R2Kast - People in Food and Farming/All In

Well today we welcome Leah to the R2Kast 🎙️ Someone whose story moves quickly, from Welsh speaking smallholding life to dropping out of uni on her birthday and walking straight into agricultural marketing. 🌾We chatted about how she messaged Andy at Hillsgreen on a whim, turned a week of work experience into 15 months, and found out she preferred real world creativity over lectures. Her honesty about wanting pace, purpose and practical learning made a lot of sense. 🍎One of my favourite parts was hearing about her role with the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society. From the madness of running social media at the winter fair, to launching a content creator internship so the show can finally be covered properly, to helping steer one of the biggest events in UK agriculture. Her passion for Wales and pride in the show really shone through. 🌍Enjoy! 🙂

Well today we welcome Katelyn to the R2Kast 🎙️ Someone whose early career has moved quickly, from Harper Adams to placements, into food marketing, and now into a role working with sustainable ingredients made from broccoli stems. 🌾We spoke about how she nearly studied law before a last minute spark pushed her into agri food marketing. Her time at Harper was full of funny moments, including turning up to crop class in sparkly wellies and confidently identifying a blade of grass as green. During her placement year she found herself learning everything from finance to branding to factory life, all while navigating the chaos of large team meetings and the curse of confusing acronyms. 🍎One of my favourite parts was hearing about her current work helping turn broccoli stems into fibre ingredients, reducing waste and adding nutritional value in a really clever way. Her passion for people came through constantly, from supporting international visitors to juggling marketing, communications and everything else you’d expect in a fast moving startup environment. 🌍Enjoy! 🙂

Well today we welcome Bill to the R2Kast 🎙️ Someone many folk in Scottish farming will know well. We started with his journey from Belfast to St Andrews, studying medicine before realising it wasn’t the right path, and how that eventually led him into agriculture through rugby clubs, mentors and a real love of working on the land. 🌾We spoke about his thirty years at Rosemains, running a mixed arable estate, the changes he’s overseen, the monitor farm years, and the diversification that’s brought new life into the place. His honesty about learning on the job and the value of great mentorship was brilliant. 🍎One of my favourite parts was hearing about his curling career. Representing Ireland, beating Canada in a world final and winning the 2012 World Senior Championships. The pride, the teamwork and the story behind it really shone through. 🌍We rounded off with RHS governance, being chair during COVID, the emotion of the showcase year, his MBE, and the advice he gives to anyone coming into farming today. Bill has lived a life full of graft, passion and service to the industry.Enjoy! 🙂

Well today we welcome Ally to the R2Kast 🎙️ Someone many of you will know from the telly, from farming, or now from podcasting as the co host of Meet the Farmers The Big Debate. We kicked off chatting about how that show began, how he ended up working alongside Sophie and Ben, and the challenge of debating topics when everyone secretly agrees. 🌾We got into the farm at Weir End, how he took over the tenancy, the move into diversification, his ongoing hunt for the perfect legume crop and the reality of trying peas, beans and soya with very mixed results. His honesty about the highs and frustrations of arable farming made for a brilliant conversation. 🍎One of my favourite parts was hearing about his TV days and the chaos, comedy and madness behind the scenes. From Discovery filming the whole place, to his dad unexpectedly stealing the show, to dealing with online criticism and learning when not to reply. It really showed how grounded he is and how much he values people and community. 🌍Enjoy! 🙂

Well today we welcome me again, this time to look back over the last two years and what they’ve really been like 🎙️ From Rwanda and Tanzania, to Ukraine, America, Japan, New Zealand, China and everywhere in between, it’s been a wild mix of travel, learning, worry, joy and a lot of growing up. 🌾I spoke about the early trips with SAYFC, meeting people who changed the way I see the world, and then heading to Ukraine to deliver a pickup in a war zone and realising how lucky we are at home. From there it rolled straight into America with SRUC, the FFA convention and seeing youth development on a huge scale. 🍎One of my favourite parts to talk through was the Nuffield journey itself. The highs, the tough bits, the health scares in Brazil, the people who kept me going, and the way it all came together on stage in Aberdeen last week. It was a reminder that these things test you, stretch you and shape you, but they also introduce you to a family you didn’t know you needed. 🌍We wrapped up with where life is now, the new job, the changes at home, my hopes for the next five years and why being yourself has taken me further than anything else.A proper down to earth chat about people, food, and the stories that connect them all.Enjoy! 🙂

Well today we welcome Daniel to the R2Kast 🎙️ A brilliant chat with someone who has lived a life full of stories long before becoming a medical student. From being born on a farm to cycling thousands of miles through places like Syria, Sudan and Pakistan, his tales of hospitality, fear, humour and pure naivety were unreal. 🌾We spoke about the moments that shaped him most, from strangers handing him fruit in the middle of nowhere to months spent helping in refugee camps across France and Greece. His passion for people and that sense of humanity came through in everything he said. 🍎One of my favourite parts was when Daniel explained why he moved into remote and rural medicine on the ScotGEM course, and how rural placements in Orkney and Inverness have helped him see health, community and change in a whole new way. It really showed the mix of resilience and compassion that drives him. 🌍We wrapped up talking nature, wellbeing and why looking after yourself is far more important than people admit. A chat full of honesty, laughs and moments that stay with you.Enjoy! 🙂

Well today we welcome me to talk all things China on the people in food and farming series of the R2Kast 🎙️ A slightly different one this time as I dove into my own story, chatting about six weeks living and teaching in Qingdao and what life was really like on the other side of the world. 🌾We got into how the opportunity came about, from a chance conversation at RAU to a whirlwind of visas, last minute passport chaos and hopping across continents to land in a country where nothing was familiar and everything was new. I spoke about the early wobble of being totally disconnected from home, the kindness of strangers like the student who fixed my WiFi, and those first few days when fear and excitement were sitting right beside each other. 🍎One of my favourite parts to reflect on was the teaching itself, and how humour, photos, the odd Mandarin word and a fair bit of physical comedy helped bridge language barriers. The students were phenomenal, the workload intense, and the whole education system made me stop and think deeply about what we expect from young people and what it costs to create excellence. 🌍We wrapped up by talking about travel, friendships, food (yes including insects and chicken head), moments of culture shock, how safe the country really felt, and what China has taught me about people, resilience and stepping into the unknown. I left feeling grateful, curious and genuinely changed by the experience.A proper down to earth chat about people, food, and the stories that connect them all.Enjoy! 🙂

Today on the All In series of the R2Kast I was joined by Nicholas Duffy 🎙️ The series where we share the stories of people with no ties to food or farming but who still have something powerful to say about life, ambition and what drives them 🌍Nick, who goes by the pen name Nicholas the Poodle, is an author, traveller and teacher from Massachusetts now living and working in Qingdao, China. We spoke about how the name came about, the meaning behind it, and how it’s helped him grow as a writer 📚We chatted about his books, five of them so far, that range from young adult fiction to poetry and how he wants to write stories that people actually want to read, not ones they feel they have to. He’s got a real creative energy about him and it’s clear he loves what he does ✏️We also spoke about teaching English across the world and how that’s taken him from Laos to Chile, California and now China. It was great hearing his take on what living here’s really like, the respect and patience in the culture, and how he’s learning Mandarin bit by bit 🇨🇳One of my favourite parts was when Nick talked about the way writing connects people, not just through words but through how we listen and understand each other. It’s that same energy I see in teaching too and it made for a really honest and thoughtful chat 🌱A proper conversation about life, learning and seeing the world with open eyesEnjoy! 🙂

Today we welcome Annie Landless onto the R2Kast! 🎙️ Annie works on a 600 acre organic mixed farm in the Cotswolds where she manages everything from veg boxes to beef cattle and pigs. Her passion for regenerative systems shines through as she talks about herbal lays, mob grazing, and the importance of soil health. 🌱🐄🐝We explore Annie’s journey from a family farm with a reputation for organic beef to her current role at Harnhill. She shares how bread and sourdough brought her back into farming and how her interest in good food links directly with the way she now grows grain for local mills and bakers. 🍞🌾Annie also reveals her love for beekeeping, a skill passed down from her aunt, and how she finds peace in the company of thousands of buzzing bees. We dive into how she balances farming with communications and marketing, and even touch on her McGregor roots with a family story that may link her to the outlaw Rob Roy. 🐝🍯🏴It is a conversation full of heritage, humour, and hope for a future shaped by regenerative thinking and community connections.Enjoy! 😊#AnnieLandless #OrganicFarming #RegenerativeAgriculture #SoilHealth #MixedFarming #MobGrazing #PastureForLife #MarketGarden #VegBoxes #CotswoldsFarming #Beekeeping #Sourdough #LocalFoodSystems #FarmToFork #HerbalLays #SouthwestGrainNetwork #CommunityFarming #SustainableFood #FamilyFarms #BeefLady #R2Kast #PeopleInFoodAndFarming