R2Kast - People in Food and Farming/All In

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Easton College 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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 areAgri and Rural AffairsCommunications and MarketingCompetitions and EventsDevelopment and Wellbeing Finance International TravelIn 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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we welcome a good friend of mine into the podcast! John, from a beef and sheep farm in Darvel, 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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.