Meet the Farmers

In this LIVE version of The Big Debate Sophie and Ally are joined by Suffolk based organic farmer John Pawsey to discuss the future of organic farming. How does John see the future of his farm?  Hosted as always by farmers Sophie Gregory and Ally Hunter Blair.  With thanks to the Sustainable Food Trust for hosting the podcast tent at Groundswell where this was filmed. It was made possible by Groun...

In this special Live at Groundswell special episode Ben Eagle speaks with Tom McVeigh, a 13th generation farm who farms at Kenton Hall in Suffolk. Tom describes his journey coming back to the family farm, and also his ambitions to grow hazelnuts. With thanks to the Sustainable Food Trust, Groundswell and the Rothschild Foundation for enabling the Podcast tent at Groundswell.  🎧 If you enjoyed thi...

Lots to cover in this week's Big Debate episode from record breaking heat to political upheaval, the publication of the Farming Roadmap and government response to Minette Batters' Farm Profitability Review, farm safety and an interview with Nicola Appleton, Deputy Director for Agriculture and Land at the Environment Agency covering the relationship between the Environment Agency and farmers. Hoste...

Baroness Minette Batters DL is arguably one of the most influential voices in British agriculture in a generation. In 6 years as President of the NFU she worked with four Prime Ministers and six Secretaries of State at Defra. She faced Brexit, Covid, the War in Ukraine and many other challenges. But what was it really like to lead the NFU, especially as the first woman to be President? What does l...

Farming has never been more complex. More decisions, more data and less time. Ally Hunter Blair headed to Cereals 2026 to ask farmers a simple question: what does smarter farming actually mean for you?  This episode explores the vision, the reality and the opportunity. How can tech and data help farmers hit their goals, reduce the load and free up time for what matters most?  With thanks to featur...

In the latest Big Debate episode with Ally Hunter Blair and Sophie Gregory, they discuss tech, farm safety, regen ag, World Milk Day and NEETS (young people not in employment, education or training) and how agriculture can help – that’s in the light of the publication of the interim report from Alan Milburn about young people and work. Could farming be part of the answer? Also featuring special gu...

Today Ben is in the Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire borderlands meeting Tom Hawthorne who is farm manager for Flawborough Farms, farming 3200 hectares of cereals, forage maize and whole crop silage both for the home farm and contracting for 13 other landowners. The Hawthorne family have been farming at Flawborough since 1956 when Tom’s grandfather Charles inherited the farm from his...

Today on Meet the Farmers host Ben Eagle is joined by Michael Sly who heads up the Park Farm team which farms 2000 hectares in north Cambridgeshire and south Lincolnshire. They grow wheat, peas, sugar and mustard. Michael was awarded an MBE in 2022. Michael has served as the chairman of English Mustard Growers and the NFU Sugar board. Michael has also welcomed tens of thousands of people through t...

This week Ally and Sophie cover several different stories from fuel prices to trade deals, drought in the US, golden eagles to chicken campaigns and agricultural shows to Tractor Ted.  Hosted as always by dairy farmer Sophie Gregory and arable farmer Ally Hunter Blair.  Link to newsletter sign up - Sign-up to our newsletter – RuralPod Media 🎧 Please subscribe to the show and follow us on social m...

Today we’re in Nottinghamshire and Ben is meeting 5th generation farmer Joe Howard – his family have been farming their current farm since 1888. The Howards operation is diverse and consists of growing carrots, parsnips and cereals on a mix of owned, rented and contracted land alongside finishing 1,600 dairy-bred Aberdeen Angus and Hereford-cross cattle. The family also runs a hill farm near Amble...

Big Debate hosts Ally Hunter Blair and Sophie Gregory are joined by Virgin Money's UK Head of Agriculture Brian Richardson and Head of Agriculture in Scotland Stephen Buchan to take a broad look at UK agriculture over the past few months.  🎧 Subscribe to Meet the Farmers wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on social media @MTF_podcast Meet the Farmers: The Big Debate is produced by Rura...

Today we’re in New Zealand meeting self styled Canterbury Cowboy George Dodson who in 2024 was crowned FMG Young Farmer of the Year, which for anyone who doesn’t know, is an extremely prestigious competition. He’s the Founder of the Canterbury Young Dairy Farmers Leaders Network and to give you an idea of his passion and drive for the dairy sector he was already managing a farm by the age of 20.  ...

This week Ally and Sophie are asking whether farming in Wales has a bright future? They are joined by two Welsh farmers Abi Reader and James Powell. Also on the agenda is a discussion on wool prices, a stolen egg stand, the farmer choir on Britain's Got Talent and of course news from Ally's and Sophie's farms.  Hosted as always by dairy farmer Sophie Gregory and arable farmer Ally Hunter Blair.  L...

Host Ben Eagle is joined by Brussels based agri-food journalist Natasha Foote to discuss how the Common Agricultural Policy may change in 2027 and what farmers across Europe should be aware of.  🎧 Subscribe to Meet the Farmers wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on social media @RuralPodMedia for updates and behind-the-scenes content.  Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the...

Ben Eagle is joined by Jez Pile from Telus Agriculture & Consumer Goods to discuss his entrepreneurial journey of founding, growing and exiting from his start up business Muddy Boots.  With thanks to our sponsor TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods. Explore smarter farming tools from TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods:  telus.com/FarmSmarter Image credit: Jez Pile 🎧 Subscribe to Meet the Farmers wh...

This Big Debate episode covers a wide range of topics from eggs and poultry to Great British Beef Week, Sophie's recent trip to the Netherlands, the London Marathon, Essex greenhouses and much more. The debate this week turns to public engagement and on farm education. Hosted as always by dairy farmer Sophie Gregory and arable farmer Ally Hunter Blair.  Link to newsletter sign up - Sign-up to our...

Ben Brooke farms in Cambridgeshire as well as running a number of other businesses. He is a member of the Hawkstone Farmers Choir that recently got Amanda Holden's 'Golden Buzzer' on Britain's Got Talent.  With thanks to our episode sponsor TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods. Explore smarter farming tools from TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods:  telus.com/FarmSmarter Image credit: Ruth Downing 🎧...

In this episode host Ben Eagle is joined by Dr Johnny Wake - a doctor turned farmer, who is Managing Partner of Courteenhall Farms in Northamptonshire. Before taking over the family agriculture business full-time, Johnny was a doctor working in the Department of Health, his local hospital and a GP practice. Under his stewardship since 2013, Courteenhall Farms has doubled in size to over 4,000 acre...

In today's episode Ally and Sophie give their Spring update from their farms. They also discuss the food on the Artemis 2 Moon mission, rewilding, organic trade with Japan and much more.  What to do for the TELUS giveaway [THIS IS AN AD] (deadline: 23:59 on 9th May 2026):   1) Subscribe to the show wherever you are listening 2) Comment below (wherever you are listening) with 'TELUS GIVEAWAY'  3) S...

Today we’re heading to the Cotswolds to meet Henry Astor who runs Bruern Farms. Henry took on the reigns of the family farm from his father in 2017 and decided that creating diversity on the farm was the way to meet the challenges of the post Brexit farming landscape. The farm’s arable enterprise was joined by a herd of English long horns, saddleback pigs, chickens, and a host of building diversif...

Today host Ben Eagle is joined by Cambridgeshire tenant farmer David Wheatley who has recently taken social media by storm with his Petite Peonies account. They discuss David's farming journey, arable farming, diversification, Christmas trees, peonies and how to make the most of social media as a farmer.  With thanks to our sponsor TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods. Explore smarter farming tools...

Big Debate hosts Ally Hunter Blair and Sophie Gregory turn their attention to the pig sector this week and are joined by mixed farmer Fred Allen, who farms near Newark, and Mark Haighton who is Pork Sector Director for AHDB. They ask about the current state of the sector and what its future might look like? Also on the agenda for this week are news stories including growing underground, cattle rus...

In this special bonus episode we learn about the Regenerative Agriculture Accelerator Programme which is based in the Cotswolds. RAAP is an innovative initiative for farmers and advisors who want to deepen their understanding of regenerative and agroecological principles – and learn how to apply them in practice to produce nutritious food, improve soil health, boost biodiversity, and build farm re...

Artificial intelligence in agriculture - what's the potential for the future? Ben Eagle is joined by Ben Hatton from Telus Agriculture and Consumer Goods and Matt Dobbs from Agsenze to discuss the potential.  With thanks to our sponsor Telus Agriculture and Consumer Goods. Explore smarter farming tools from TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods:  telus.com/FarmSmarter 🎧 Subscribe to Meet the Farmers...

RuralPod Media and Meet the Farmers have collaborated with Emergent Generation to create a two-part podcast documentary about the future of food and farming to show anything is possible when young people are involved. Emergent Generation: Young Voices in Farming and Food details how group members think and feel about the future, how they imagine it can be and what they are doing to realise their v...