Meet the Farmers

Ben Eagle, RuralPod Media

Meet the Farmers is a weekly show that profiles people in the countryside and gives you an insight into food and farming. read less
ScienceScience

Episodes

From Interior Design to the Farm - with Anna Barton
3d ago
From Interior Design to the Farm - with Anna Barton
Today we’re heading to Staffordshire to meet Anna Barton. Brought up in London and trained in interior design, Anna never imagined she’d become a farmer. Then she met her builder husband whose parents needed help running their soft fruit farm in Staffordshire, so in 2016 the pair moved there and Anna became an overnight expert in growing strawberries and running a busy café and shop.Canalside Farm stands on the banks of the Trent and Mersey canal and is 26 acres in size (around 10 hectares). The farm has a large glasshouse and 20 polytunnels planted with strawberries and raspberries. The farm also grows rhubarb, tomatoes, cucumbers and seasonal flowers. Everything is sold through an on site farm shop and pick your own scheme. The family also grow around 20,000 pumpkins each year; sold for the increasingly large Halloween market in October each year. Image credit: Anna Barton.Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and  RuralPod MediaBen Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Media, a specialist rural podcast production agency. He is also a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist. You can find out more at ruralpodmedia.co.uk or benjamineagle.co.uk If you have a business interested in getting involved with podcasting check us out at RuralPod Media. We'd love to help you spread your message. Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening. Follow us on social mediaInstagram @mtf_podcastTwitter @mtf_podcastWatch us on Youtube hereHowden Rural InsuranceThis episode is sponsored by our primary sponsor Howden Rural Insurance.
Meet the Beef Farmer of the Year 2023
Mar 18 2024
Meet the Beef Farmer of the Year 2023
Today we’re heading to Herefordshire and Ben is speaking to Farmers Weekly’s 2023 Beef Farmer of the Year Ian Farrant who farms 600 acres of land on the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border.  Beef production on the farm is part of a larger family partnership which also includes dairy and arable units. Ian is responsible for the beef however and rears and finishes around 650 dairy cross calves on a forage based system. Ian is very keen at finding efficiencies as well as making the farm as sustainable as possible in all ways for the future. With this in mind he has also diversified into hazelnut production and now grows 11 different hazelnut varieties on 6ha of steep land on the farm. He has planted clover in between the trees which provide nutritious grazing for a couple of hundred chickens and turkeys which he runs in the hazelnut orchards.Image credit: Ian Farrant.Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and  RuralPod MediaBen Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Media, a specialist rural podcast production agency. He is also a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist. You can find out more at ruralpodmedia.co.uk or benjamineagle.co.uk If you have a business interested in getting involved with podcasting check us out at RuralPod Media. We'd love to help you spread your message. Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening. Follow us on social mediaInstagram @mtf_podcastTwitter @mtf_podcastWatch us on Youtube hereHowden Rural InsuranceThis episode is sponsored by our primary sponsor Howden Rural Insurance.
Six Inches of Soil - meet the team!
Mar 6 2024
Six Inches of Soil - meet the team!
Six Inches of Soil is based on the regenerative farming movement in the UK and follows three young farmers for a year. It also explores broader concepts behind regenerative agriculture and the soil crisis. The film follows the stories of Anna Jackson, an 11th generation arable and sheep farmer from Lincolnshire; Adrienne Gordon, a small-scale vegetable farmer in Cambridgeshire; and Ben Thomas, a Cornwall-based cattle farmer who specialises in pasture-fed beef. The film documents their highs and lows over a one-year period as they embark on a regenerative journey, working to adopt sustainable practices while building viable businesses.In this episode Ben is joined by Claire Mackenzie (producer), Colin Ramsay (director), Adrienne Gordon and Ben Thomas (stars).Image credit: Six Inches of SoilMeet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and  RuralPod MediaBen Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Media, a specialist rural podcast production agency. He is also a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist. You can find out more at ruralpodmedia.co.uk or benjamineagle.co.uk If you have a business interested in getting involved with podcasting check us out at RuralPod Media. We'd love to help you spread your message. Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening. Follow us on social mediaInstagram @mtf_podcastTwitter @mtf_podcastWatch us on Youtube hereHowden Rural InsuranceThis episode is sponsored by our primary sponsor Howden Rural Insurance.
American Apples and Facebook Marketplace - with Kait Thornton
Mar 4 2024
American Apples and Facebook Marketplace - with Kait Thornton
Today we’re back in the US, in the far north west, indeed nearly on the Canadian border and Ben is meeting a fruit farmer from Washington State. Kait Thornton grows 180 hectares (440 acres) of apples and pears. She’s a 4th generation farmer at home but also started her own fruit selling company ‘Kait’s Crates’ at just 15. She has cleverly used social media to build her business , starting with Facebook marketplace and now has a huge following on TikTok which helps in raising awareness of her brand. She recently graduated from Washington State university with a degree in marketing. Image credit: Kait Thornton. Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and  RuralPod MediaBen Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Media, a specialist rural podcast production agency. He is also a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist. You can find out more at ruralpodmedia.co.uk or benjamineagle.co.uk If you have a business interested in getting involved with podcasting check us out at RuralPod Media. We'd love to help you spread your message. Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening. Follow us on social mediaInstagram @mtf_podcastTwitter @mtf_podcastWatch us on Youtube hereHowden Rural InsuranceThis episode is sponsored by our primary sponsor Howden Rural Insurance.
'Farming is a long term game' - with Ben Cooper
Feb 5 2024
'Farming is a long term game' - with Ben Cooper
Today we’re heading to Wiltshire to meet arable and beef farmer Ben Cooper. Ben farms 800 acres alongside his brother and father in the Pewsey Vale of Wiltshire, growing wheat, barley, oats and canary seed as well as producing hay and straw. As well as the cattle and the crops Ben has helped the family diversify into 'pick your own pumpkins' and Christmas trees, and he also works off farm carrying out agricultural market research for clients across the ag industry as well as being a teaching fellow at the University of Reading. Image credit: Ben CooperMeet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and  RuralPod MediaBen Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Media, a specialist rural podcast production agency. He is also a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist. You can find out more at ruralpodmedia.co.uk or benjamineagle.co.uk If you have a business interested in getting involved with podcasting check us out at RuralPod Media. We'd love to help you spread your message. Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening. Follow us on social mediaInstagram @mtf_podcastTwitter @mtf_podcastWatch us on Youtube hereHowden Rural InsuranceThis episode is sponsored by our primary sponsor Howden Rural Insurance.
500 Years with One Family, and still looking to the future - with Clare Mainwaring
Jan 29 2024
500 Years with One Family, and still looking to the future - with Clare Mainwaring
Today we are heading to Shropshire to the Oteley Estate which has been in the Mainwaring family for 500 years. Ben's guest is Clare Mainwaring who runs the 2000 acre estate with her husband Ian. Clare and Ian rear two herds of native British cattle – Shorthorns and Highlands, they have a flock of sheep and some pigs. They’re also not afraid of trying new things and in recent years have launched premium meat boxes, held open garden days, market days, created a cafe and farm shop that opens once a week, they’ve held ‘walk and eat’ events, open farm days, and worked with a local distillery to start producing their own damson liqueur to sell in the shop, as well as working with a local chef to make ready meals using their produce - to name but a few! Today we’re going to hear more about Clare and what it takes to run a traditional estate that has been in one family for so many generations. Image credit: Countryside MagazineMeet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and  RuralPod MediaBen Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Media, a specialist rural podcast production agency. He is also a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist. You can find out more at ruralpodmedia.co.uk or benjamineagle.co.uk If you have a business interested in getting involved with podcasting check us out at RuralPod Media. We'd love to help you spread your message. Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening. Follow us on social mediaInstagram @mtf_podcastTwitter @mtf_podcastWatch us on Youtube hereHowden Rural InsuranceThis episode is sponsored by our primary sponsor Howden Rural Insurance.
The Green Farm Collective and the Route to Regen - with Michael Kavanagh
Dec 4 2023
The Green Farm Collective and the Route to Regen - with Michael Kavanagh
Today we’re in Shropshire meeting farm manager Michael Kavanagh who is also a founding director of The Green Farm Collective, a company set up for knowledge exchange, to trade carbon and biodiversity and regeneratively farmed produce. Michael has also previously managed farms in North Yorkshire and Essex. In 2014 he transitioned 600 acres of the arable farm that he currently manages to zero till and his rotation is diverse consisting of milling wheats, heritage wheats, malting barley and quinoa. He now farms around 1700 acres in total. His system also includes 650 ewes which are lambed outdoors using an extensive system. He was runner up in the Soil Farmer of the Year 2020, winner of the Climate Change Champions competition 2022 and a 2022 finalist in the Farmers Weekly Awards Farm Manager of the Year category. Like Ben, he is also a current scholar on the Oxford Farming Conference Inspire Programme.Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and  RuralPod MediaBen Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Media, a specialist rural podcast production agency. He is also a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist. You can find out more at ruralpodmedia.co.uk or benjamineagle.co.uk If you have a business interested in getting involved with podcasting check us out at RuralPod Media. We'd love to help you spread your message. Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening. Follow us on social mediaInstagram @mtf_podcastTwitter @mtf_podcastWatch us on Youtube here Howden Rural InsuranceThis episode is sponsored by our primary sponsor Howden Rural Insurance.
When Farming Meets Radio - Hugh Broom
Nov 6 2023
When Farming Meets Radio - Hugh Broom
Today Ben speaks to a man who is no stranger to agri podcasting or indeed broadcast journalism in general - Surrey farmer and Farmers Weekly podcast host Hugh Broom. Hugh worked full time as a broadcast journalist in radio for 10 years first in local radio in Reading before moving to Capital Radio, LBC and Classic FM in London and then going part time with BBC Radio Five Live doing news and travel until it moved to Manchester. Throughout that period he was also running the family farm in Surrey where he’s the fourth generation to farm. The business is currently focussed on rearing dairy beef cattle but in the past also had a sheep enterprise and various direct sales ventures. From 2004 to 2009 he wrote for Farmers Weekly and when they launched their podcast at the beginning of Covid, Hugh was the obvious choice to sit alongside Johann Tasker as co-host. He’s sat on numerous NFU committees in various roles including as south east livestock chair and National Beef Chair. Meet the Farmers is produced by RuralPod Media, the only specialist rural podcast production agency. Please note that this podcast does not constitute advice. Our podcast disclaimer can be found here. About Ben and  RuralPod MediaBen Eagle is the founder and Head of Podcasts at RuralPod Media, a specialist rural podcast production agency. He is also a freelance rural affairs and agricultural journalist. You can find out more at ruralpodmedia.co.uk or benjamineagle.co.uk If you have a business interested in getting involved with podcasting check us out at RuralPod Media. We'd love to help you spread your message. Please subscribe to the show and leave us a review wherever you are listening. Follow us on social mediaInstagram @mtf_podcastTwitter @mtf_podcastWatch us on Youtube here Howden Rural InsuranceThis episode is sponsored by our primary sponsor Howden Rural Insurance. Show ReferencesImage credit: Hugh Broom