R2Kast - People in Food and Farming/All In

Today we welcome on a friend. It’s always fun to talk to someone you know well and still find out more about them! Todays guest I’ve known since 2014 when I went to Ayr to start out my academic career! Louise Paterson from ex-QMS Monitor farm, Hartbush in Amisfield near Dumfries has a fair old story to tell! Whether it’s the exemplar farm she comes from and works on, her new job as a land agent, h...

Two hours ago I had sent a total of 7 messages to todays guest and now we’re making sure that we stay in touch after a good bit of craic! Izzi Rainey who studied textiles with a focus on print at Glasgow school of art always had a hankering for cows. You can see her love for cattle throughout as her face lights up with similarity to that of the queen when cows appear at her fancy party thing she h...

In the UK we have Greg James, in Norway they have Martin Holmen! Martin and I met in Tanzania and the best way for those of you that know me to describe Martin is this, we were told we were on the same energy level and in truth I think he might even top me! An inspiring story of a kid from Norway becoming a nationally known TV and radio personality who had to run after this podcast to finish his s...

Diversifications come in various forms, today we welcome a man who farms full time and is working his way up in the world of comedy! Grant Barr from as mixed a farm as you can get, beef, sheep, dairy and arable…the full shabang recently found himself performing at the fringe but there’s a lot more to his story! Having been involved in young farmers for some time Grant also finds himself chairing t...

Over 15 thousand likes in the last week, over 0.2 million followers and a devout following on Facebook live! Figures of a pretty notable account, is it in the states, is it in Australia? No it’s about 2 miles from my flat in Dumfries! Ben best comes on to talk about his families utter juggernaut of a social media presence, Dalscone Farm. They stream for half an hour a day in the farm to the whole...

Today I get to share the best episode of the R2Kast to date. That in no way belittles anyone who has been on before, this truly has everything! For those who follow me on social media you will have seen my travels with 4 other members of SAYFC to Tanzania and Rwanda for a global 4H summit and signing of a partnership between SAYFC and RAYF respectively! I could say what you’ll expect to hear in th...

Todays guest is a family friend of ours and seeing her grow as a person since the little girl I remember had been nothing short of inspiring! Isla found herself wanting to follow in her dads cattle showing footsteps, which she has but on top of that has created a career for herself in the sector at the age of 22!She ventured to Harper Adams and fell in love with it! Her third year placement was ca...

8 years ago this week the McMaster family based on the Southend of the Isle of Arran held their inaugural stock judging, a bit of fun aimed at showcasing their Texel flock prior to tup sales. This also marked the first official event that Arran Young Farmers. This was a club that I made a point of starting along with a few others from the island, acted as chair, and a few other jobs to get it goin...

I am lucky enough that in the two things in my life that take up the most time, lecturing and podcasting I get to spend time with some amazing minds, I’m surrounded by passion and find myself in an eternal state of pride for the current food system as well as healthy optimism for its future! Today we welcome yet another one of those people that make you think HOW have you fitted this in and that p...

I get so many inspirational people on this podcast but Heidi was one of those ones you sit back and think HOW HAVE YOU FITTED THIS IN at such a young age! Heidi was very clever at school and that has continued onto vet school! She openly talks about her struggles with eating disorders and I can’t express how positive an episode this is! We speak veterinary training, recovery, strength, fitness, cl...

Today we welcome 3 NFU Scotland regional managers, Holly, Lauren and Sheena operating out of Ayrshire, Argyll and the Islands and Forth and Clyde respectively. NFU operate as our primary union and lobbying organisation for the rural sector in this country. The regional managers act as the main point of contact for members in that area. As well as this the main opinion gatherers to lobby for a bett...

Charlie, who used to be branded as the globe trotting farm girl now Charlie Farms has travelled the world with agriculture and now farms at home on a mixed unit that at the time of recording was having challenges to get harvest started! Charlie is one of those people you listen to and think ‘she’ll give anything a go!’ whether that is her placement year which led to further work across the globe (...

Gemma along with her colleague at Genus talked to our 3rd year students studying Livestock Management Systems as part of their agriculture degree with SRUC. Straight away I knew she would be getting an invite to the podcast! Gemma left the UK for a period of time after her degree heading for the US and used her dissertation knowledge on embryo transfer on a unit that used the technology. I would s...

Josh, and his partner Abigail were sick of the London rat race and after seeing a billboard on a bus on the daily commute decided it was time for a change. One, an artist and the other a mobile application developer they set their sights on Spain, Portugal or Josh's homeland South Africa. Due to circumstance that you will hear in the episode the decision was made to head for Wales where they n...

Holly, not from a farming background as a youngster had a fascination with fossils and saw a future in the sector however younger teenage years saw her direction change and the goal was set as being a vet. She chased the dream and caught it after years of weekend, holiday and uni dedication she was qualified. Holly worked at a few practises and loved the role, almost too much really taking the job...

From very near Wrexham, Will Evans laid the foundations for people like myself who have found themselves in the agricultural podcasting game. Having the struggles of having to record a Skype call to a landline it's fair to say he had it much harder than we have these days. Will keeps himself busy running the home farm alongside his wife and father, being chair of the OFC, writes for Farmer&#39...

Matt, otherwise known as thehonestfarmer_ was originally from a farm and found himself following the route of working in drama. One day, in the middle of summer in a script read in a black room he decided that was no longer for him and a change was needed. I did make sure to ask him if he felt the same way stuck in a filed in December but you'll have to listen to find the answer. Matt, went to Eas...

On an exchange Ed and his brother, Tom hosted Duncan and one other from Australia and after a few days together Ed and Duncan became good mates even though they live have the world away from each other. This was their first chat for longer than the odd Snapchat and what a chat it was between the three of them! Duncan, who it turns out comes from a farm of around 110000 acres but that wasn't th...

Sometimes you hit record and can't believe how much someone has done - this is one of them! I simply thought we'd talk pick ups for peace but I found Vince to be one of the most interesting people I have ever spoken to, an inventor, a businessmen, a philanthropist and I think maybe a genius. He has developed precision tech for ag, he has travelled the world and helped many and now he finds...

Damian, who has worked in finance, sales and owned businesses in those sectors too has had one constant in his life, training dogs. At 16 he took on his first client and has never looked back…fast forward 30 odd years and he found himself pacing around the room as he paid the world record fee for a dog he hadn’t seen in person! Oh did I mention the dogs he trained were exclusively gun dogs and the...

Grant and Jacalyn both from farms were in Avondale and Mauchline YF' respectively. At a young age they met at the Highland Show and in Grants words he was in the car home with his mum asking 'can you get a bus to Tarbolton?' - a proper meet cute, eh? They have set up as PT's under the name GJCoaching and hope one day to have a gym on their farm so they don't have to rent the one they currently do...

Iona, from a farm in Muirkirk always loved the farm as a kid but as a youngster probably didn't see it in her future! As she left school her intention was to go into physiotherapy but a last minute change of mind realised who she liked about that potential job was the paediatric side and therefore changed her field of study to primary teaching. Iona completed her degree at the Dumfries campus...

Today we welcome someone who I have followed probably since before the podcast started Sophie Bell from county Cavan has played a key role in taking the home farm from a conventional suckler system that proved clunky around the full time jobs she and her family have to a contract rearing unit. Starting with dairy beef they gave transitioned into contract rearing heifers! On top of this Sophie has...

Halfway through this podcast I ask Erin’s age, she’s 20 and what’s she’s done in that time is insane!!She has won the British young handler with her sheepdog, Moxy as well as the one man and her dog duo at 15 and 16 respectively! She’s been a student and young farmer NFU ambassador which taught her a lot and in a very Kaleb Cooper-esque moment let her go to London and ride a train! Oh also Erin ru...

In his younger days our guest from today, Ross found himself playing rugby at a good level and football even better. However after his international level volleyball PE teacher noticed how tall he was in his first week of secondary school and Belmont academy his trajectory was marked out! Ross explains how the volleyball scene works, the opportunities for skill development, international travel an...