Ear to the Ground Podcast

Episode 72: Tree planting working for a 500 cow dairy unit at Hendre Llwyn y Maen

Hendre Llwyn y Maen is a hill farm of approximately 400 acres with additional in buy land rising up to 1100ft above sea level . Robin Crossley, the owner, is a keen environmentalist and values the woodlands as an important component of the farm providing game shooting, shelter for stock and wildlife habitat. In this conversation, Robin explains the mindset of how the tree planting began and how it's developed to be an integral part of the farm business. Also in the conversation we have Sam Pearson, the farm Manager and Farming Connect Mentor talking about the farm's business objectives and the value of trees to the farming system.

Episode 73: Effective succession planning

This episode is presented by Alison Harvey, Agri Supply Chain Advisor at Rural Advisor. She is joined by Solicitor and Managing Partner at Agri Advisor, Dr Nerys Llewelyn Jones. One of the most difficult conversations to be had revolves around succession planning, especially when dealing with the issue within a farming business, where personal and business objectives often go hand in hand. Agri Advisor feel that it is important to look at succession planning as a process as opposed to a one-off event. It is advisable that your wills, inheritance tax position, powers of attorney and your business structures are considered before inevitable changes to your farming business arise. 

Episode 74: Electricity for poultry production and renewable options

This episode is the second in our series for poultry producers, but the content will also be of interest for farmers with high on site energy consumption. Catherine Price, Lead Dairy and Poultry Technical Officer at Farming Connect is joined by not one, not two but three guests. We have egg producers Llyr Jones and Osian Williams who have invested heavily in renewable energy on farm and energy specialist Chris Brooks which provides a deeper understanding of what's driven the energy price increase, and how we can look at our energy efficiency before considering if renewable energy is still a viable option.

Episode 75: Grass Breeding: Planting the seeds of the future

Pasture will be the focus of this podcast in the company of Cennydd Jones, lecturer in grassland management at Aberystwyth University and also a part-time farmer. Cennydd will be joined by Alan Lovatt a grass breeder throughout his career and now does consultancy work for Germinal which is based in Gogerddan near Aberystwyth.

With over 75% of the Welsh landscape being grassland of one kind or another, and considering that grassland is a vitally important part of the diet of cattle, sheep, horses and even goats and alpacas, It's undoubtedly a key part of the jigsaw when it comes to tackling climate change, feeding the population and increasing profits on our farms, and we will touch on all these important aspects during the next 20 minutes.

Episode 76: Why agriculture was the career of choice for our new entrants panel

The average age of a Welsh farmer is 60, and only 3% of farmers are under 35 - what more can be done to encourage new entrants into agriculture? In our two part series we've asked our first four new entrants to the industry to come together to discuss why they're in the industry, what they love about it and what the challenges are? This episode is also available to watch on our YouTube channel, click on this link and be sure to like the video, subscribe to the channel and hit the bell to be notified of any new content.

Panel: Matt Swarbrick, Peredur Owen, Ernie Richards and Bryn Perry