Meet the Farmers

Ben meets Cumbria based cheesemaker, sheep and goat farmer Martin Gott. St James CheeseEpisode NotesWe’re up in the Lake District today, in Cumbria to meet farmer and cheesemaker Martin Gott who runs Holker Farm and St James Cheese with his wife Nicola. Martin and Nicola have rented the Cumbrian farm since 2006 after moving up from Somerset. They established a flock of milking sheep and began making farmhouse artisan cheese. Previously Martin worked alongside two other cheesemakers both making cheese from raw milk, one with goats in Somerset and one making Lancashire cheese near Preston. Martin grew up in Lancashire and whilst he wasn’t raised on the farm, his father farmed pigs near Kendal in Cumbria. After working for four years as a butcher for his father he left to follow his passion in cheese and begin what would become his cheesemaking career. After 18 months in Lancashire Martin moved with Nicola to Somerset to work part time for legendary farmhouse cheese maker Mary Holbrook. It was during this period that they bought some sheep and starting experimenting with their own cheese which resulted in St James cheese. They returned north to take up their current tenancy on just 20 acres of land. Alongside their 100 or so sheep during covid they took on a load of goats and now make goats cheeses alongside the sheeps cheese. In 2018 Martin started a Nuffield scholarship on the subject of ‘the prevalence and importance of indigenous bacterial cultures in raw milk cheese’ which took him to US and among others he learnt about microbiology from a cheese making nun who held a PhD.  About BenBen Eagle is a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist and podcaster. He also produces podcasts for a number of other rural organisations. You can find out more at benjamineagle.co.uk Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening.  Follow us on social mediaInstagram @mtf_podcastTwitter @mtf_podcastWatch us on Youtube here A-Plan Rural InsuranceThis episode is sponsored by our primary sponsor A Plan Rural.  Show ReferencesSt James Cheese Timestamps00:27 Ben introduces the show02:48 Martin comes in02:55 Where does Martin's interest in cheese come from?06:12 Everyone tastes something different when they eat cheese.09:10 Martin's memories of farmhouse cheeses11:14 Sponsor message for A Plan Rural12:03 Where is Martin in Cumbria?13:19 Martin talks about the farm itself.15:08 Martin and Nicola buy some goats.18:28 How creative or scientific is coming up with a new cheese?29:58 The quest to find the best milk35:11 The US and cheesemaking37:29 The cheesemaking nun with a PhD.39:35 Sponsor message for A Plan Rural39:58 Nicola.43:47 Martin's experience at Kirkhams48:52 Mary Holbrook52:25 What does the future look like for Martin and Nicola?58:24 Martin's message for the public.01:01:20 Martin's message to farmers.01:03:07 How do people follow - twitter or instagram (or Nicola on Facebook)01:04:16 Ben rounds up.

Helen is the third generation of her family to farm at Longridge Farm in Gloucestershire, which is 100 acres in area. Originally a dairy farm along with sheep and traditional orchards, Helen now runs a 50 head sucker herd with Dexters, 120 breeding ewes, a dairy goat rearing system, a small pig rearing unit, 100 turkeys for the Christmas market, a livery yard and the orchard. She is also a part time lecturer in agriculture at Hartpury College where she mainly teaches livestock production. She has in the past worked there on a full time basis. In 2017 Helen’s dad died after a 5 year battle with cancer, and this was a real turning point for Helen and the business, encouraging her to go full throttle with it, especially the meat box enterprise.You can follow Helen on Instagram here.Or search for Longridge Farm on Facebook.  About BenBen Eagle is a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist and podcaster. He also produces podcasts for a number of other rural organisations. You can find out more at benjamineagle.co.uk Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening.  Follow us on social mediaInstagram @mtf_podcastTwitter @mtf_podcastWatch us on Youtube here A-Plan Rural InsuranceThis episode is sponsored by our primary sponsor A Plan Rural.  Show ReferencesProduce and Provide UK Timestamps00:27 Ben introduces the show01:58 Helen comes in02:15 What gives Helen the drive to keep doing what she is doing?03:00 History of the farm and Helen's grandfather.03:55 The farm enterprises.05:54 Helen and Griff start buying stock. 06:13 Did Helen want to farm when she was growing up?08:08 Helen went to Hartpury College to do a vet nursing science degree.09:35 In 2005 Helen and Griff take the leap to farm but Helen also gets a job as a full time lecturer in animal care at Hartpury.11:24 This episode is being sponsored by A Plan Rural Insurance.12:08 Helen working with her dad.12:55 Starting out with selling direct: Helen's tips. 15:25 It doesn't happen overnight but gradually you get repeat customers.16:18 Social media takes time to build.16:31 Would Helen expand or work with other producers?18:35 Helen's day to day depending on the time of year.20:35 Lambing 202322:42 More information on A Plan Rural Insurance.23:04 The apples and orchards - what does Helen do with them?24:46 Helen's dad gets cancer.26:39 Flooding on the farm and wetter winters going forwards.28:29 The future for the farm.30:18 Goat meat is popular.30:52 Challenges section - profitability and balancing cost of production versus profit. 32:50 Helen's internal battle of passing costs on to her customers.33:24 Helen's message for the public.34:19 Helen's message for farmers.35:28 Helen's shout out for Produce and Provide UK36:09 How do you follow Helen?37:06 Ben rounds up the show and what is happening next week?

Flavian manages 130 sows from farrow to finish on a mixed farm in Hampshire which also has sheep, beef, arable and a farm shop. Before he started this role in 2021 he managed the pig unit at Plumpton College in East Sussex. Flavian moved to the UK at the age of 15, having grown up in Kenya. The plan was to go to university to study veterinary medicine, but instead he ended up taking a year out after his A-Levels. After completing a week’s placement on a farm, he was offered a job and ended up working there for his gap year. He hasn’t looked back since.He holds a BSC in Animal Management and Animal Sciences and an MSc in Animal and Livestock Husbandry and Production. He’s currently the Vice Chair of the Young National Pig Association, Deputy Chair of the North East Hampshire branch of the NFU, the South East rep for the NFU’s Next Generation Forum and a trustee of the charity Jamie’s Farm. He’s also one of the most prominent voices calling for greater diversity in British agriculture.Follow him on instagram here or on twitter here .  About BenBen Eagle is a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist and podcaster. He also produces podcasts for a number of other rural organisations. You can find out more at benjamineagle.co.uk Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening.  Follow us on social mediaInstagram @mtf_podcastTwitter @mtf_podcastWatch us on Youtube here A-Plan Rural InsuranceThis episode is sponsored by our primary sponsor A Plan Rural.  Show ReferencesEpisode with Sarah LangfordEpisode with Wilfred Emmanuel-JonesPub Yields PodcastIt's In Our Roots Podcast Timestamps00:00:27 Ben introduces the show00:02:32 Flavian comes in.00:03:25 Why pigs?00:05:22 Flavian describes his first experience working with pigs. 00:07:02 What two characteristics about Flavian do we need to know to understand him as a  person? - 'driven' and 'optimistic'00:10:22 Sponsor message00:11:08 Flavian's early years in Kenya.00:15:29 What did Flavian want to do when he grew up (as a career)?00:18:20 How did Flavian see rural? [comparison between rural in Kenya and in the UK]00:21:47 Flavian drives a landrover for the first time. 00:23:32 Why farming for Flavian?00:27:00 Flavian gets the job at Plumpton College00:30:05 The pig unit that Flavian currently works on - a hybrid system. 00:32:00 It has been a tough time for the pig sector - what is Flavian's view about the challenges that the pig sector has been facing?00:35:37 The public need to have a reason to support UK farmers.00:36:45 What could farmers do to engage more with the public?00:39:00 7 million people have viewed some of Flavian's TikTok videos. 00:40:12 A message about our primary sponsor A Plan Rural.00:40:44 Challenges in the industry - Flavian talks about the 'lacklustre attitude' towards change when it comes to diversity in agriculture. 00:43:22 Flavian recalls some experiences and conversations about what people say and the words they use.00:47:10 Ben and Flavian discuss 'casual racism'. 00:49:28 Flavian describes the time when he was asked to do something to 'tick a box'. 00:52:00 'Diversity has become a trigger word in farming'00:52:35 The analogy of the roast dinner.00:53:47 The murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter movement.00:56:00 Flavian describes a difficult experience in Brighton.01:00:41 'I look at this as motivation'.01:02:44 Flavian's message to the public.01:03:22 Flavian's message for farmers.01:03:58 Flavian's recommendations for podcasts.01:05:42 Ben rounds up the show.

Putting Down Roots with Sarah LangfordSarah Langford is a best selling author, communicator and public speaker. For a decade she worked as a defence barrister but in 2017 she moved to Suffolk and, together with her husband, Ben, took on the running of his family’s small farm. They have converted the farm to organic production and have planted hundreds of metres of new hedgerows. The paperback version of her book Rooted: Stories of Life, Land and a Farming Revolution (pub. Penguin), comes out on 2nd March. Sarah has also written The Sunday Times bestseller, In Your Defence: Stories of Life and Law (pub. Penguin 2017), a narrative non-fiction account of her decade as a criminal and family barrister. About BenBen Eagle is a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist and podcaster. He also produces podcasts for a number of other rural organisations. You can find out more at benjamineagle.co.uk Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening.  A-Plan Rural InsuranceThis episode is sponsored by our primary sponsor A Plan Rural.  Open Farm Sunday LEAF Breakfast MeetingsRe the Open Farm Sunday shout Out click here to find out more about the breakfast meetings.  Timestamps00:27 Ben introduces today's show. 01:39 Ben begins conversation with Sarah02:00 At the beginning of the book Sarah writes that 'farming is not just a job, it's an identity' - how does Sarah perceive this?04:13 How does Sarah see her own identity? 05:45 Ben turns to the topic of Sarah's grandfather and asks her to talk about her grandparents and their influence on her. 07:40 Childhood in the countryside10:05 Connected to place11:25 Ben introduces the show's new primary sponsor: A Plan Rural Insurance.12:20 Why was Sarah so determined to embrace a city life?13:54 How did Sarah come to Suffolk?16:18 The search for home. 18:50 Village life.19:12 A shout out for farmers interested in taking part in Open Farm Sunday. 20:17 How has Rooted gone down with the urban audience?24:50 'Don't be fooled by the shininess - there are plenty of people out there who have wisdom that can help your life'. 25:22 Sarah's fear of the response in the rural audience.26:40 How did Sarah select the farmers that she wrote about?29:50 Did the way that Sarah perceives farming alter by going through the research process for the book?32:19 Food is at the root of health, of the environment and of community. 35:52 More information about A Plan Rural36:15 Ben and Sarah go outside for a field walk. 27:38 Cover crop trials.38:00 You will never control it all. 42:05 Does Sarah feel like a farmer?42:47 Sarah's message for the public.44:14 Sarah's message to farmers.45:07 Ben rounds up the episode.

How to Fail at FarmingBen speaks to Josh Heyneke in this episode who farms ducks for eggs with his wife Abi in Pembrokeshire. Josh and Abi left their city lives to go farming, and have experienced many trials since then. Last year Josh made a video called How to Fail at Farming and launched a crowd funding campaign to save the farm. This is his story. Parc Carreg is the farm. The link to their youtube channel - here.  About BenBen Eagle is a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist and podcaster. He also produces podcasts for a number of other rural organisations. You can find out more at benjamineagle.co.uk Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening.  Timestamps00:00:27 Ben introduces the show.00:03:00 Josh comes in00:03:28 Ben asks Josh to tell us about his roots in South Africa, how he came to London and met Abi.00:08:04 Josh adjusts to a new kind of life working alone00:09:00 Josh and Abi decide they want to farm00:10:09 Were Josh and Abi actively looking for farmland? And Josh and Abi take a trip to South Africa.00:13:20 Josh and Abi get some bad news.00:15:22 One Planet Developments00:21:35 The business plan and the start of ducks00:24:15 the only organic duck egg producers - why is that?00:28:46 2022 was a tough year for Josh and Abi00:30:10 The How to Fail at Farming video00:35:00 Cashflow issues. Josh and Abi didn't have enough cash to buy their next load of feed.00:37:47 Monetisation on youtube.00:43:15 How does the crowdfunder help Josh and Abi in the long run?00:44:15 Insect production.00:47:07 There are two ways of seeing everything. 00:52:05 Ben talks about failure.00:57:30 The perception of farmers in the public.01:02:22 Josh's message to the public.01:02:58 Josh's message to farmers.01:03:55 How to follow Josh and Abi. 01:04:51 Ben wraps up the episode. A lesson in resilience.

Luke farms at Daintree Farm in the Cambridgeshire fens, just outside of Ramsey. He grows wheat, barley, oil seed rape, potatoes and sugar beet. Luke on Twitter hereLuke on Instagram here. 00:18 Introduction from Ben.01:41 Luke enters.02:27 Luke talks about his part of Cambridgeshire.04:26 Luke talks about Cambridgeshire County Council tenant holdings and how he got his own tenancy.06:06 Luke talking about the X factor during his interview.10:55 Luke discusses his life growing up on his dad's farm.12:37 Luke had never seen a cow up close before.13:20 'The Shez'16:05 Luke's Farm Business Tenancy (FBT)18:00 Potatoes20:30 Ben and Luke discuss declining potato acreage. 22:15 Red diesel cost last year.24:00 Luke is reducing nitrogen application this year.25:42 Luke's school talks and how they began.30:20 Ask me questions, Luke asks the kids at the school. 31:00 Children in school ask about net zero. 31:54 Do children watch the news?38:55 Farmer Clive.40:30 Luke's message for the public.41:33 Luke's message to farmers.43:24 Health and safety on farms and the cost.46:45 Luke's social media shout outs. NFU Education; Becca and Lizzie; Bizza Walters; R2KCast. 48:47 Ben wraps up the show.

You can find out more about Ben Taylor Davies on his website  regenben.comDiscover more about Nuffield Farming scholarships at Contact | Nuffield Farming Scholarships (nuffieldscholar.org)00:18 Intro from Ben Eagle03:18 How would Ben Taylor Davies desribe himself?05:00 Ideas06:55 Ben Taylor Davies talks about his friendship with James Smith09:14 What is an average week for Ben Taylor Davies?13:06 Ben's childhood on the farm16:00 How does Ben see the trajectory of farming in the UK?17:35 Ben's time at the University of Liverpool18:30 Ben becomes an agronomist19:38 Ben's way of thinking then and now22:26 Ben's son Jobe has a severe accident involving a horse30:47 The Ronald Macdonald House35:00 The journey beyond the hospital36:12 Ben's mental health suffers38:17 Regenerating minds41:30 Ben's Nuffield adventure47:23 Life after Ben's Nuffield51:00 Ben's clients start to change52:46 The future of chemistry55:26 Productivity of soils58:25 Ben's new book Moreon1:00:10 Ben's message for the public1:01:10 Ben's message for farmers1:02:10 Ben's recommendation for a podcast - John Kempf1:03:26 Ben Eagle rounds up.

Link to JB Farming Life on youtube - click here00:18 Ben introduces the show01:40 Jen comes in01:48 Jen talks about her life in Lincolnshire02:26 Jen explains the challenges of their arable rotation over the last few years.06:10 How did James and Jen meet?08:00 How has Jen's perception of farming changed, having not coming from a farming background?10:58 Jen talks about her career in PR and motor sport before the farm.15:55 Journalists covering motorsport before technology improved.17:13 How Jen came to work with her brother.20:22 Jen talks about their youtube channel JB Farming Life21:50 Youtube as a tool for farmers to get their messages across to the general public.23:30 Diversification on the farm. 24:30 Jen's message for the public.25:09 Jen's message for farmers.27:18 Jen's shout out for @wifeonthefarm on Instagram29:15 Round up. Image credit: Jen Braithwaite, JB Farming Life

Regenerative Agriculture - KneppPasture for Life – Certified 100% grass-fed meat, milk and dairyThe Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett | No.1 Podcast

List of all the winners from last year's Cream Awards available here.

Home | Oxford Farming Conference (ofc.org.uk)Oxford Real Farming Conference (orfc.org.uk)

Ben is joined by Emily Norton, Guy Smith, Gareth Wyn-Jones and Sophie Gregory to look back on the year in farming and have a bit of fun along the way with the annual quiz!

Ben meets Karl Franklin aka 'The Pretend Farmer' on Instagram, who left his career as a chef to take up sheep farming.

Farmwilder.co.ukThe Lakes Free Range Egg CompanyForestry Commission

Forestry CommissionGrascott Farm Case StudyChatsworth Estate Case Study Tree planting and woodland creation overviewRead some inspiring woodland creation  case studies Find out more about England Woodland Creation Offer www.chatsworth.org

Soil AssociationForestry CommissionWoods for Nature Fact Sheet  - How woodland creation can help biodiversityTree planting and woodland creation overviewRead some inspiring woodland creation  case studies Find out more about England Woodland Creation Offer

This episode is a bonus episode produced with A-Plan Rural Insurance. Farm and Estate Insurance, Rural Motor Insurance, Rural Home Insurance and Much More | A-Plan Rural (aplan.co.uk)Logie Estate

The podcast Toby mentions is The Centre for Army Leadership podcast.

Link to James' website Link to Michael Blanche's Nuffield report.  Image credit: Kingsclere Estates

Ben travels to just outside of Bath to meet Somerset arable (and wine) farmer Emily Addicott-Sauvao.