Ear to the Ground Podcast
The ‘Ear to the Ground’ podcast, the first of its kind to be available in both Welsh and English, shares technical information, advice, support and inspiration to the farming community in Wales.
Episodes are just 20/30 minutes long and will include interviews with farmers and industry experts on a range of topical themes.
A new episode will be published every fortnight, and topics for the Autumn months will include conversations recorded at the Innovation and Diversification Wales event, the Farming the Environment event and an opportunity to get to know some of our new demonstration farmers.
LATEST EPISODE:
Episode 47 - Producing world-class wine in Wales
Situated in the beautiful rolling countryside of Monmouthshire near the village of Llanvetherine lies White Castle Vineyard – the home of Robb and Nicola Merchant. Having diversified some 12 years ago, they have turned their dream into a thriving business. They are now producing some of the finest wine in the world having recently been awarded a Gold Medal in the Decanter World Wine Awards – the first Welsh wine to do so! In this episode, Robb tells us how it all started and how others can get involved in the growing Welsh wine industry.
Recent Episodes:
Episode 42 - Managing grass growth in a changing climate
With this April being one of the driest and coldest on record, grass yields on average are only half of what they would be normally on farms across Wales. In this episode, we discuss how farmers are coping with the changing climate and ways of mitigating forage deficits with Helen Mathieu, Area Sales Manger for Germinal GB.
Episode 43 - Building an enjoyable and profitable business at Mountjoy Farm, Pembrokeshire
This week the team have been back recording on location and have visited Mountjoy Farm near Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire; one of Farming Connect’s demonstration sites. Mountjoy is a dairy farm run by second generation farmer William Hannah and his family. William’s objective is to build an “enjoyable and profitable business” and, in this episode, he talks about some of the projects that he’s been involved with as a demonstration site including methods of introducing superior genetics into the dairy herd and ways of reducing the use of nitrogen fertiliser inputs.
Episode 44 - First generation farmers share how the Agri Academy helped build their business
This week, we join the Agri Academy on their first face-to-face meeting since the pandemic began. The Business & Innovation class of 2020 are hosted by two first generation farmers and former Agri Academy members - Rhidian Glyn at Rhiwgriafol, Talywern and Heledd (and Phill) Dancer at Tanyffordd, Cemaes. Both share their experiences as new entrants into agriculture, the challenges faced and their plans for the future while also reflecting on how the Agri Academy helped them along the way, creating new connections and laying the foundations for their businesses.
Episode 45 - Bryn Farm – a diverse rural business with farming at its core
In this episode, we meet Huw Jones who farms with his wife Meinir at Bryn Farm near Cardigan. Together they run a suckler beef enterprise, grow barley, oats and wheat alongside their diversification projects which includes an animal bedding business servicing the pet industry and holiday lets. As a Farming Connect demonstration site, Bryn Farm is also involved in a number of projects looking at ways to improve the performance of the beef herd and to maximise the benefits of rotational grazing.
Episode 46 - If you look after the stock, the stock will look after you
In this episode, we meet Tom Evans who farms with his wife Beth and children at Pendre Farm near Aberystwyth. Tom is a keen stockman and believes firmly that “if you look after the stock, the stock will look after you”. Tune in to hear more about his farming philosophy and the projects he has undertaken as a Farming Connect demonstration site.
