R2Kast - People in Food and Farming/All In

Today I had Sheena on the R2Kast 🎙️ Sheena is Chair of the 2027 Oxford Farming Conference and someone involved in an incredible range of projects across agriculture, rural communities, food and farming. 🌾
We spoke about growing up on a farm in Galloway, rearing thousands of pheasants, studying hill farming at Newton Rigg and working across Scotland before eventually returning home. We also got into Galloway Chillies, a business that saw her grow up to 70 different varieties of chilli and even win an award in America for her chilli hot toddy! 🌶️
A big part of the conversation focused on the Oxford Farming Conference, its 91st year, the theme of Harmony and what people can expect in January 2027. We spoke about making the conference more accessible, the scholarship and bursary opportunities, inspiring innovators and the importance of bringing different voices together across agriculture. 🌍
We also chatted about Sheena’s work with the Farming Community Network and Macmillan encouraging earlier cancer diagnosis in rural communities, her involvement with the DPJ Foundation and Just Farmers, and why getting outside your comfort zone can open up opportunities you never expected.
Enjoy! 🙂
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Today we’re back with Field to Front Door 🎙️
David, Martin and Wallace catching up as we head further into November, with plenty happening on farm, Christmas preparations getting underway and some pretty big changes at home on Arran.

David is back from his holiday and straight into the madness of selling direct, with the veg boxes continuing to grow and plans for Christmas starting to take shape. We chatted about lamb boxes, Christmas trees, selling branches for wreath making and the challenge of getting seasonal products sold before they’re suddenly worth nothing.

We also got into what’s happening on farm, with Martin finishing drilling and experimenting with applying Johnson Sue compost extracts, while David has been making the most of a dry spell to get crops established. There was also a big change on Arran, with the last adult cattle leaving our farm after what we reckon is over 120 years of having cows there. A strange feeling after them being part of the place for so long!

There was plenty around grain varieties, milling, heritage wheat and what actually makes good bread, from protein levels through to flavour and the difference between traditional baking and modern processing.

And somehow we ended up spending a ridiculous amount of time talking about chillies 😂 From lemon drops and Scotch bonnets through to Carolina Reapers, David has decided we should all have a go at trying some of the hottest chillies in the world. I’m not entirely sure why I agreed to that one!

We’re keeping this going fortnightly, so feel free to send us any ideas or topics you’d like us to get into.

Enjoy! 🙂
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Today I had Ken on the R2Kast 🎙️ Ken is Vice Chancellor of Harper Adams University, an institution celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, and someone whose career has taken him through universities and organisations across the world. 🌾

We spoke about studying English at the University of Glasgow, starting his career with KPMG and eventually finding his way into higher education at Warwick. From there his career took him through Serco, China and Australia before arriving at Harper Adams. We also got into the brilliant story of returning home from his first term at university to discover his parents had moved house without telling him! 🍎

A big part of the conversation focused on Harper Adams and its 125 years of history, from welcoming just six students in 1901 to becoming one of the leading agricultural universities today. We discussed the anniversary celebrations, honorary degrees, international partnerships and how Harper is expanding its reach into new subjects and communities. 🌍

We also chatted about Ken’s time at Tsinghua University in China and Monash University in Australia, the importance of making education accessible to people from all backgrounds and why leadership should be built around kindness, honesty and not taking yourself too seriously.

Enjoy! 🙂
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Series three of Tales of a Nuffield Scholar continues 🎙️ This series is looking at some of the biggest challenges, innovations and conversations shaping agriculture today, and this time we’re getting into a topic that affects so many farming families, succession 🌾

I was joined by Heather Wildman, a 2012 Nuffield Scholar, founder of Saviour Associates and someone who has played a pretty important part in my own Nuffield journey as my mentor. Heather grew up in Cumbria, left school at 15 and has gone on to build a career helping farming businesses with leadership, communication and succession.

We spoke about Heather’s Nuffield Scholarship, which explored how to influence and motivate positive change. Her travels took her across the world, from Australia and New Zealand to South America and Canada, including a visit to a high security prison! Her biggest findings came down to three things, vision, communication and collaboration, principles that have shaped much of her work since 🌍

Heather shared how succession became such a big part of her career almost by accident. Through her Cultivating Leaders programme and work with farming businesses, she kept seeing families struggling to have conversations about their future. That eventually took her back to Australia to learn from succession specialists before developing her own guide and approach to helping farming families.

We got into the challenges around inheritance tax changes and why succession is about so much more than tax. From understanding the finances of a farm to deciding who actually wants to take over, when responsibilities should change and how to treat family members fairly, there is a huge amount that needs to be discussed. Heather explained how sometimes the biggest challenge is simply getting everyone around the table and having an open conversation 🌱

One of the most interesting parts was hearing Heather talk about how the farm itself can almost become another member of the family, sometimes taking priority over relationships, time together and everything else. We spoke about the pressure younger generations can feel to follow in their parents’ footsteps and why giving people the freedom to choose their own future is so important.

There were some brilliant stories along the way too, including Heather’s own journey from missing out on a role she had set her heart on to building a business that has helped farming families across the country. It was a great chat about communication, family, business and making sure succession is something we actually talk about rather than continually putting off.

Thank you to NFU Mutual for their support of this project.

Enjoy! 🙂
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Today I had Phil on the R2Kast 🎙️ Phil is Chief Executive of the National Sheep Association and has spent a career across practical farming, organic agriculture, conservation and representing the UK sheep sector. 🌾

We spoke about growing up in Bristol with no direct farming background, leaving school at 16 for an agricultural apprenticeship and eventually managing farms and building his own sheep enterprise. Redundancy during the BSE period unexpectedly changed direction and led to 15 years with the Soil Association before taking over at the NSA in 2011. 🍎

A big part of the conversation focused on sheep health and welfare, something Phil has championed throughout his time at the NSA and work that contributed to him receiving an MBE. We got into Bluetongue, parasites, changing weather patterns and why healthy sheep ultimately mean productive and profitable sheep. 🌍

We also spoke about the future of sheep farming, opportunities for young people, the NSA lambing and grazing lists, the importance of sheep events and the growing global demand for sheep meat. With the UK one of the world’s major sheep meat exporters, Phil sees plenty of reason to be optimistic about where the sector can go.

Enjoy! 🙂
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