Tales of a Nuffield Scholar with Charlotte Cole, Gregor Bruce and Ben Lowe

Today I had Sam on the R2Kast 🎙️ Sam farms with her family in Northumberland and is the founder of Planning for Profit, helping farmers look beyond simply producing food and properly understand the businesses behind what they do. 🌾 We spoke about growing up around farming, studying politics, a brief look at the Foreign Office and banking before eventually spending almost nine years with AHDB, finishing as Sector Director for Beef and Lamb. From there Sam took the pretty daunting jump away from a monthly salary to build something of her own. 🍎 A big part of the conversation focused on Planning for Profit, which grew from the Ranching for Profit model in the US. We spoke about working on the business rather than always being caught working in it, understanding profit, return on capital and opportunity cost, and why farming businesses need to be treated like businesses if that’s what we expect them to be. 🌍 We also chatted about the five day Planning for Profit programme and Executive Link, which brings businesses together almost like their own board to challenge each other, share ideas and create some accountability around actually making changes. Enjoy! 🙂 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Series three of Tales of a Nuffield Scholar continues 🎙️ This series is exploring some of the biggest challenges, innovations and conversations shaping agriculture today, and this time we’re discussing a topic that really does make my blood boil, livestock attacks 🐑 I was joined by Dan Jones, a good friend of mine and fellow Nuffield Scholar from my own cohort. Dan farms sheep on the Great Orme in North Wales, managing around 1,000 acres of incredibly important land for biodiversity and conservation, while also dealing with the challenges of having hundreds of thousands of visitors passing through the farm every year. We spoke about Dan’s Nuffield journey, which took him across the world exploring the future of upland sheep farming and how food production, nature conservation and climate change can work together. From Brazil and Borneo to Patagonia and Japan, Dan found that farming is about far more than producing food. It also plays a huge role in protecting culture, communities and even language 🌍 There were some incredible stories from his travels too, including finding himself on horseback in southern Chile helping four shepherds move 23,000 sheep between pastures, despite barely having ridden a horse in 25 years! 🚜 But the main focus of this episode was livestock attacks, something Dan unfortunately knows far too much about. In 2024 alone, he experienced 12 separate incidents resulting in sheep deaths. We spoke about the emotional and financial impact these attacks have on farmers, the distress caused to livestock even when there are no visible injuries and why Dan believes the term livestock worrying simply does not reflect the seriousness of what happens. We also discussed NFU Mutual’s research showing that farm animals worth an estimated £1.95 million were severely injured or killed in dog attacks last year, an increase of 10%. Their survey of 1,407 dog owners also found that one in 20 admitted their dog had chased livestock, yet 72% were not actively taking steps to prevent it. Dan shared some genuinely upsetting experiences, from sheep being chased over cliffs to dealing with dog owners who had never imagined their pet could harm another animal. We spoke about responsible countryside access, the importance of keeping dogs under proper control and how difficult it can be to educate people about the consequences of what might initially seem like harmless behaviour. One thing that really stood out was Dan explaining how repeated attacks have almost made him accustomed to something that should never be considered normal. Behind every incident is a farmer who has spent years caring for those animals, and that emotional impact is something we really need to speak about more openly. We finished by reflecting on his Nuffield experience and his advice to anyone thinking of applying. Find something you’re genuinely passionate about, remain open to where the journey takes you and make the most of every opportunity 🌱 Thank you to NFU Mutual for their support of this project. Enjoy! 🙂 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I had Carrie on the R2Kast 🎙️ Carrie is a dietitian and nutritionist whose career has spanned research, food businesses, media and consultancy, alongside sitting on the board of Quality Meat Scotland. 🌾

Ahead of the Scottish Smallholding and Countryside Festival on Saturday 17 October, Wallace chats with show secretary Martin Beard, Alice Lennox from the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and Siobhan MacDonald from the Farm Advisory Service. Martin shares what visitors can expect, from livestock shows and rural skills competitions to local producers, crafts and over 40 talks. Alice discusses protecting native breeds, while Siobhan highlights practical workshops, advice and learning opportunities for smallholders and crofters. The conversation celebrates the importance of small farms, rural communities and preserving traditional skills. Join us at the Royal Highland Centre on Saturday! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re back with Field to Front Door 🎙️ David, Martin and Wallace catching up again, with plenty happening around SFI, regenerative farming, biodiversity and David’s ever expanding direct selling business. A big part of this episode was the latest SFI debacle, with David explaining how he spent hours preparing a £51,000 application only for the funding to run out before he could submit it. We chatted about the uncertainty this creates for farmers, particularly those trying to change their farming systems while keeping their businesses afloat. We also got into Martin’s recent bird survey, which recorded 514 birds across 45 species, including eight red listed species! That led into a really interesting discussion around biodiversity, soil health, leaving fields green over winter and whether sometimes doing less can actually achieve more. David’s direct selling venture continues to grow too, with lamb boxes now joining the mix and farmers from further afield getting involved. We spoke about the power of social media, the challenges of scaling a business and why dealing directly with customers can be so much more rewarding than traditional wholesale markets. Alongside that we chatted about the Farmers Weekly Awards, growing crops with fewer inputs, grain quality, the price of lamb and why farmers need to find ways of keeping more of the value from what they produce. We’re keeping this going fortnightly, so feel free to send us any ideas or topics you’d like us to get into. Enjoy! 🙂 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.