The Pasture Pod

Born and raised on the right side of the Fen and far enough away from the smell of cabbages in Lincolnshire, Liz Genever grew up to be a significant driver of knowledge transfer in England.  A force of nature within AHDB Beef & Lamb for a number of years, she was key to helping get the  Ram Compare  and  Challenge Sheep  projects up and running; she was one of the first specialists to seriously ta...

Recorded over two sittings, Michael talks for a long time about how excited he is about grass.  He tends not to let me talk, which is obviously beneficial.  3+ hours sounds a long time but Michael is an interesting and semi amusing person :0 I referred to Michael as the Grandfather of Rotational Grazing in Scotland in the introduction.  That's very unfair as he's only a couple of years older than...

A break from the norm.  I interview a number of people all in one - shorter - podcast. Recorded in the Summer of 2018 with background noise loud enough to be irritating, this was the Livestock in Low Input Systems (LILIS) conference. I went around and, like a man desperate for friends, tried to make conversation with people. I laughed awkwardly and those that didn't run away felt sorry enough for...

Recorded at the beginning of October 2018.  Doug tells his story through the valleys and peaks of his farming life. He was at the end of a significant tour of Scotland, having spoken to over 2000 people over a little under 4 weeks. Thanks to John Scott, the RSABI and the RHASS for initiating and implementing the idea.  They wanted to start a conversation about mindset and how we can deal positivel...

Recorded in April 2018. Neil McGowan is from the best county in the UK, if not the world .... (that's Perthshire just in case you don't know this already). He is a breeder of stock and the result of excellent genetics himself - both sides of his family have been pedigree breeders for generations. Hear how his great grandfather got hung in the Chicago Winter Fair Hall of Fame (it's not as bad as it...

Recorded the night before the LILIS conference in June 2018 at Barnside Farm, Duns. Charley Walker plied us with beer and whisky and we still managed to form words with our mouths. Are you output driven or profit driven? What are the key things that drive your business? What angle is your wedge?  Andre van Barneveld (not the darts player) is a Dutch born, Kiwi grown, Irish based pasture consultant...

What is an Askhole?  How long is Charley's telescopic pole? [Spoiler: 7 feet fully when extended] Is it really possible for pasture chat to get this riveting?  All these questions and more will be answered in this edition. We dig deep into the farming system at Barnside and try and understand what it looks like over the course of a typical year. We talk paddocks and clean grazing as well as influe...

Charley and Andrea Walker tell us about their story - from having no farm to 250Ha, 800 ewes, 90 cows and A LOT of paddocks. We also learn about Charleys' character flaws and his obsession with burning daylight. Plus what it's like to be a woman who drives a JCB Fastrack so well that most of the truckers in the East Midlands know you. This is Part 1 of a two part Episode.  Part 2 features more int...

Trevor is one of the people I've learnt most from in agriculture.  He became a cult hero during the QMS Grazing Group project and still comes back to the UK twice a year. He has this rare clarity of thought and expression. In this conversation we talk a bit about him and how he got to where he did. A bit about how he feels during a farm visit.  A bit about vowel pronunciation.  And a lot on profit...

*Hardcore pasture chat claxon* Charlie describes how clover doesn't pump him up; how pH 6.5 is the new 5.8 and why he needs a bath after measuring grass. We end with a story about Africa - just to provide perspective.

Charlie comes clean about his addiction to restaurant table decoration consumption and the parallels his friendships have with the homo-erotic "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe". He talks openly about the family tragedy that changed everything. Also - if you are after profitability nuggets - this is a gold mine!  There will be a supplementary episode to this where Charlie provides hardcore p...

Robert talks of the difficulties of living in the Wigtownshire Riviera - including sunburn in March, palm tree maintenance and not being able to sledge in winter. We talk about how he's increased the kilos of liveweight since he's concentrated on his soils and started paddock grazing.  He's doubled output per hectare.  He describes a trial on 6 hectares that opens gigantic possibilities of what co...

John tells of his views on: how many testicles a bull should have; boys names for the first born in the Scott family and much, much more. Like a lot more - it goes on for ages!   The Fearn Farm "Great from Grass" ram sale is on Friday the 25th August 2017.  You can follow John on Twitter @FearnFarm   The Pasture Pod Rap / Theme Tune: Lead beats performed by MC Swardstick featuring David Cameron; B...