OnFARM Scottish farming podcast

Have you got a Highland Show-shaped gap in your life? This summer, OnFARM are teaming up with the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) to bring you a celebration of rural Scotland, and all that we'll miss now that the show is sadly cancelled. In weeks to come, we'll hear from regular visitors, businesses, competitors, and many others. But in this first episode in the series,...

How do you help your rural business to survive – and even thrive – in these phenomenally difficult times? Julia Latto runs Scotland's Rural Leadership Programme, and spoke to #OnFARMHelps about how to adapt, innovate, and plan for a recovery. This episode is packed with great advice for helping Scottish rural businesses to adapt and innovate in the light of Covid-19. The Rural Leadership Programme...

Much livestock feed is made with imported soya and palm oil. These ingredients, usually sourced from South America and countries like Indonesia, are blamed for rainforest deforestation and the destruction of orangutan habitat. Aberdeenshire feed producer Norvite have developed an exciting alternative livestock feed product called NEOLac. It is proven to be just as protein-rich as other brands, but...

With Coronavirus still impacting our lives and businesses, we need a massive injection of positivity. So we've re-published our episode with amazing Doddie Weir. Doddie is a Scotland and Lions rugby legend, a brave campaigner raising funds for Motor Neurone Disease, and a Borders farmer. In this edition, first published earlier this year, the big man welcomes OnFARM's Ross 'Monty' Montague to his...

Coronavirus lockdown and relentless bad news is taking its toll on all of our mental health. For this edition of #OnFARMHelps, Anna speaks to Jim Hume, Scottish Borders farmer, former MSP, and convenor of Scotland's National Rural Mental Health Forum ( https://ruralwellbeing.org ). Whether you are an individual in need of help, or you want resources to offer wellbeing support to your team or commu...

“One toot and your order is oot”! Multi-award winning cheese-makers Connage Highland Dairy’s response to Coronavirus has been to ask customers to honk their horns to get their order brought out to their car. They’ve also put more of their products online, and are doing local doorstep deliveries. It's just one example of Scottish food and drink businesses innovating in response to difficulties pose...

Coronavirus HR and management support for rural businesses. Since the start of Covid-19, there have been numerous and significant changes to how we operate businesses and manage staff. Gail Ellis from HR consultancy Greenburn talks to Anna about staffing questions, from furlough planning and managing holiday leave, to performance management during home-working, and much more. OnFARM Helps is here...

With the UK in continuing Covid-19 lockdown, The Batch Lady's methods are invaluable for making the most of your freezer and kitchen storage. Her social media videos and best-selling book show you how you can feed your household delicious and healthy meals, with just one hour-long cooking session each week. In this episode, Suzanne Mulholland also gets Anna to try some batching for herself. This i...

Covid-19 support and information for your farm or rural business. This new mini-series is OnFARM's response to Coronavirus, and the uncertainty and upheaval it brings to all our lives and businesses. #OnFARMHelps offers tips and advice to help your rural enterprise cope and even thrive in these unprecedented times. In episode 1, OnFARM hosts Anna and Monty share some of their own PR, marketing, an...

The Batch Lady, aka Suzanne Mulholland, is a global social media sensation, publishing regular videos sharing her method of modern batch cooking. Her recently published first book shows you how to "Shop Once, Cook Once, Eat Well All Week". She creates all her content in her Scottish Borders farmhouse. This episode was recorded at her home during lambing season for many Scottish farmers, and as Cor...

He's the upland Perthshire farmer who once described himself as VEGAN (V-ery E-nthusiastically G-rowing A-nimals N-aturally). Martin Kennedy is also NFU Scotland's vice-president, and has built a name for himself through widely-shared Facebook posts that debunk farming myths and take a common-sense approach to promoting the industry. In this episode, Anna visits Martin on his farm to talk about th...

Farmer Jim, AKA Jim Smith the Stand-up Farmer, welcomes Anna back to his home in the Perthshire hills. This time, the pair take Jim's truck up to the sheep fields at the very top of his ground. There's chat about Jim's ambitions in both farming and comedy. (Hands up who wants to see Jim on 'Live At The Apollo'?!) There's also some decent footballing promise shown by Floss the dog, advice from Anna...

Perthshire's Jim Smith is well-known to comedy audiences as Farmer Jim the Stand-up Farmer. His Back to the Teuchter tour sold out to audiences across Scotland. His Farm Diaries have earned him worldwide social media fame - and no shortage of female admirers! He's also a regular on BBC Scotland's Breaking The News. But he says farming will always be his number one passion. He talks to Anna about h...

What can farmers do to reduce climate-changing emissions? What is the science around farming's impact on global warming? And how can Scottish agriculture better share its message that it is part of the solution on emissions, rather than the problem? For this OnFARM edition, Anna speaks indepth with Ruth Taylor, NFU Scotland's first ever Climate Change Policy Manager, as well as the two co-chairs o...

It's a rare visit to the big city this week for onFARM, with Anna in Glasgow for the NFU Scotland annual conference. There's an indepth interview with president Andrew McCornick. It was also an ideal chance to find out the different issues concerning farmers across Scotland and beyond. Topics include seasonal workers, climate change, veganism, problem geese in Shetland, and much more! Mentioned in...

One Scottish farmer didn't speak to anyone for 6 weeks, until RSABI arranged for him to get regular phone calls to alleviate his loneliness. Another was struggling with debt - but RSABI discovered he was owed £18,000 in unclaimed entitlements. These are just two examples of people in Scotland's agricultural sector who've been helped by the RSABI - Scotland's farming charity, providing emotional, p...

Doddie Weir - Scotland and Lions rugby legend, MND campaigner, and Borders farmer - welcomes onFARM's Ross 'Monty' Montague to his home for a coffee and blether. The two men, who have long been friends and farming neighbours, recall Doddie's early days in eventing and his time at the SAC college (later renamed the SRUC). Doddie also hails the "unbelievable" support of Scotland's farming community...

AgriScot, held annually at Edinburgh's Royal Highland Centre, is one of the biggest events in Scottish farming's calendar - with visitors coming from all over Scotland and the world. This episode of onFARM was recorded at AgriScot back in November. Anna Davies spent the day exploring the show site, and finding out thousands of people love to attend the event. She also hears from AgriScot organiser...

Anna is munching delicious broccoli crisps this week! She's in Cupar in Fife, at the headquarters of Growers Garden. They make crisps from vegetables that would otherwise not have made the grade for supermarket shelves. Growers Garden are part of a farmer-owner co-operative called East of Scotland Growers. It is a brilliant example of individual farmers working together to benefit each other as a...

Aberdeenshire animal-feed producer Norvite have an innovative new product called NEOLac - a protein-rich livestock feed made primarily from locally-sourced and cold-pressed oilseed rape. It's an exciting development for anyone who recognises that importing soybean and palm oil is unsustainable and even potentially unethical. For this edition of OnFARM, Norvite's Ed Smith talks Anna through the pro...

70,000 children in Scotland benefit each year from the work of RHET - the Royal Highland Education Trust. RHET take children onto farms, and bring farmers into schools, to help young people aged 3 to 18 to understand more about where our food comes from. For this first ever edition of OnFARM, Anna Davies joins John Sinclair, owner of Craigies Farm Shop and Cafe, as he leads children on a RHET tour...

OnFARM is coming very soon. A brand new podcast showcasing the very best of Scottish rural life. Full episodes every Monday from 6th Jan. You'll be able to find us by searching for 'OnFARM' wherever you get your podcasts. For now, you'll just have to content yourself with this short taster of what we've been working on. Mentioned in this episode: Podcast producers Bespoken Media All episodes of On...