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Hosts Josh Redford and Naomi Williams-Roberts sit down with Dave Stringer, the Butchery Apprenticeship Trainer at Dovecote Park, which provides British beef, veal and venison to Waitrose nationwide.
Dave talks about Dovecote Park’s fully-funded and bespoke training programme to tackle the challenge of sourcing and retaining skilled labour specialist areas such as butchery, and how a strong uptake from women in their programme is helping to broaden participation in a part of the industry that has historically been male-dominated.
Our hosts also talk to Rob Lewis, a beef and sheep farmer in Wales who bought his local pub, the Triangle Inn, in 2022. Rob talks about how he uses the pub as a direct route to the beef market, from rearing cattle, working with trusted local abattoirs and butchers, to then serving the finished product in his pub, giving customers a clear line of sight from field to plate.
“We’ve got a great story to tell,” says Rob. “With Great British Beef Week coming up we’ve got a strong message to get out there.”
Listen to find out how Rob shares the history and origin of his produce via his pub.
How local election results could impact you
NFU Head of External Affairs Scott Pepe and graduate Joe Rhodes deliver an England local election special where they analyse what to expect on 7 May.
“Although national politics is important [...] the simple fact of the matter is if you’ve got a good local councillor, people are often willing to vote for them regardless of which party they come from,” says Scott.
Joe adds: “Most people are expecting it to be pretty bad for the government. In its defence that is typical for mid-term of a government. But people are also expecting it to be bad for His Majesty’s Opposition, the Conservatives, and for us to see big gains for Reform UK and the Greens.”
From local planning decisions to rural crime, how could the local elections impact the farming community? Listen to Joe and Scott’s expert analysis to find out and to hear what the NFU is calling for ahead of the elections.
Release the cows
Josh then connects to Sweden to talk to Jörgen Eriksson, a dairy farmer who is taking part in an event called Kosläpp, or ‘cow release’ in May. After videos of cows being let outside for the first time in spring have gone viral on social media in recent years, farmers in Sweden have started to hold events where visitors can watch their cows being released onto pasture in-person, with the biggest event welcoming around 10,000 people.
Jörgen reveals how a Kosläpp event works, and why people seem to enjoy them so much.
Hungry for more? Delve into some of the topics covered in the latest Shed Talks
Meet the speakers:
Josh Redford
East Sussex and West Sussex County Adviser and Surrey County Adviser
He is originally from Sussex and caught the farming bug as a teenager, when he helped on a local dairy farm.
After undertaking an Agriculture BSc at Cirencester he worked on an arable farm in Cambridgeshire, and with Farmcare as a trainee agronomist before he joined Greens of Soham.
Away from work, he is a qualified water sports instructor and an infantry reservist.
Visit Josh's East Sussex county page
Visit Josh's West Sussex county page
Visit Josh's Surrey county page
Naomi Williams-Roberts
NFU Student & Young Farmer Alumni | NFU Cymru
Hailing from South East Wales, a self-proclaimed late comer, it wasn’t obvious she was ‘allowed’ to join the industry, however after joining YFC her feet are firmly under the table. Establishing her farm in 2018 with her husband, Josh, Naomi hopes to help others realise their farming dreams can come true!
Scott Pepe
NFU Head of External Affairs
He is also responsible for raising the NFU’s campaigning and lobbying profile in Westminster and is the NFU’s speechwriter.
Scott first joined the NFU in 2017. Before that, he worked in Parliament. He worked for the Deputy Chief Whip before going on to run an MP’s office. He has also been an adviser to Treasury Ministers and HMRC.
Joe Rhodes
NFU external affairs graduate
Robert Lewis
NFU Cymru Livestock Board Chair
The enterprise consists of 1200 head of sheep, including 450 traditional Welsh Mountain ewes; the business produces its own replacements, only buying in tups. The cattle enterprise consists of 60 Limousin and British Blue suckler cows which to go a Limousin bull. Calves are finished on farm.
Robert is a lamb buying agent for Pilgrim Foods. He has also judged livestock at many shows including the Royal Welsh Agricultural Winter Fair. He also recently purchased the Triangle Inn in Cwmdeuddwr.
The pub aims to showcase the beef and lamb from Rob’s farm, telling the powerful story of local provenance and a short supply chain. Last year, Rob was appointed as a Fellow for the Royal Agricultural Society.