Industry

Enthusiasm, experience and equity are all needed to access land as a new entrant, Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) CEO George Dunn told host Peter Green on Farming Focus™. Using his vast experience of farming tenancies, he offered his insight and advice on securing your dream farm. Also joining the show to share their story, the award-winning Nicholls brothers, who secured a 20-year tenancy to support their growing dairy business.

Farming is changing, and across the South West farmers are finding new ways to adapt, grow, and sustain their businesses. In an episode of Farming Focus™, Peter Green spoke to farmers from two Cornwall-based businesses who are taking a different approach to farming. Laura Awdry, a Duchy of Cornwall tenant farmer, Nuffield Scholar, and AHDB dairy knowledge exchange manager, shared her experiences alongside Rhian and Jack Marchant, first-generation farmers running a mixed livestock enterprise. 

The potentially industry-shaping Farm Profitability Review report, authored by Baroness Minette Batters, was published by Defra in December. To help farmers unwrap this milestone report and reflect on its significance, Peter Green is joined on our Farming Focus™ podcast by agribusiness consultant Jack Pierce and Cornish beef farmer Wendy Nicholas. 

Diversification isn’t always about doing something new, it can be as simple as making better use of existing assets according to rural business adviser Simon Haley, and Somerset farmers Rob Addicott and Jeremy Padfield. On Farming Focus™, they explain how to use diversification to elevate your business, not your busyness.

The first week in January always sees Oxford unusually full of farmers, politicians and ag industry personnel for the annual Oxford Farming Conference (OFC). Cornish Mutual Chairman and Agricola Growers MD Jeremy Oatey was among them this year and tells Farming Focus™ what he learnt in our latest podcast episode.

Manual handling is part of everyday life on farms, from using heavy tools and handling livestock animals to carrying tools and equipment. But these routine tasks are a common cause of injury in agriculture, and the long-term effects can be more serious than many realise. Back and joint injuries often go unnoticed or untreated for years, only to become painful, life-limiting problems later on. Understanding how to assess risks and use safe lifting techniques can help protect both you and your team.

The final episode of each Farming Focus™ series is an opportunity to look back at the rich mixture of opinions and insights offered by guests, and series five is no exception. Podcast host Peter Green is joined by strategic dairy consultant Becki Reay to discuss five of the most recent episodes.

Is regen simply a short-term buzzword or will it stay the course and prove to be the way of farming to secure the UK industry’s future? To answer this question, Earth Farmers founder Tim Williams and Ceres Rural consultant Louise Penn joined Peter Green on Farming Focus™.