R2Kast - People in Food and Farming/All In

A PhD, farming 200000 hectares and saving lives.

Do you ever get the feeling you’re just meant to meet someone?! I got that sort of initial feeling the second I shook today’s guests hand!

Today we welcome Keith Dawson onto the podcast! Normally when someone has a PhD that’s a pretty big thing but we barely mention it in today’s episode! Keith was an environmental scientist in agriculture WELL before it was cool and has been involved in various projects over the years.

His most notable are establishing farming businesses in Poland and Ukraine consolidating rentals from thousands of landlords to ultimately farm around 200000 hectares in the west of Ukraine alongside his partners.  After a few successful years there and various careers given to numbers of households in the country they changed the plan. They decided to farm much less (few thousand hectares) of potatoes aimed at crisping and those that don’t for start production!

That’s still not the best thing about Keith though! He’s been instrumental in the pick ups for peace charity and it just seems like his whole purpose now sending pick ups across the continent to Lviv to literally save lives…but hear that for yourselves here!

A great episode with a great man that I have spoken to for hours on end back in October on the P4P mission out to a wonderful city.

Thanks to Howden Rural and Scottish Farmer for their continued support! 

Enjoy…and support if you can! 

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The first ever for the R2Kast 

We’ve had people like Claire Taylor, Alec Pirie and Christine Cuthbertson who have appeared on two episodes (one as an individual and one on the group series) or even Jane Strawhorn who has appeared in an individual episode, group podcast and even and extra for our group who went to Africa! 

Today’s guest finds herself as the only one to appear on two episodes both times as an individual! 

Sophie Gregory came into farming from accountancy and has properly grabbed the bull by the horns! Running her own organic farm alongside her partner, being on the arla board or her new Nuffield application success she has done a phenomenal amount! Great guest for the one to open the potential for repeat episodes on the R2kast! 

Check out episode 108 before this one to hear her whole story!

Enjoy! 

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Deer, calves and…flowers?!

Today’s guest, Laura Awdry grew up on a deer farm in New Zealand. She then decided to travel to the UK for a couple years before meeting her now husband and they found themselves expecting! 

Throwing herself into the deep end at her partner, Sam’s farm she started her calf rearing business with a hundred calves in a rented shed from her father in law which in his words he ‘thought he’d have it back in a year’…16 years on Laura rears 600.

Along with Sam and the kids they have now started a Duchy tenancy only moving in this year with a pretty impressive system on the go aiming at cutting costs. 

Laura is carrying her Nuffield out looking at sustainability and profitability of the dairy beef sector!

Enjoy! 

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I have filmed…well 170 episodes and to me this is the wildest! 

Our guest today is not only an ESPN pundit, he’s not only an ex-NEW England Revolution manager of 10 years in the MLS but he’s also a European cup winner who played for a decade in ‘that’ Liverpool team.

Barcelona around 2010, Real Madrid in the late 50s, maybe even AC Milan around 1990 but few top the Liverpool of the late 70s into 80s.

Stevie Nicol was the right back for a fair chunk of the 80s lifting the division 1 title 4 times, the FA Cup thrice, European cup once and representing Scotland including one trip to the World Cup! 

He made the PFA team of the year and was once voted the PFA Writers footballer of the year before finding success as a manager in the states as well! 

A great that with a great guy who truly made the peak of his profession.

Sponsored today by magic mind, thank you for your support, ed and I have enjoyed the product and we want to share it with our listeners! Check it out at www.magicmind.com/rukitchen20 and use our like rukitchen20 for 56% off! 

Enjoy.

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Philosophy, accountancy and soil!

Today’s guest has fitted a LOT in! 

Coming from a small farm in Yorkshire, Tom Scrope went to uni to study philosophy (I had a wee chat about this with no idea about what was going on) before starting working in accountancy! 

At a soil convention Tom came across an academic called Ben and they started a business together, Soil Benchmark! A very interesting data driven business which looks at soil profiling and mapping the country and creating a knowledge transfer area. A lot of this above my head but I found it very interesting! 

He’s taken this to Nuffield and plans on looking at knowledge transfer models implemented in all soil affecting/affecting industries!

Great episode with pretty bloody clever guy! 

Enjoy! 

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Queens, DB5’s and Wheat!

Our guest today grew up on an arable farm and knew it was always for him but has went around the houses before ending up at home!

Jamie stoles studied agriculture because operating as a mediator and consultant between farmers and researchers for the national trust and then the crown estate!

After a while doing this he took over the management of the family 1000ha arable unit with his two cousins! 

His addiction to all things cars is the main bane of his bank account’s life but he’s since taken on a Nuffield scholarship looking at vertical farming integration into UK agriculture on a large scale!

Just some good craic this really!

Enjoy!

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Belfast, Cairo and goats in Somerset

Todays guest Cormac White stubbornly decided at about 4 being a vet was his career, and it happened. Some fun at uni before travelling with his career followed! 

He found himself after graduating heading to New Zealand and Egypt to practise. Seeing some pretty horrendous things that’s he ‘hopes’ he won’t see again! Eye opening experiences with wonderful people was his explanation of Egypt!

After this he headed back to the UK where he met his now partner and how practises as a farm vet with a focus on small ruminants which led him to consultation on these animals.

Seeing a gap in the market he has taken on a Nuffield scholarship to look at the potential for small ruminant dairy here in the UK with plans to head to Europe, New Zealand and most interestingly, Mongolia!

Great chat with a really good guy!

Enjoy!

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That’s just plane crazy!

Every year I love a look at the Guinness Book of World Records and have done since I was a kid, whether it was Ashrita Furman with what I remember to be over 600 records himself, Robert Wadlow and Sultan Kösen as the tallest people ever and currently respectively or even the weird and wonderful such as the most watermelons smashed by the head by Roberto Rodriguez! It could have been a record conceptualised out of complete stupidity and absurdity or the absolutely peak of human ability…I just loved it all! Today we welcome a guest with 10!

Gunnar Garfors has done 22 US States in 24 hours, 5 contented in 24 hours 19 countries in 24 hours and many more but one sticks out, Gunnar is the first person to go to every country (a feat completed by roughly 200 people)…TWICE (a feat now completed by less people than have been to the moon, THREE.

This podcast is two geography nerds geeking out on the planet with one who has fallen in love with travel in recent months and the other surely THE expert…with Ed bumbling along for the ride!

His current task is writing about living on the equator, Antarctic and Arctic circles! That’ll be up there with Kate Rawles book for me! 

Amazing story, a very entertaining hour and an insane connection made!

Enjoy! 

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Supply chains the most important link? 

Series 4 begins with a fantastic guest and another of our 2024 Nuffield cohort! Thanks for the support last year and let’s top it again this year! 

Today we have Amy Stoner who always wanted to work in food in some capacity starting as a teenager she made an interactive business allowing kids to cater their own parties! 

After school it was Food Nutrition and Wellbeing and Food Industry Management at BSc and MSc respectively. 

Them with the training of a friend to drive up and down a field in the UK it was driving a chaser bin in Australia next before travelling and working with her partner around Australia! They then decided to travel south east Asia for a while before the dreaded ‘stay home and stay safe’ so back to Oz and working on a farm until they flew back to the UK!

Amy now works in raw materials for Samworth Brothers working with salad products for sandwiches to go!

This led her to Nuffield scholarship which will see her investigate ‘UK Food Security: A forward thinking approach to ensure resilient fresh produce supply chains!

Another belter form an inspirational young lady! 

Enjoy! 

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R2Kast Christmas special! 

The roles were reversed for this one where Ed interviewed Wallace about everything that’s been going on in the last few months which is a lot! We spoke about the podcast and what else I’ve been to from charity fundraisers to travelling across 3 continents. 

We go into a lot of depth about my life changing trip to Africa and my short trip to Ukraine. Not least before touching on my Nuffield scholarship where we are just getting started! 

A fun one to end the year and hope it shows that there’s lots more to come in the new year when season 4 comes!

A massive thank you for all the support across an insane year of podcasting with over 90 episodes being listened to in SEVENTY countries! Mad year! Onto the next!

Hope you had a lovely Christmas and are looking forward to a brilliant new year!

Enjoy!

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