There’s a book called Nomad Century that is haunting me. I pick it up periodically until I can read no longer. Its author, Gaia Vince, is a broadcaster, a writer and an honorary senior research fellow at UCL. She predicts that over the next 50 years, hotter...
Earlier this week I was in Kent filming a soft fruit grower for a client. Marion Regan, and her husband, Jon, now lead the family business, which started in 1893, growing strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, as well as vines. The visit was such a powerful...
Two farming brothers, Paul and John Cherry, and their wider family, set up one of the world’s most influential events in regenerative farming nine years ago. The Groundswell Event ran on Wednesday and Thursday of this week in Hertfordshire. It is a lovely example of...
Every other day, or so, when I’m out walking my dog, I meet a farmer neighbour on the road. Almost always, they stop, turn off their engines, and ‘hae a news’. Mostly it’s about the weather, farming, what I know, where I’ve been and what I think about beef, barley or...
When I was studying for my agricultural degree at Seale Hayne in South Devon, some fellow students had attended a dedicated farming school in Somerset – Brymore Academy. Instead of going through the usual secondary system, pupils learnt to milk and calve cows, lamb...
Ploughing their own furrow: From finding time to take the dog out for his birthday to imposter syndrome and not baking cakes for the office, International Women's Day is an ideal opportunity to celebrate leaders in the field of agriculture and rural enterprise. With...
Another TB test approaches, which doesn’t seem as logistically challenging when cattle are housed, but still spices up the growing ‘to do list’ and offers the usual apprehension. Youngstock have done well on the cover crops, which they have devoured, so they are now...
My love of farming started on a beef, sheep, and arable farm in West Somerset. With no farming background, my embryonic interest, aged 15, was fuelled by a handful of attentive and knowledgeable farmers. I was told, despite having small hands that earned me reputation...
From everything I see and hear, the pressure on farmers to make changes to reduce Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) – the 90-95% of food’s emissions embedded in on-farm production – isn’t going away. If anything, it will increase. Retailers suggest that they...
Journalist Sarah Todd is to join the ranks of agrifood and rural sector communications agency Jane Craigie Marketing (JCM), whose clients include BASF, ABP, QMS and the Oxford Farming Conference. Sarah has been an award-winning writer for over 30 years; learning her...