The MacVet Podcast

Heather Wildman loves helping people and businesses understand how they can get the most out of themselves. Using her own experiences working in different agribusinesses, she knows the importance of management style to build motivated and positive teams, and what happens when bad behaviour and poor attitudes are tolerated within a team.

Another facet of Heather's work is helping businesses and farming families with their succession planning, ensuring that businesses can continue to run smoothly once key people retire, move to another job or have died.

In this episode, we discuss:

facing up to the implications of Heather's recent accident, when she broke her back in two places,

how a desire to be more effective at knowledge transfer turned into a fascinating Nuffield scholarship project,

possible reasons for not discussing what happens after death within families, but the benefits of being honest and sharing what could happen to the farm and business in the future.

Listen in to hear Heather's thoughts on communication, cows and coffee!

Links from the show:

http://www.saviourassociates.co.uk/

https://www.nuffieldscholar.org/

Rural geographer David Christian Rose recognises that farming can feel like a juggling act. In his role as Elizabeth Creak Chair in Sustainable Agri-Food Systems at Harper Adams University, David leads the 'Change in Agriculture' research group, whose objective is to help farmers and farming stakeholders navigate the changes being asked of them.

David has considerable experience communicating his views and research findings across many and varied platforms, including the mainstream media, farming press and as part of the debating team at Oxford University discussing the benefits of eating a balanced diet that includes meat and dairy.

In this episode, we discuss:

how the behaviour of people has an impact on our environment,

the importance of producing tangible outputs from research: make it meaningful and make it matter,

finding out what can help motivate people to change.

Listen in to hear David's thoughts on communication, cows and coffee!

Kristen Reyher enjoys working with animals but ultimately became a veterinarian to help the people who’s lives depend on their animals. In her role as Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology and Population Health at Bristol Vet School, Kristen enjoys teaching the next generation of vet students and supporting her research team achieve success.

Kristen has a passion for data, describing herself as a 'mathlete'. She is also fascinated by human behaviour: what motivates people in their use of antimicrobials, and how vets can communicate more effectively about motivating change to manage endemic diseases such as mastitis and lameness.

In this episode, we discuss:

Listen in to discover Kristen's thoughts on communication, cows and coffee!

In each episode of the podcast, I like to ask my guests about their favourite cow breed. On this occasion, I wanted to speak to someone who could tell me more about my own favourite dairy breed, the Ayrshire. My guest in this episode is Duncan Hunter, someone who has vast experience and understanding of this beautiful breed.

Over generations, Duncan and his family built up their prize-winning herd, the Haresfoot Ayrshires, which were in the top 1% in the UK for production for many years and won numerous awards with their high-quality milk and management standards. Duncan also held the role of breed manager for the Ayrshire Cattle Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

He now provides consultancy services in the dairy sector, and recently returned to provide support to the Ayrshire Cattle Society. This involves working across a wide range of activities, which include promoting the breed through novel communication channels.

In this episode, we discuss:

breed and personality traits of Ayrshire cows,

the benefits of introducing Ayrshires into dairy herds to improve sustainability,

embracing technology to enhance communication for internal and external audiences,

International Ayrshire Cow Day.

Listen in to hear Duncan’s thoughts on communication, cows and coffee!

Links from this episode:

Duncan's consultancy website https://hunterdairyconsulting.com/

Ayrshire Cattle Society of Great Britian and Ireland https://www.ayrshirescs.org/ayrshires-cattle-society/

Ayrshire YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@AyrshireCattleSocietyOFFICIAL

Veterinarian Ryane Englar is a leading light in the field of communication skills development, helping veterinary students become the vet they want to be.

Chris Moon is a motivational speaker. He talks about his own experience of facing challenging situations, that many

He became the world’s first amputee ultra-distance runner; he’s experienced being in dark places and finding a way out of them. A key principle that Chris speaks about is that we should all challenge the concept of limitations we face through life.

In this episode, we discuss:

his background in farming and the army, which helped shape his approach to resilience,

the importance of connecting with others and avoiding isolation,

how humour provides such a vital role as a coping mechanism,

the benefits of making people feel valued and listened to through our communication.

Listen in to hear Chris’s thoughts on communication, cows and coffee!

Links from the show: www.chrismoon.co.uk

In this Christmas catch up with Rachael Porter, we chat about highlights from the year and plans for 2024.

Cow Management magazine reaches a milestone next year and Rachael shares some of the exciting plans in store for its readers.

Listen to the full episode with Rachael Porter 'Fascinated by farming' in season 1.

In this short Christmas catch up with farm vet Sarah Tomlinson, we find out how important it is to gather people together so they can share their experiences.

Sarah explains why she feels the recent conference on TB control in England was so well received.

You can hear Sarah's full length interview in episode 2 of the podcast 'Never turn down a cuppa!'.

Wondering what to expect from this podcast?

Listen in to this brief introduction from creator Fiona MacGillivray.

Giovanni Gnemmi is a world-renowned expert in bovine ultrasonography, sharing the knowledge he has acquired over 30 years with veterinarians and farm workers around the globe.

He is professor of bovine reproduction at the University of Valencia, Spain, where he is also an active researcher in this field.

Giovanni clearly has a passion for what he does; from a young age he was determined to become a veterinarian and work with cows, despite not coming from a farming background. Indeed, this affinity for cattle and desire to help others learn the benefits of ultrasonography is so strong that retirement is not something he is contemplating any time soon!

In this episode, Giovanni talks about:

how his work has opened up a vast range of opportunities,

helping vets appreciate the broad application of scanning in herd health,

an exciting new venture to help students develop their scanning skills!

Listen in to hear Giovanni's thoughts on communication, cows and coffee!

Links from this episode:

https://www.bovinevet.com/en/