Kite Consulting

On this week’s podcast, we cover the two topics most farmers are discussing at the moment; the football and farm labour. After Chris Walkland has given his analysis of the football and the milk markets, hosts Ben Eagle and Will Evans are joined by Devon dairy farmer Julie Webber alongside Kite’s Rachael Madeley-Davies and Becki Leach to discuss current labour challenges on farm and the opportuniti...

On this week’s podcast, hosts Will Evans and Ben Eagle are joined by Professor Jude Capper; Livestock Sustainability Consultant and Harper Adams Professor of Sustainable Beef Production alongside John Allen and Chris Walkland. After the usual milk market update from Chris, Jude and John discuss the science behind products designed to reduce methane output from cows, the challenges of measuring red...

On this week’s podcast, hosts Will Evans and Ben Eagle are joined by John Allen and George Heler; grandson of Cheshire Cheesemaker Joseph Heler and Managing Director of his namesake business. George describes succession of the business from his Dad, Mike, to him and how he is continuing the family legacy of investment, innovation and growth through investing in secondary processing allowing the bu...

Given the turn in the market, a somewhat subdued milk market report from Chris Walkland precedes a very upbeat discussion with Cogent Chairman and Managing Director at Grosvenor Farms; Mark Roach and Kite’s Managing Partner; David Levick. They debate the return on investment from genetic spend, the increasing importance and potential impact of Feed Conversion Efficiency (FCE) and how breeding effi...

On this week’s podcast, hosts Will Evans and Ben Eagle are joined by Muller’s Chief Operating Officer; Rob Hutchison alongside John Allen and Chris Walkland. We ask: will Muller Advantage help the business and its suppliers regain the Advantage with retailers? Along with discussing the recent deal with Lidl to offer a 3-year fixed price of 29ppl and hear the outcomes and opportunities from project...

Hosts Will Evans and Ben Eagle are joined by Tom Forshaw; Senior Policy Analyst at AHDB with comments from Chris Walkland and Becki Leach as they discuss the details of the proposed trade deal with Australia and what this might mean for dairy, along with an update on how Brexit continues to impact trade and prices. Chris Walkland also gives his usual milk market update. Please note: The informatio...

It’s World Milk Day on 1st June and whilst in the western world dairy, milk consumption and cows are often challenged on how important and relevant they are in the modern world, the story is very different elsewhere. In India, the largest producer and consumer of dairy in the world, not only are cows sacred and culturally significant, dairy supports local economies and is a vital source of nutriti...

It’s #AgriLeadership week so hosts Will Evans and Ben Eagle are talking to Stuart Roberts; NFU Deputy President and Becki Leach about what they think great leadership looks like both at industry and farm level. They discuss the challenge of leading through significant change and the complexities of leading a membership organisation. Please note: The information provided during this podcast has bee...

Well known UCD Professor; Frank Mitloehner (@GHGGuru) joins our Head of Sustainability; Rachael Madeley-Davies this week to debunk myths about the climate impact of cows. They discuss the limitations of the GWP100 climate calculation in accounting for methane, possible alternative calculations, the UN Conference for Climate Change (COP26) later this year and how ruminant agriculture could contribu...

Whilst most of the UK has had at least some rain in the last week, persistent low temperatures are still limiting grass growth and impacting milk flows.  Similar challenging weather conditions have and are impacting crop establishment and growth worldwide and could impact commodity and feed prices in the coming weeks and months.  James Bolesworth; Managing Director at CRM AgriCommodities, John All...

Hosts Will Evans & Ben Eagle are joined this week by First Milk’s CEO Shelagh Hancock and Kite’s David Keiley to reflect on First Milk’s strategy and transformation over the past 5 years and to share more details about their recent announcements on Net Zero and Carbon Capture which form a key part of their sustainability strategy going forward. We also have the usual milk market update from Chris...

On this week’s podcast, host Will Evans is joined by David Craven from Grosvenor Farms and Marco Winters from AHDB. They discuss the genetic progress and performance of the Grosvenor herd and David shares his thoughts on selection criteria to breed a herd which meets the needs of the future. Marco gives us a sneak preview of some new metrics; FCE and EnviroCow which are due to be incorporated into...

12 months ago hosts Ben Eagle & Will Evans didn’t have a clue what they were letting themselves in for & Chris Walkland was still practising his stand-up in front of the bathroom mirror and getting rave reviews from his two pooches. So this can only mean one thing…..it's the Kite Podcast’s first birthday! To celebrate (& eat virtual cake) we’re joined by Mitch Kantar from Global Dairy Platform to...

Hosts Will Evans & Ben Eagle welcome Erik Elgersma; Director of Strategic Analysis Services BV & former Director of Strategic Intelligence at FrieslandCampina back to the show alongside John Allen & Chris Walkland to discuss the milk markets including what spring volumes are looking like in the UK and across Europe alongside a longer term outlook for volumes and prices. Please note: The informatio...

This week the whole Kite Podcast team were in on an April Fools Day prank on our podcast producer Becki Leach, who fell for it hook, line and sinker! But hosts Will Evans & Ben Eagle manage to curtail the frivolity to discuss a very serious topic with the Manager of the Farm Safety Foundation (also known as Yellow Wellies); Stephanie Berkley, plus our very own Becki Leach, who is running this year...

Hosts Ben Eagle & Will Evans are joined this week by NMR’s Managing Director, Andy Warne, to discuss the business, including their livestock genomic testing service. Andy & Kite’s Rachael Madeley-Davies go on to discuss Carbon Calculators and how the data might be used by farmers alongside other farm datasets. Chris Walkland gives listeners an insight into both the milk markets and his hopes for t...

On this weeks podcast, hosts Ben Eagle & Will Evans are joined by Eric Hansen; Director at Global Dairy Trade (GDT), farmer Robert Martin along with Chris Walkland to discuss the mechanics of the Global Dairy Trade auctions including products traded and who are the buyers and sellers along with a discussion on how this impacts and influences world and UK milk markets. Please note: The information...

This week, Chris Walkland gives another upbeat dairy market update and the podcast team head (virtually) to Scotland to discuss the recently launched Scottish Dairy Growth Board strategy with its Chairman; Paul Grant, Kite’s Senior Consultant in Scotland; David Keiley and Chris Walkland. They share thoughts on the current position of Scottish dairy and how, if the ambition to increase export oppor...

In this week’s podcast hosted by Ben Eagle & Will Evans, Chris Walkland explains in his milk market report what the 15% rise in the GDT auction translates into in milk price terms before Neil Wilson; Director at SAB Advisory Ltd & John Allen go on to discuss bank lending and access to finance across the food and agricultural sector. In particular; what ‘green finance’ might mean to farmers – will...

We are joined this week by dairy farmer; Abi Reader alongside Kite’s Neil Blackburn to carry on some of the themes from last week’s podcast; discussing what the introduction of an all Wales NVZ means for dairy farmers both practically in the short term and how it might influence longer term planning at farm level. They share their thoughts about the wider precedent it sets for other nations and wh...

The podcast team take a virtual trip to New Zealand where hosts Ben Eagle & Will Evans are joined by Phil Journeaux, an agricultural consultant and economist with AgFirst & John Allen, Kite’s Managing Partner. With NZ farmers now required to record & report on their environmental impact and NZ agricultural output limited or retracting, they discuss what the future of UK agriculture might look like...

Hosts Will Evans and Ben Eagle are joined by Nick Eccles; dairy farmer and winner of the Young Farmer of the Year at the 2021 Cream Awards alongside Kite’s Becki Leach. They discuss what makes Nick an award winning young farmer including; how he has driven the family business forward through investment in technology and the use of data in decision making which is delivering great technical and fin...

After another positive milk market report from Chris Walkland, hosts Ben Eagle & Will Evans are joined by Managing Director at CRM AgriCommodities; James Bolesworth & Kite’s John Allen. They discuss current feed markets, what is driving prices for key feed materials; including the impact of China’s buying behaviour, what to expect in the medium term and what this means for farm profitability when...

As Dairy-Tech goes online next week & the announcement of the Gold Cup winner is delayed, hosts Ben Eagle & Will Evans talk to dairy farmer & 2015 Gold Cup winner; Neil Baker and Matthew Knight from RABDF. After Chris Walkland’s milk market update, Matthew tells listeners what to expect from a virtual Dairy-Tech before he & Neil discuss the role that awards & events such as these play in championi...

Host Ben Eagle talks to dairy farmer; Bill Higgins & Kite’s very own Jo Speed as they discuss the current challenge many farming families & teams are facing in maintaining motivation. Keeping teams motivated during winter can be a challenge at the best of the times but has been further emphasised by Covid both during 2020 & in the current lockdown. Jo & Bill discuss the tell-tale signs that indica...