R2Kast - People in Food and Farming/All In

In this episode we meet four inspiring guests who are championing small-scale horticulture, alternative food systems and pollinator conservation on Arran. We learn how market gardens, community growing projects and foraging initiatives are helping to celebrate local produce, reconnect people with the land and strengthen social wellbeing. We also explore the important role that bees and honey produ...

Today we’re back with Field to Front Door 🎙️ This one was recorded live from Groundswell, with David, Martin and Wallace all together in person for the first time after months of recording remotely.   We covered plenty in this episode, from the atmosphere at Groundswell and why it’s become such an important event for farmers, through to regenerative farming, cover crops, soil biology and how...

Today I had Lauren on the R2Kast 🎙️ A food content creator, recipe developer and social media personality who has built a huge audience around cooking, local produce and great ingredients. 🌾 We spoke about growing up in Scotland, working in hospitality and then spending more than a decade with Scottish Water before eventually taking the leap into content creation full time. It was a really honest...

Today on series two of Tales of a Nuffield Scholar supported by NFU Mutual we continue looking ahead to the 2026 Nuffield Farming Scholarships Conference in Leeds 🎙️ Across this series we’re hearing from scholars who will feature within the conference presentation groups, giving a flavour of the conversations, ideas and experiences set to shape the event 🌍 This episode focuses on the presentation...

Do you feel you have expertise and experience to pass on? Or perhaps you’re looking for someone who can help you learn, grow and navigate the challenges ahead? 🌱 Today on the TwoCan Mentor podcast I was joined by Ian Brown and Muhammad Umar 🎙️ Ian is a third generation farmer, entrepreneur and business adviser who has spent his career building businesses across food, renewable energy and innovati...

In this episode, we explore arable farming on Arran, tracing the journey of locally grown grain from field to fork and glass. We begin at Bellevue Farm, where farmer Donald Currie grows malting barley on Arran’s fertile soils. From there, we follow the grain north to Lochranza Distillery, where Brand Ambassador Fred Baumgärtner explains how locally grown barley is transformed into the island’s wor...

Today we’re back with Field to Front Door 🎙️ David, Martin and Wallace catching up after a busy few weeks of events, farm work and plenty of challenges along the way.   A big focus of this episode was peony season and the reality of trying to get thousands of stems picked, packed and delivered at exactly the right stage. We got into subscription boxes, customer expectations, delivery headache...

Today I had Kate on the R2Kast 🎙️ Kate is Marketing Director at Cultura Connect and works at the heart of agricultural recruitment, helping connect businesses with the people they need while championing careers across the sector. 🌾 We spoke about growing up on a dairy farm, studying Agricultural Economics at Reading and how her career took her through PR, events, retail and marketing before event...

Today on series two of Tales of a Nuffield Scholar supported by NFU Mutual we continue looking ahead to the 2026 Nuffield Farming Scholarships Conference in Leeds 🎙️ Across this series we’re hearing from scholars who will feature within the conference presentation groups, giving a flavour of the conversations, ideas and experiences set to shape the event 🌍 This episode focuses on the presentation...

Do you feel you have expertise and experience to pass on? Or perhaps you’re looking for someone who can help you learn, grow and navigate the challenges ahead? 🌱 Today on the TwoCan Mentor podcast I was joined by Nicky Gumery and Chris Bielby 🎙️ Nicky has spent her career working in leadership and people development, while Chris comes from a background in ecology and nature conservation. Through...

The episode features farmers, artisan food producers, and the distributers working to connect the two and create a thriving hyper-local milk market. We learn how collaboration and adding value is key to keeping dairy at the heart of the community. Milk production on Arran has a somewhat turbulent history, with external pressures such as pasteurisation legislation push...

Today we’re back with Field to Front Door 🎙️ David, Martin and Wallace catching up right in the middle of what can only be described as peak peony madness.   A big part of this episode focused on the realities of direct selling during the busiest part of the season. We got into subscription boxes, picking peonies at exactly the right stage, managing labour, and the challenge of trying to get...

From the early days of crofting and subsistence farming to the present day, animal protein has provided an essential and highly valuable source of nutrients for Arran’s population. While sheep and beef production have always been central to Arran’s farming economy, venison is now also being embraced as a sustainable protein source that can help to combat the growing t...

Today on series two of Tales of a Nuffield Scholar supported by NFU Mutual we continue looking ahead to the 2026 Nuffield Farming Scholarships Conference in Leeds 🎙️ Across this series we’re hearing from scholars who will feature within the conference presentation groups, giving a flavour of the conversations, ideas and experiences set to shape the event 🌍 This episode focuses on the presentation...

Today I had Cora on the R2Kast 🎙️ A first generation farmer who, alongside her husband David, now runs a large hill sheep enterprise in East Ayrshire while also becoming a leading voice around sustainability, biodiversity and women in agriculture. 🌾 We spoke about her route into farming from a background in law, PR and events with absolutely no agricultural connection before meeting David and gra...

Today I had Iain on the R2Kast 🎙️ A really interesting chat with someone whose career has taken him from agricultural college through to farming, consultancy, environmental regulation and now working across farming in protected landscapes. 🌾 We spoke about his route into agriculture through Seale Hayne Agricultural College before heading off around the world working harvests and farms across Aust...

Today we’re back with Field to Front Door 🎙️ David, Martin and Wallace this time chatting right in the middle of peony season pressure, with everything starting to speed up very quickly on farm.   A big part of this episode was around direct selling and how different things become when you’re dealing with the customer yourself rather than supermarkets. We got into the reality of picking peoni...

Today I had Robyn on the R2Kast 🎙️ She lives completely off grid in Scotland, raising her own livestock, growing her own food and documenting the whole journey online. 🌾 We spoke about how she ended up there, from a background in animal care and the military into building her own off grid setup from scratch. Buying the land, converting a shipping container into a home, setting up solar, water sys...

Today on series two of Tales of a Nuffield Scholar supported by NFU Mutual we begin looking ahead to the 2026 Nuffield Farming Scholarships Conference in Leeds 🎙️ Across this series we’ll hear from scholars who will feature within the conference presentation groups, giving a flavour of the conversations, ideas and experiences set to shape the event 🌍 This first episode focuses on the presentation...

Today I had Jack on the R2Kast 🎙️ A farm consultant, new entrant farmer and someone heavily involved in giving young people a voice in the food and farming sector. 🌾 We spoke about his route into agriculture, from a family connection through to studying at SRUC and building a career in consultancy. That led into working with livestock, including buffalo, before moving back into consultancy and no...

Today I had Karen on the R2Kast 🎙️ She is Co-Dean in Agricultural Science and Practice at the Royal Agricultural University, working across teaching, research and international partnerships. 🌾 We spoke about her journey from Venezuela to Spain and then into the UK, building a career in agronomy and agricultural systems before moving into academia and leadership. It was a really interesting look a...

Today we’re back with Field to Front Door 🎙️ David, Martin and Wallace this time getting really stuck into regenerative farming, soil health and what changing systems on farm actually looks like in practice.   A big focus of this episode was David starting to move parts of the farm towards lower input and regenerative approaches, with Martin explaining everything from soil biology and cover c...

Today I had Liv on the R2Kast 🎙️ She works in commercial content across the agricultural media space, creating campaigns, events and storytelling that connect farming with a wider audience. 🌾 We spoke about how she found her way into agriculture from outside the sector, starting with an English degree and teaching before moving into marketing and eventually into agricultural media. It was a reall...

Today on the Tales of a Nuffield Scholar series I had the pleasure of chatting with Kate Speke Adams 🎙️ Kate is Managing Director of the Herefordshire Rural Hub, a farm support organisation helping farmers and rural businesses navigate everything from regulation and resilience to succession and business change. She is also a 2015 Nuffield Scholar whose study looked at how farmers can be re engaged...

Today we’re back with Field to Front Door 🎙️ David, Martin and Wallace picking things up again with a real mix of what’s happening on farm right now and where things might be heading next.   We covered everything from late frosts and irrigation to how that actually impacts crops on the ground, through to peony season kicking off and the pressure of getting everything picked, packed and delive...