Kite Consulting

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...

Hosts Ben Eagle & Will Evans are joined this week by the Chair of AHDB; Nicholas Saphir and dairy farmer John Allwood. They discuss the key elements of AHDB’s new Change Programme & Strategy for the next 5 years (2021 – 2026) including the proposed focus on farm performance, evidence and marketing & exports. Please note: The information provided during this podcast has been prepared for general in...

Hosts Ben Eagle & Will Evans welcome listeners to 2021 and back to the podcast with a brighter Brexit outlook following the deal announced on Christmas Eve. We’re joined by former Director of Strategic Intelligence at FrieslandCampina & Director and Founder of Strategic Analysis Services BV; Erik Elgersma & our very own John Allen to discuss what the Brexit deal means for dairy. We're also joined...

Christmas isn’t complete without cheese……& with Chris Walkland featuring every week on the podcast we’ve never been short of cheese. But this week’s pre-Christmas episode, hosted by Ben Eagle has a double dose of cheese; Chris Walkland’s terrible jokes & market report followed by Robin Skailes of Cropwell Bishop Creamery & Kite Partner Chris Flint to talk all things Stilton! We discuss not only Co...

Following the publication of the Agricultural Transition Plan last week, which detailed how BPS will be phased out & gave some detail about new agricultural support schemes, hosts Will Evans & Ben Eagle are joined by Janet Hughes; Programme Director for Future Farming & Countryside at DEFRA alongside our own Ros Hughes. Janet shares DEFRA’s ambition for the future of farming including an increasin...

Hosts Will Evans & Ben Eagle are joined on this weeks podcast by Brian Lindsay, who is the Global Dairy Platform’s Sustainability Lead & Project Manager for C-Sequ, alongside our very own Helen Evans. They discuss the current carbon sequestration calculation consultation, what it could mean for dairy, practical implementation on farm & how this links with the ELMs framework revealed earlier this w...

Hosts Will Evans & Ben Eagle are joined by Jake Pickering who is Agriculture Manager at Waitrose, dairy farmer & WDF Chairman; Brian Barnett & John Allen. Waitrose recently announced an ambitious target for their business and farmer suppliers to be carbon net-zero by 2035. We discuss what this means for the Waitrose business, their customers, farmer suppliers and how practically this will be achie...

Following a milk market update from Chris Walkland, where he helpfully and metaphorically goes shopping for George Eustice, hosts Ben Eagle & Will Evans are joined by the Director General of the Provision Trade Federation (PTF); Andrew Kuyk CBE. The PTF represents companies trading or manufacturing dairy, pork and seafood products, having previously worked for the Food & Drink Federation and DEFRA...

Following the US presidential election we invited Eric Meyer from Highground Dairy back onto the podcast alongside John Allen to discuss what the Biden administration means for US dairy producers and consumers, what impact the current oversupply of milk in the US means for UK dairy and whether the incoming administration looks more or less favourable for UK exports to the US or US imports to the U...

Chris Walkland gives his usual milk market update and hosts Ben Eagle & Will Evans are joined this week by FCN’s Vicki Beers, Arla’s Rosie Cowie & Rozenwyn Lane; a dairy farmer from Cornwall to discuss the impact of lockdown at farm level and how Arla & Asda’s collaboration with the Farming Community Network is aiming to support farmers with these & other farming challenges. They share tips on rec...

It’s not just Chris Walkland’s puns that make this week’s episode scary….it’s our Halloween special. When we heard about the Halloween cheese that Barbers Cheesemakers had created that was largely destined for the US market we couldn’t think of a better time to find out more about the Barbers business than during our Halloween special. This week Hosts Ben Eagle & Will Evans are joined by Michael M...

Please note: The information provided during this podcast has been prepared for general informational purposes only and does not constitute advice. The information must not be relied upon for any purpose and no representation or warranty is given as to its accuracy, completeness or otherwise. Any reference to other organisations, businesses or products during the podcast are not endorsements or re...