The MacVet Podcast

“Listen to the cow – she’s got know-how!” Joep Driessen is a veterinarian, entrepreneur and businessman. He is co-creator of Vetvice and creator of the globally successful CowSignals training programme.   Joep is an energetic, passionate cow-communicator on amission to inspire vets, farmers and advisors to ‘do the right thing’ for the cow, so everyone benefits. Based on observation of cow behaviou...

Former Secretary of State for Defra (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs), George Eustice has spent the past 25 years working in various roles within the world of British politics. As a 6th generation farmer, the expectation had been to continue working within the family business but a formative event at age 22 prompted the move into the political arena. George subsequently had fo...

Julia Moorhouse is the head of veterinary services for Map of Ag, a company that provides a data platform for the agrifood sector, connecting farms and industry. In this role, she supplies technical advice to dairy processors, retailers and their producers. Prior to joining Map of Ag, Julia worked in mixed, mainly farm animal practice in the north of England for 13 years. Growing up on a pedigree...

How would expectations compare with the reality of starting work as a vet? Sky Tetlow has just completed her first year in farm animal practice. Looking back, she reflects on how valuable it was to invest time and effort into finding the right practice for her. Having joined Cross Counties Farm Vets - part of the VetPartners group - she set about building her skills in calving, castrations and cal...

Alice Swift believes that farmers can benefit from opportunities that come from building closer relationships with retailers. Having worked in the dairy and beef sectors for over 20 years, it is her experience and expertise in bridging the gap between farmers and retailers that drives her continued passion working to support the agriculture industry.     Growing up on a hill farm in North East Eng...

New and recent veterinary graduates often worry about projecting confidence in their roles. In this clip from Series 2 of The MacVet Podcast, Kat Hart talks about her experiences as a new and recent graduate on farm. Kat grew up on a farm and talks about how this helped when making connections with farmer clients. She shares some some excellent tips on how to use communication to build connections...

New and recent veterinary graduates often worry about projecting confidence in their roles. Communication can help with this. Stuart Russell didn't come from a farming background and was conscious of his lack of farming knowledge. In this clip, he talks about his approach to building confidence as a new vet on farm, with some excellent tips on how to use communication to learn and build connec...

Large animal vet and dairy farmer Hazell Mullins loves the variety of her work, which includes being the current president of Veterinary Ireland. In this role, she hopes to support younger vets build their confidence and skills in communication. Hazell has enjoyed working in clinical practice over the past 11 years and shares her exploits through her popular Instagram account Vet On The Moove. Hav...

Jo Speed has an affinity for supporting people, especially those who work with cows. She has worked in the dairy industry for over 20 years, holding positions with Kite Consulting, DairyCo/AHDB and Promar.   Jo recently set up her own business - Jo Speed Coaching – after training to become a life coach, and in this role, she applies her skills as a mentor, coach and facilitator.   In this episode,...

Dairy market analyst Chris Walkland believes in speaking his mind. As a consummate communicator, he believes that sharing opinions with others should be done with diplomacy, confidence and a thorough understanding of the topic. Chris soon recognised that his passion for communicating could be channelled into supporting the dairy industry, by bringing to data to life and explaining the relevance to...

Clinical exercise physiologist Marcelle Malan joins us again on the show to share details of her latest educational programme, the Resilient Ageing Project. Her objective for using this with both clients and fitness professionals, is to provide scientifically proven and evidence based exercise strategies for maintaining cognitive function (including memory, language skills, concentration and react...

Renowned animal welfare researcher Nina von Keyserlingk believes that scientists can help bridge the gap between public values and animal welfare, providing evidence on which systems work for the animals, work for the farmers and resonate with societal values. Nina grew up on her family cattle ranch in British Colombia, Canada, and she is now the NSERC* Industrial Research Chair Professor at the U...

Elise Sutton had not planned on forging a career in farming, yet when she failed her A levels, she started on a path that would lead her to work with the majestic English Longhorn breed. Elise manages the herd of Longhorn cattle at Cherry Lodge Farm in Wiltshire, South West England, a role she holds through Natural England. In this episode, we discuss: Longhorn breed characteristics and traits: in...

Accompanying his father on visits as a child, Den saw first-hand the special relationship that farm vets can have with their farming clients. Recognising that, unlike his three veterinary brothers, he would feel better suited to farm vet practice, Den began his career at his father’s practice. After several years he decided that perhaps farm vetting could be done differently, so together with good...

Veterinarian Gwen Rees found herself reassessing her options as she realised she needed to move away from clinical work. Finding an opportunity to study what influences farmer decisions in their use of medicines gave her the chance to explore human behaviour, adding novel insights into the world of improved veterinary and farmer communication. Gwen now lectures at Aberystwyth University in Wales a...

Farmer and veterinarian Kat Hart believes you shouldn't let a lack of experience hold you back from trying something new. If it's something you are passionate about doing, then make a start and you can learn the skills along the way. Kat is part of a team of farm vets working in England, where she specialises in young stock, having developed this role from scratch within the practice she&#...

David Main is a vet and professor of production animal health and welfare at the Royal Agricultural University, England. His research interests lie in welfare education, the science and practice of knowledge exchange, animal welfare assessment and improvement strategies. Like many, he began his veterinary career expecting to improve animal health and welfare by sharing his technical knowledge and...

Heather Wildman loves helping people and businesses understand how they can get the most out of themselves. Using her own experiences working in different agribusinesses, she knows the importance of management style to build motivated and positive teams, and what happens when bad behaviour and poor attitudes are tolerated within a team. Another facet of Heather's work is helping businesses and...

Rural geographer David Christian Rose recognises that farming can feel like a juggling act. In his role as Elizabeth Creak Chair in Sustainable Agri-Food Systems at Harper Adams University, David leads the 'Change in Agriculture' research group, whose objective is to help farmers and farming stakeholders navigate the changes being asked of them. David has considerable experience communicat...

Kristen Reyher enjoys working with animals but ultimately became a veterinarian to help the people who’s lives depend on their animals. In her role as Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology and Population Health at Bristol Vet School, Kristen enjoys teaching the next generation of vet students and supporting her research team achieve success. Kristen has a passion for data, describing herself as a &...

In each episode of the podcast, I like to ask my guests about their favourite cow breed. On this occasion, I wanted to speak to someone who could tell me more about my own favourite dairy breed, the Ayrshire. My guest in this episode is Duncan Hunter, someone who has vast experience and understanding of this beautiful breed. Over generations, Duncan and his family built up their prize-winning herd...

Veterinarian Ryane Englar is a leading light in the field of communication skills development, helping veterinary students become the vet they want to be. She is Associate Professor and Executive Director of veterinary clinical and professional skills at the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine, USA. Ryane is also a researcher, with a particular interest in clinical communications...

Chris Moon is a motivational speaker. He talks about his own experience of facing challenging situations, that many people would have struggled to cope with. This includes being blown up whilst supervising mine-clearance in Mozambique, barely surviving and ending up minus an arm and a leg. He became the world’s first amputee ultra-distance runner; he’s experienced being in dark places and finding...

In this Christmas catch up with Rachael Porter, we chat about highlights from the year and plans for 2024. Cow Management magazine reaches a milestone next year and Rachael shares some of the exciting plans in store for its readers. Listen to the full episode with Rachael Porter 'Fascinated by farming' in season 1.

In this short Christmas catch up with farm vet Sarah Tomlinson, we find out how important it is to gather people together so they can share their experiences. Sarah explains why she feels the recent conference on TB control in England was so well received. You can hear Sarah's full length interview in episode 2 of the podcast 'Never turn down a cuppa!'.