of Kelly Turkeys. Ben last visited Paul in episode 8 of the podcast in June 2017. Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and RuralPod Media Ben Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Media, a specialist rural podcast pro...
Discover US Agriculture and Ag Podcasting with Tara Vander Dussen and Natalie Kovarik
November 13, 2023 05:00 - 42 minutes - 34.3 MBWe’re heading to the US today and meeting the stars of the Discover Ag podcast – New Mexico dairy farmer Tara Vander Dussen and Nebraska based rancher Natalie Kovarik. Discover Ag sets out to discuss ‘agriculture you can relate to’, connect listeners with farmers and explore the food system. As well as the podcast Tara and Natalie formed Elevate Ag which helps producers to tell their story online . Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production ...
When Farming Meets Radio - Hugh Broom
November 06, 2023 00:00 - 54 minutes - 50.1 MBToday Ben speaks to a man who is no stranger to agri podcasting or indeed broadcast journalism in general - Surrey farmer and Farmers Weekly podcast host Hugh Broom. Hugh worked full time as a broadcast journalist in radio for 10 years first in local radio in Reading before moving to Capital Radio, LBC and Classic FM in London and then going part time with BBC Radio Five Live doing news and travel until it moved to Manchester. Throughout that period he was also running the family farm in Sur...
Meeting Amy the Lancashire Cowgirl
October 30, 2023 05:00 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MBToday on the show we’re meeting Lancashire based beef and arable farmer Amy Wilkinson who farms with her family on 285ha of tenanted land. As well as their arable rotation the Wilkinsons raise 650 dairy crosses up to finishing. Amy is also a columnist with Farmers Guardian. Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and ...
Counting Sheep with Matt Blyth
October 23, 2023 04:00 - 47 minutes - 43.8 MBToday on the show we're talking sheep and Ben is meeting Matt Blyth who is a livestock advisor and has many years of experience managing sheep. Born and bred in Lincolnshire, Matt did a course at Northumberland College specialising in sheep and beef and then went on to work with a number of sheep flocks - from assisting a shepherd on an 1800 ewe flock in Hampshire to running a 540-ewe flock near Basingstoke, to running a flock for 15 years in west Sussex. Further, in 2021 he began a Nuffield...
Meet the Dairy Daughter - Amy Eggleston
October 16, 2023 04:00 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MBToday we’re in Leicestershire and Ben is meeting fifth generation dairy farmer Amy Egglestone who some of you will know better as ‘the dairy daughter’ on Instagram. Amy and her family run a 600-cow dairy herd on a New Zealand-style grazing and spring calving system. As well as her life on the farm she is also a rural marketing specialist and is the Director of Pastures Green Communications which she set up in 2018 to help rural and agricultural businesses promote themselves both on and offli...
Trees On Farms Mini Series (2) - Ep3. 'Creating a Woodland Management Plan'
October 13, 2023 04:00 - 39 minutes - 31.8 MBBen has teamed up with the Forestry Commission once again to make this mini-series focussed on trees on farms. In this series we are asking three questions focussed on the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ of farm woodland management. In the first episode we asked why we need to improve our management of farm woodlands in the UK in the first place? Then in episode 2 we had a question time format asking ‘what farmers need to know about managing trees?’, and in the third and final episode we are asking ...
Trees On Farms Mini Series (2) - Ep2. 'Trees on Farms Question Time'
October 11, 2023 04:00 - 48 minutes - 39 MBBen has teamed up with the Forestry Commission once again to make this mini-series focussed on trees on farms. In this series we are asking three questions focussed on the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ of farm woodland management. In the first episode we were asking why we need to improve our management of farm woodlands in the UK in the first place? In this second episode we have a question time format asking ‘what farmers need to know about managing trees?’, and in the third and final episode we...
Trees On Farms Mini Series (2) - Ep1. 'Why do we need to improve our management of farm woodlands in the UK?'
October 09, 2023 04:00 - 39 minutes - 31.5 MBBen has teamed up with the Forestry Commission once again to make this mini-series focussed on trees on farms. In this series we are asking three questions focussed on the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ of farm woodland management. In this first episode we’ll be asking why we need to improve our management of farm woodlands in the UK in the first place? Then in episode 2 we’ll have a question time format asking ‘what farmers need to know about managing trees?’, and in the third and final episode we...
5 Years of Just Farmers
September 25, 2023 04:00 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MBToday we’re marking the 5th anniversary of Just Farmers, which if you don’t know it, is a unique communications project for British agriculture. It was founded by agri journalist Anna Jones following her Nuffield Scholarship and has seen dozens of farmers pass through its doors. So today we’re going to reflect back on those 5 years, ask what Just Farmers is all about, how it helps farmers and the media and ask what it’s future might be? Ben is joined by its founder Anna Jones as well as rura...
The Benefits of Learning on the Job - with Eveey Hunter
September 18, 2023 04:00 - 28 minutes - 22.6 MBToday we’re heading to Hertfordshire to meet arable farmer Eveey Hunter who alongside her role on the family farm wide hustles for two haulage businesses, does some consultancy work and is a current member of the Next Generation Forum for the NFU. Eveey chose to not go down the academic route and learnt on the job working for grain storage and haulage companies before returning to her family’s farm. Today we’ll learn more about why she chose to do that as well as the farm business itself and...
What is the future for Agroforestry? A visit to the Agroforestry Show
September 12, 2023 04:00 - 34 minutes - 27.8 MBThe Agroforestry Show was held on 6th-7th September 2023 and was organised by The Soil Association and the Woodland Trust. Many thanks to all of the contributors to this podcast episode including Helen Browning, Ben Raskin, Rhodri Owen, Liam Armstrong, Connor Kendrew, Chris Jones, James Ramskir Gardiner and Will Simonson. For more information on the Agroforestry Show click here. For the Agroforestry Handbook click here. Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only speci...
A Rollercoaster of a Year - with Tom Carlisle
September 11, 2023 04:00 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MBToday we’re heading to the Yorkshire Dales, to near Skipton to speak to sheep and beef farmer Tom Carlisle who keeps 650 ewes, 30 suckler cattle and 2 pygmy goats on 420 acres of land. He’s also recently diversified into glamping pods. On Instagram he is known as 'dalesfarmer' and you may know him for his quite fantastic lamb national reels. Tom married his wife Aimee a little over a year ago and they have had a rollercoaster first year of marriage which we go into in the episode, including ...
'The Voice of the Pig' - with Mark Jagger
September 04, 2023 04:00 - 48 minutes - 44.2 MBPigs are back on the podcast today and Ben is joined by Mark Jagger who is based in Suffolk and works as Assistant Grower Farms Manager for BQP. BQP breeds and rears over a million pigs a year using a number of different systems including outdoor born, straw finished, RSPCA Freedom Food Assured, free range and organic. They have around 30 per cent of the UK market share making them the largest pig farming business in Britain. Mark works to help new farmers set up their buildings and operatio...
Meet the Farmers Harvest Special 2023
August 28, 2023 04:00 - 20 minutes - 16.7 MBFarmers featured include: Richard Heady (Buckinghamshire) John Pawsey (Suffolk) Martin Lines (Cambridgeshire) Charles Anyan (Lincolnshire) Andrew Wilson (North Yorkshire) Ranald Angus (Caithness) Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and RuralPod Media Ben Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at Ru...
How a Farm Magazine Came to Life - with Mike Donovan
August 21, 2023 04:00 - 43 minutes - 39.4 MBToday we’re in Wales highlighting a farming publication that has been in circulation for over 30 years. Ben is joined by publisher and former dairy farmer Mike Donovan, who may be better known as the editor and founder of Practical Farm Ideas Magazine. The magazine is published four times a year and features leading edge innovations developed by farmers and engineers which can be used as inspiration for its farmer readers. Mike launched the magazine in 1992 and since then he has covered ever...
Carbon, Sheep and a 'Compulsive Interest' in the land - with Liz Bowles
August 14, 2023 04:00 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MBToday we’re in the south west and Ben meets sheep farmer and Chief Executive at the Farm Carbon Toolkit, Liz Bowles. Liz has rich experience as an adviser to farmers, farmer-controlled businesses, retailers, food service providers and processors on sustainable farming practices and developing and managing sustainable supply chains and supply chain relationships. For 20 years she worked at ADAS, now the UK’s largest independent provider of agricultural and environmental consultancy, policy ad...
Keep Calm and Carry On - with Gwyndaf Thomas
August 07, 2023 04:00 - 30 minutes - 24 MBWe’re in Wales today meeting dairy farmer Gwyndaf Thomas. Gwyndaf owns and runs a 430-acre dairy farm in the rolling hills of Carmarthenshire in West Wales. The herd consists of 270 outdoor run autumn calving cows - mainly Friesian, but also a few Jersey crosses; and the cows are grazed rotationally on grass. Gwyndaf grew up on what is now his brother’s farm and he moved to his family’s other farm once the family had expanded. He has four teenage children and there’s also one full time emplo...
Farming and Podcasting in Ireland - with Noel Clancy
July 31, 2023 04:00 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBWe’re heading over the Irish Sea again today to meet Tipperary beef and sheep farmer and farming podcaster Noel Clancy. Out the Gap, Noel's podcast, is a monthly podcast recorded on location with farmers across Ireland. Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and RuralPod Media Ben Eagle is the founder and Head of...
Ethics of dairy calf management and other dairy stories with Anna Bowen
July 24, 2023 04:00 - 43 minutes - 39.6 MBWe’re heading to Ceredigion in Wales today to meet dairy farmer, consultant, writer and Nuffield Scholar. Indeed Anna Bowen’s CV is pretty impressive and she clearly makes the most of her time. She is a director of Symbiotic Farming Ltd – which is contract based and they milk 300 cows on a grass based spring block calving system. She’s also a freelance writer and journalist and has written for a range of rural, equestrian, farming, sustainability and women’s lifestyle magazines and websites ...
Farm Safety Week Special - with Richard Wade
July 17, 2023 04:00 - 26 minutes - 24 MBTo mark Farm Safety Week we are discussing what is probably one of the most important topics in farming – keeping people safe and well on farms. Ben's guest is very well placed for this week with rich experience in occupational safety and compliance across a number of different sectors, which includes agriculture. Richard Wade is Director at Risk and Safety Compliance Services which provides health and safety auditing, management and training services across the UK. Rich has a background in...
'Every Day is Different' - with Chris Dickinson
July 10, 2023 04:00 - 38 minutes - 34.8 MBToday we’re in Cumbria to meet farmer and entrepreneur Chris Dickinson. Chris is involved with a number of different businesses, with a particular emphasis on the poultry industry but by no means exclusively. For example, one of his businesses is a goat meat business based on his family’s farm. Chris is a board member of the Wagyu Breeders Association; he’s a member of the Yorkshire Future Farmers Association, The Tesco Future Farm Foundation and has been a scholar with the Henry Plumb Found...
Groundswell 2023 - What does regenerative agriculture mean in 2023?
July 03, 2023 04:00 - 23 minutes - 19.1 MBToday Ben heads to Groundswell to understand more about what regenerative agriculture means today. About Ben Ben Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Media, a specialist rural podcast production agency. He is also a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist. You can find out more at ruralpodmedia.co.uk or benjamineagle.co.uk Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening. Follow us on social media Instagram @mtf_podcast Tw...
What is the maximum profit potential of your farm? - Understanding Maximum Sustainable Output
June 26, 2023 04:00 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBThis episode was produced in association with Nethergill Associates, a farm consultancy based in Devon. For more information on Nethergill Associates visit nethergillassociates.co.uk For further description and definition of 'Maximum Sustainable Output' click here. Timestamps 00:27 Ben introduces the show. 03:02 Chris Clark introduces himself. 03:47 Brian Scanlon introduces himself. 04:19 Chris introduces Nethergill Associates as a consultancy. 05:44 'The problem' - struggling farm...
Permaculture on a farm scale - with Huw Evans
June 19, 2023 04:00 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBToday we’re in south Wales near Abergavenny and Ben is meeting Huw Evans who runs Three Pools Farm. Three Pools is a 141 acre farm made up of a mixture of pasture and woodland. Located in the foothills of the Black Mountains, the farm is inspired by permaculture design. In addition to the farm enterprise Huw organises a number of different events to get more people onto the farm. About Ben Ben Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Media, a specialist rural podcast producti...
The Global Farmher - travelling the world with Rachel Stratton
June 12, 2023 09:54 - 1 hour - 58.8 MBToday we are in Canada and Ben is speaking to Rachel Stratton, aka The Global Farmher. Rachel wears many hats as a shepherd, shearer, tractor driver, stock woman, adviser and administrator. She has worked all over the UK, from Orkney to Cornwall and indeed many places abroad with her dog Jane. From dairy to beef operations, sheep farms and even venison farms, Rach has experienced a lot of different types of farming. About Ben Ben Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Me...
Farming, Family, Therapy and Legacy - Exploring Jamie's Farm with Dan Smith
June 05, 2023 04:00 - 46 minutes - 42.3 MBToday we're heading to Monmouthshire in south Wales to meet Dan Smith who is Farm Manager at Jamie’s Farm in Monmouth. Jamie's Farm have a four-winged approach – farming, family, therapy and legacy and they have 6 farms across England and Wales on to which they invite these young people to stay on the farm with the team for five days. Dan himself grew up on various farms across England and Wales as his father was a farm manager. Before joining Jamie’s Farm he ran a business in the Cotswolds ...
Reflecting on another 100 episodes with Will Evans
May 22, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour - 54.8 MBAnother hundred episodes has gone past and we’ve been all over the British Isles from the north of Scotland to Cornwall and the Isle of Man to Sussex and met farmers from pretty much every sector - dairy, pigs, poultry, horticulture, cereals, potatoes, sheep and beef. We’ve discussed the environment, politics, culture, new entrants, challenges, inputs, policy, trade and profiled some amazing personal stories. We’ve championed some fantastic farmers, which is what this podcast is all about. I...
Irish Dairy to Dung Beetles with Bruce Thompson
May 15, 2023 04:00 - 38 minutes - 35 MBToday Ben is heading across the Irish Sea to speak to Irish dairy farmer Bruce Thompson who milks 300 cows at the foot of the Slieve Blooms in the heart of the island of Ireland. Over time the farm has shifted towards dairy but it used to be more of a mixed farm with sheep, beef and dairy enterprises. Bruce has always worked in agriculture although he has a diploma in automobile engineering and is currently studying for a diploma in sustainability. He’s probably best known in regen ag circle...
Farming and Agri-Software - with Adam Short
May 08, 2023 05:00 - 56 minutes - 51.5 MBToday we’re in Devon with new entrant to farming Adam Short. Adam’s primary professional background is in the IT sector and indeed his primary line of work today, alongside life on the farm, is in agri-software, a subject that I’m sure will be of interest to many of you, which is partly why I’ve asked him on the podcast. He’s had a varied career prior to moving into the agricultural community and he moved to his small farm in Devon in 2016. He’s the current Registrar for the Old English Goat...