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Peonies and potatoes
Hosts Bizza Walters and Luke Cox sit down with founder of Petit Peonies David Wheatley and Cambridgeshire potato grower Luke Abblitt to discuss how social media and direct sales are helping farmers reconnect with consumers and take greater control of their businesses.
David sells around 100,000 peony stems per year, mainly through social media; listen to find out how he started his business in the face of adversity in the aftermath of a farm fire swiftly followed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Last year was the first year I said no to the supermarkets and we sold every single one,” says David.
Follow David on Instagram and TikTok.
Meanwhile, Luke Abblitt combined educational videos with his sales technique to sell his produce.
Luke started selling his potatoes to fish and chip shops but now reaches consumers directly through potato boxes. “I managed to piggyback off my social media presence and build it that way,” Luke explains. “I started off doing a lot of school talks, educating children and the public, then Covid hit and I couldn’t go into schools so I started doing them online.” Follow Luke on Instagram and visit FarmerLuke.co.uk.
Bizza and Luke also look ahead to Farm-Fest, taking place at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire from 22 – 24 May. NFU members can claim a 50% discount on tickets.
Post-election fallout and two wins for farming
What do the election results mean for rural constituencies? NFU External Affairs Manages Ruairi Hodges and Neeve McGinty reflect on the fallout from the local election results and what the political changes could mean for rural areas and farming policy.
Ruairi tells listeners how two Bills passed before parliament was prorogued promise a greater voice for rural communities in local decision-making and new police powers to help recover stolen agricultural equipment that has been electronically tracked.
How has the war in Iran affected fertiliser in the UK?
Luke Cox asks NFU Chief Economist Jack Watts for his views on some of the comments we are seeing around regenerative farming and the role it might play in mitigating the impacts of the conflict in the Middle East.
“The fertiliser issue off the back of the Iran war is causing an immediate issue,” says Jack. “While regenerative agriculture is really important and does offer some long-term solutions, it’s not going to be the quick fix that we need to make fertiliser available and affordable to enable farms to produce the crops the market needs.”
“The sector especially arable doesn’t have the confidence or the cashflow to take on anymore risk in that situation so it does need the support to make those changes,” Luke adds.
Jack explains what to expect next from the NFU's lobbying work as the war continues to have a knock on effect on cost pressures for farmers in the UK.
Find out about Farm Africa’s work
The episode also looks beyond the UK to hear from Helena Lawi, Gender Specialist at Farm Africa, about work to support women farmers in Tanzania. Helena explains how improving access to finance, inputs and training is helping women move from subsistence farming into the cash economy, including through crops such as sunflower and sorghum.
She also discusses why empowerment is not just about working with women in isolation. Farm Africa’s experience has shown that bringing men and wider communities into the conversation is critical to changing attitudes, supporting women into leadership roles and creating lasting improvements at farm level.
Hungry for more? Delve into some of the topics covered in the latest Shed Talks
Local elections 2026 – How local authorities can help shape the future of British farming
NFU urges newly-elected councillors to back British farming
Six top tips to ace farming social media
Social media and video tips for farmers
Rural communities to have greater say in local decision-making
NFU welcomes new police powers to recover stolen farm equipment
Impact of the conflict in the Middle East on farming: NFU asks
How the war in Iran has put fertiliser and food security back in the spotlight
Meet the speakers:
Bizza Walters
NFU Student & Young Farmer Alumni
She farms pedigree Greyface Dartmoor sheep alongside a small flock of commercial Romneys, sharing her love for British farming and rural life on social media.
Luke Cox
NFU combinable crops senior policy adviser
Neeve McGinty
NFU external affairs manager
Alongside elected officeholders, she meets MPs and Ministers, leads the NFU Food and Farming Fellowship Scheme, and organises regular events throughout the year to keep food and farming on the political agenda, including at the political party conferences.
Neeve joined the NFU in 2021 as a Public Affairs and Communications Graduate working on public facing campaigns and political lobbying. She took up the role of External Affairs Adviser role for the NFU's team in Westminster in 2022, and progressed to her current role in January 2025.
Ruairi Hodges
NFU External Affairs Manager
Alongside elected officeholders, Ruairi meets with MPs and Ministers to pursue the interests of the NFU’s members. He has a particular focus on international trade, rural crime, education and local government.
Ruairi joined the NFU in May 2025. Prior to this he worked in Parliament for over seven years for MPs representing seats in Perthshire, Derbyshire, Teesside and North Lincolnshire.
Luke Abblitt
NFU Potato Policy Group member
The farm comprises 400 acres of mixed cropping on predominantly black Fenland peat soil. Crop rotation is wheat, barley, sugar beet and potatoes.
Luke grows a modest acreage of 20-30 acres of potatoes per year for the fish and chip market.
He sells potatoes direct to the public, delivering locally and posting nationwide.
Representing tenant farmers for NFU Cambridgeshire, chairing his local NFU Branch (Ramsey & Whittlesey), and farming in a strong potato growing area, Luke is well informed with the concerns and challenges facing potato growers; weather, input pressures and market volatility being key issues.
Although his acreage is small, it represents a large proportion of the farm’s income and expense, so the impact the potato trade and policy has on Luke’s farm is great. He brings a grass roots growers perspective to the board, with a particular focus on tenanted farms producing the crop.