Author Archives: FRAN

Rock and Roll Farming Podcast – A ‘Health & Harmony’ Special with Minette Batters

Tonight for this Rock & Roll Farming special, I talk to NFU President Minette Batters.

We discuss the ‘Health & Harmony’ DEFRA consultation papers; why working farmers should respond to them, what’s good about them, what’s bad about them, what we as farmers need to happen post-brexit, and crucially, whether she employs a Donald Trump extreme handshake OR a Tory front bench power-stance when meeting with Government VIPs.

Check it out folks..

This episode is kindly sponsored by NFU Cymru. For more information please visit www.nfu-cymru.org.uk or www.rockandrollfarming.com

Rock & Roll Farming is proud to work in partnership with Farmer’s Guardian. For all the latest news and features from across the Ag industry, please visit www.fginsight.com

Rock and Roll Farming Podcast – “Tomorrow isn’t a Given”

Tonight I’m delighted to be travelling down to Wimborne in Dorset, in the south West of England, to talk to sheep farmer Jemma Harding @meandeweblog

We talk about the perception of sheep farming as cool at the moment, and how the reality can be very different, before hearing about her early life growing up on the family farm and how her initial love of sheep developed.

We discuss her time at University studying photography, and how she combined it with farming, before hearing about how a night out at an MTV party in Birmingham led ultimately to a job offer and an eventual role interviewing musicians and celebrities around the World.

We then hear in depth about the accident that happened to her in 2008, when she was knocked off her bike by a lorry in central London, and the horrendous injuries she sustained. She tells us about the operations she went through, and how through sheer determination she was out of hospital in just 5 weeks, and how her collie puppy and horse helped her through the long nights suffering with PTSD.

We hear about how she left London life and went back to the family business, before her Father’s diagnosis with stage 4 cancer, and death just 9 months later. We discuss the difficulties she faced afterwards, dealing with it emotionally, but also with the farm, and how she had to learn to do many of the day to day things from scratch.

We also discuss the issues she’s had with dog attacks in her flock, and how it seems to be a growing problem in the UK, before moving on to talk about where she’s at now, and how despite it all, she has no regrets.

All this and much, much more.

Jemma’s story is one of courage in the face of huge adversity, and sheer determination to succeed, and it was an absolute privilege to talk to her tonight.

Check it out folks..

This episode is kindly sponsored by NFU Cymru. For more info please visit www.nfu-cymru.org or visit www.rockandrollfarming.com

Rock & Roll Farming is proud to work in partnership with Farmer’s Guardian. For all the latest news and features across the Ag industry please visit www.fginsight.com

Rock and Roll Farming Podcast – The Future for Food and Farming

Tonight, for this very special Rock and Roll Farming Podcast I head down to Westminster in London to talk to DEFRA Secretary of State Michael Gove about their consultation paper ‘Health and Harmony: the future for food and farming and the environment in a green brexit’, and why it’s absolutely vital that working farmers respond.

This episode is kindly sponsored by NFU Cymru. For more details please visit www.nfu-cymru.org or www.rockandrollfarming.com

Rock and Roll Farming is proud to work in partnership with Farmer’s Guardian. Please visit www.fginsight.com

Rock and Roll Farming Podcast – No tiller, all killer

Tonight I’m heading down to Overbury Farms on the Worcestershire/ Gloucestershire border to talk to Farm Manager Jake Freestone @No1FarmerJake

We hear about the 1600ha mixed farm that he manages, that’s been in the same family since 1722, and the wide range of soil types, conditions, crops, and enterprises that they have going on there.

We discuss Jake’s non-farming background, and how he caught the bug initially helping out on his Godfather’s dairy farm in Bedfordshire, and how from then on he wasn’t going to do anything else but farm. We find out how he eventually ended up at Overbury, after stints at Seale Hayne Agricultural College and several different farms and estates, gaining a wide range of experience in different roles.

We hear what crops they were growing when he arrived, and what system they were using then, before moving on to discuss the impact of his Nuffield Scholarship and what he learned from innovative farmers around the World using a zero-tillage system, and his ‘light-bulb’ moment in Oklahoma.

We then discuss at length how he’s set about drastically changing the tillage system at Overbury; from the cross slot drill they use, to both cover and companion crops, and the huge environmental and cost benefit they’ve seen since making the change.

We also talk about his passion for sharing the knowledge he’s accumulated through his experience with the system with other farmers, and also his blog, harvest diary, and social media, and why he feels that showing what they do on the farm is important.

All this and much, much more.

Jake’s one of the brightest and best farmers in the UK, and it was a genuine pleasure to hear more about the pioneering work he’s doing with environmental farming.

Check it out folks..