#STUDENTFARMER - April 2015

THE ‘FARM THE WORLD’ EDITION

APRIL 2015

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April 2015

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4 7 16 18 21 24 26 31 32 35 36 39 42 It only seemed right after our last edition, which was a very subtle celebration of everything British, that we touched on the rest of the world as well. The world might seem like a big place, but everything is connected – British farming can’t exist in a little bubble and there’s no denying that outside market forces and events have an impact on farmers here. But it’s not all bad – there’s a big wide world out there, full of experiences and ideas, and there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t get out there and see some of it. Experiencing how other people farm in other countries can only be a positive thing if you hope to run your own business one day. Everyone likes a sneaky look over the hedge, to see what their neighbouring farmer is doing. Take that a step further – have

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FARMING AROUND THE WORLD BRITISH FARMERS ABROAD BRUSSELS: BEHIND THE SCENES BRUSSELS: THE VERDICT NEW ZEALAND SCHOLARSHIP MEANWHILE, IN THIS COUNTRY… ROAD TRIP! LUNAR FESTIVAL WHY SHOULD YOU VOTE? LONDON CALLING THE ARCHERS CROWDFUNDING POSTER

a look at what farmers in America, Australia and Europe are doing and learn from it. Farmers are often accused of never leaving ‘the village’ – we know that’s completely wrong, so get out there and prove it.

But never fear, we haven’t completely forgotten everything that’s going on in this country. We’ve put together the ultimate farming road trip for those who can’t jet abroad this summer and we’ve got a couple of other surprises for you, including a behind the scenes insight into The Archers. There’s also the small matter of a forthcoming General Election. A misconception of young people is that they don’t care about politics and don’t bother to vote.

The more young people that vote, the more the government will have to sit up and take notice of you. So put 7 May in your diary and have your say.

Thank you to…

The lovely people at Radio 4, who let us invade their studio while they were recording The Archers Alex Griffiths, for not assuming we were insane when we asked him to draw an illustration of the world with animals walking around it for our cover Zoe More O’Ferrall, for designing the most beautiful map we’ve ever seen for our road trip.

Published by: NFU, Agriculture House, Stoneleigh Park, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, CV8 2TZ

Filled with words by: Victoria Wilkins, Jim McKeane, Guy Whitmore and Ben Pike

Designed by:

Emily Cole Editor of #studentfarmer Email: studentfarmer@nfu.org.uk Facebook.com/StudentFarmer Twitter: @studentfarmer

John Cottle

To advertise contact: Alan Brown alan.brown@nfu.org.uk

20/04/2015 09:31

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Leeches, spider goats and rats the size of a small dog The world is a big place. And it’s full of weird stuff. Farming is no different – behold, crazy farming practices from around the globe…

In China, swiftlet birds are farmed for their nests, which are considered an edible delicacy. Farms collect the nests, which are then eaten with or without a swiftlet bird in it.

Parts of the nest, which is made of solidified bird saliva, are also used to make the world-famous bird's nest soup.

Delish…

In China, rats the size of small dogs are being farmed.

Giant bamboo rats can grow up to 50 centimetres in length and weigh four kilograms. Rat meat is considered a delicacy in some parts of China, costing more than four times the amount paid for chicken or pork.

It’s not only Bear Grylls who eats bugs. Crickets are farmed in Thailand and sold as tasty snacks by street vendors. They season the bugs with salt, pepper and chilli before frying in a wok.

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In Asia, caterpillar farms create silk from the cocoons of silkworms found in mulberry trees. Small numbers of moths lay thousands of eggs, out of which come the caterpillars that are fed for a number of weeks. When the caterpillar creates and gets into its cocoon for metamorphosis, the cocoons are heated to kill the insect. The farmers then boil the cocoon and treat its silken strands, before weaving them into silk.

Mangalitsa pigs (or curly-hair hogs, if you will) were the most popular pigs at the party in the 19th century. Royalty loved them, hell, they were even the subject of an opera.

After World War Two though their popularity dwindled, but they’re on the rise again, especially in America. How will you spot one? If you see something that looks suspiciously like a sheep-pig, you’re onto a winner.

In Australia, snake ranches breed snakes that are sold as pets and for harvesting venom that is used for research purposes.

In Bangladesh, many struggle to grow crops as the monsoon season leaves huge swathes of area covered by water.

To combat this, they use floating gardens. These are created using hyacinths to construct the raft, onto which a layer of soil and cow dung is added. The vegetables then go into the covering of soil and dung.

In Zanzibar, seaweed is farmed for use in cosmetics and medicines – it’s not just a tasty accompaniment to a Chinese takeaway.

Tea anyone? While you may think of India when you think of tea plantations, arable farmers in the Scottish Highlands have created one of the biggest tea plantations in Europe.

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April 2015

In Taiwan, certain fruit farms have used cow milk as substitute for fertiliser – and, apparently, seen impressive results.

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Fancy a coffee? An elephant dung coffee? No, it’s not a joke. In Thailand, a premier coffee bean is produced by feeding the beans to elephants and picking them out of the animal’s dung. The beans are then sold to coffee connoisseurs across the world for up to $500 a pound.

Jokes about 50 Shades of Grey aside, with so many of our day-to-day products containing rubber, it’s easy to forget it’s a natural extract. As rubber trees like the heat, they are primarily grown in Africa, from which latex is extracted. Yet other nations are getting in on the act, the latest of which is China.

In southern China, a speciality chicken farm feeds its birds on a mix of Chinese herbs. This is not only good news for those that consume the chicken, as the herbs are beneficial to the human body, but it also means the farm does not smell of putrid chicken droppings.

Poultry farmers, take note!

Companies in South Africa, the US, France and the Netherlands are gearing up for the large-scale farming of insects to feed to chicken, pigs and farmed fish. The move is in response to the belief that bugs could provide a sustainable alternative to increasingly expensive cereals.

While years ago we poked fun at the French for eating snails, nowadays us Brits are all for it. Demand for the edible garden snail has rocketed as the UK goes gastro, so it’s little surprise that British agriculture has seen a massive rise in UK snail producers.

An animal that’s part goat and part spider? While it sounds like character from a horror film, it’s real. Thanks to genetic manipulation, ‘spider goats’ are being farmed in America.

The animal looks and acts like a goat, but has spider silk protein in its milk that is extracted and spun into thread.

Crocodile farming – in Britain!

While it may not sound quite so surprising to learn crocs are reared for their meat in Australia, it may come as more of a shock to learn that one farmer in Cambridge hopes to be farming crocodiles in the next few years.

In Africa, simple wooden ploughs with a metal blade are pulled by a donkey.

The ploughs can also be adapted and pulled by camels.

In developing countries, small-scale farmers use a technique that allows fish to live amongst rice plants.

The fish – which live in small channels along the side of the plants – provide a source of fertiliser from their droppings, and protect the plants from insects.

While calling it a farm may be a bit tenuous, the Giraffe Ranch in Florida says it is not a zoo, but a farm. It is a working game farm, and encourages visitors to ride on its giraffes.

Two hundred years ago Wales was the leech farming capital of Europe – and it might well be again.

A Swansea leech farm could be behind the bloodsucker’s comeback as a medical tool, currently providing tens of thousands of leeches a year to hospitals across Europe.

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A bath-time favourite is farmed in California by The Luffa – or luffah – Farm. It grows the sponges that many favour for use in the shower or bath, as well as natural bath bombs, bath salts and handmade natural soaps.

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FARMING AROUND THE WORLD Where will you go?

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African adventure: rob hosker After being offered a job by worldwide growers G’s, Rob Hosker set out on the adventure of a lifetime to become a crop manager on their Senegal radish and onion farm

Agriculture has always been for me.

I don’t come from a farming background, but that won’t stop me. I’ve been working in agriculture since the age of 15, but I knew from a young age that I wanted to be involved in some way. When I was 15 I spent three years working on a large country estate in Shropshire, farming 2,000ha of cereals and oilseed rape and a 200-head herd of suckler cows. I then moved on to work on a mixed farm in my gap year at the age of 18, working mainly on the dairy enterprise milking the cows twice a day – then I went to work on a potato farm.

I needed another foot in the door.

G’s presented me with another opportunity to get myself on the career ladder. I felt that I needed to work in a different sector of agriculture from previous experiences and with my passion for growing and crops, what better place than G’s?

From Shropshire to Senegal.

I’m a crop manager for G’s in West Africa. We produce 15m bunches of salad onions, 1000t of radish and 350,000 bunches of continental onions. The farm is currently farming six 30ha pivots and expanding every year with up to 14 30ha pivots. It’s in sub-sahara in the north of Senegal, situated to the west of Lac de Guires between the towns of Louga and Richard Toll. I’m responsible for all growing, the radish harvest, cultivations, drilling, irrigation and the farm workshop.

It’s not without hard work.

Working on the farm has been a great experience for me – it's great for someone my age to be given this opportunity and level of responsibility. The environment in Senegal is harsh, with very little rain and temperatures reaching the mid 40’s, which for an English man at times can be a struggle.

However, the people are amazing and always happy, which makes being in such a environment much more bearable.

We’re helping locals too.

The farm works very closely with the local population and is a fundamental part of the G’s operation here in Senegal. The business has created 1,000 jobs and brought money into the local regions, helping small tribal communities develop and grow in a place where before there was nothing. Starting the business here has meant building a four kilometres long irrigation canal, which has brought water to communities which couldn't previously access clean water.

It’s totally different.

Agriculture in Senegal differs enormously from the UK. Here, farming is carried out predominantly on flood irrigation and all work on the land is mainly done with a spade. The big crops here are sweet potatoes, watermelons and rice. The landscape has really opened my eyes and given me some expertise that I can bring back to the industry in the UK. I’ve had to develop my ability to solve problems, as it’s not as simple as just calling the dealer or a technician out here.

Grab every opportunity with both hands.

If you get the opportunity to do something abroad, you should definitely do it. I always wanted to experience farming abroad but never thought I would get the chance to farm in Africa.

G’s gave me a fantastic opportunity as a student to come out to Senegal, which has now led to an amazing fulfilling role within a great company.

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Don't wait: georgie radmore I’ve always had a passion for travelling.

I didn’t meet anyone who convinced me – I just knew I wanted to sheer sheep in another country. While I was doing my A-Levels I booked a ticket to Australia out of the blue. Looking back it was totally crazy, but you only live once.

I was looking at going with friends but there’s only so long you can wait around for people – you’ve just got to do it.

I was so green.

I didn’t know I had to have a bank account for Australia; I thought I could use my English one. I didn’t even know that I needed a tax number. It was all a massive wake-up call, and when I spoke to other travellers in the hostel they were looking at me thinking: who is this random farm girl from Dartmoor? My nickname was Devon for four months because they thought it was hilarious that someone had actually left Devon.

I lived and worked in the city to start with.

I did something completely different from farming.

I worked with a marketing company for three months and it gave me a completely different experience.

I lived in a hostel in a 14-bed dorm while I was doing it.

Everything abroad is massive.

Everyone in agriculture wants to know how it’s done abroad. The shearing industry in the UK is different to Australia.

In Australia, the scale is massive, and there are so many more rules behind it. The predominant breed is a Merino and they’re so hard to shear because of their wrinkles. When you’re out there you live in quarters near the station (the name of the farm) you’re working on. The biggest station I worked on had 45,000 sheep, and our team had 20-30 people.

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Everyone has a role.

You have a cook, who produces five meals a day, and you have a classer, then penner-upper and the rousey, who collects all the wool. Then you’ve got the shearers. You sit around the fire every night drinking beer and sharing stories, which is pretty cool.

I decided the city wasn’t for me.

I randomly emailed some shearing contractors that I’d found on the internet as I really wanted to get into shearing. While I was waiting to hear back from them I travelled along the west coast, and did typical traveller things. Then I heard back from a contractor, so I flew back to Adelaide, got in a truck, then drove nine hours north and started on my first shift.

I started off as a rousey collecting the wool.

It’s hard work. On my first day I drank eight litres of water and I still couldn’t quench my thirst. It was 30 degrees and we were in a wooden hut, so the heat was overpowering. On the second day I could barely get out of bed as my legs had stopped working. It’s a killer on your back. When I first started shearing I asked when my back would get used to bending over – they told me two months!

Australia led to America.

I worked on a cattle ranch with Hereford cows. Our job was to get the cows weaned and prepared to go to the feed lots in Nebraska. I was recording the tag numbers of all the cows, and spent a lot of time on horseback rounding them up to go into the corrals for checking, so I had to learn how to ride.

You only live once.

Don’t worry about waiting for the right time, or for when your friends can go. You just need to take the bull by the horns and go. Life isn’t worth waiting around for and you’ll definitely never have the opportunity again. You’ll find your feet once you get out there. I had no job, no friends and no home, but it worked for me.

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Bringing the best back home: godfrey kamanda Walking through the landscaped gardens at Writtle College, Godfrey Kamanda is about as excited as a person can be.

He’s just seen snow for the first time.

This might seem hard to believe, but not when you consider that he’s from Uganda. Godfrey is in England to study for a MSc Horticulture (crop production) thanks to the Marshal Papworth Scholarship, a scheme which gives those in developing countries the chance to develop skills to take back to their homelands and use for the benefit of their own communities.

Uganda is known for its political problems and a lengthy and bloody civil war. But Godfrey says that the country is now a far cry from the tensions that have rocked it: “It is very different to what people perceive it to be. It has the best climate – equatorial weather and fertile soils, so from a horticultural and agricultural perspective, it offers a lot to people like me.

“There is new life in Uganda. Older people despair that it isn't what it was like before, but for younger people, who can adapt, it offers opportunities. We've had international organisations in to help and the government has been doing its best and making sure people are settled in their homeland.

There was no housing, no clean water, no social facilities in areas. It was a disaster zone before, but it is coming on again.”

Godfrey, who has a degree in ethnobotany, found out about the Marshal Papworth Scholarship and Writtle College while working for a farmers’ group in his district and hearing about charities working in the area. It was seeing malnourished people that inspired him to study further: “I had people coming to me, as I was educated and an agriculturalist, expecting me to know everything. I had knowledge of producing food but not of malnutrition. I realised I needed to deepen my knowledge of producing fruits and vegetables and I needed education to succeed in this. That’s when I heard about the Marshal Papworth Scholarship and applied.”

There are huge opportunities in agriculture in Uganda and Godfrey has been enthused by what he has learnt.

“Everywhere you plant something it comes up and gives

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excellent yields, because of the climate and the soils,” he said.

“The problem in Uganda is the mechanisation – it's limited and people still use their hands.”

For his dissertation, Godfrey is specialising in tomatoes, the most widely grown fruit in Uganda.

“It is used in all our cooking,” Godfrey said. “It seems like every single dish has tomatoes in it!” He is researching the post-harvest storage of tomatoes and a common pathogen, using essential oils in packaging, to see if this will keep tomatoes fresh.

As well as giving Godfrey the technical skills he needs, his Masters is giving him the confidence and inspiration to set up his own business.

He said: “Most of the agriculture is personal in Uganda – people produce food for their families and little is sold out. With the experience I have gained from Writtle College, I hope to be able to increase food production in my country. We have been out to different producers in the UK, from those producing food for horses and animals, to Chingfords, a fruit and veg supplier. These are family-owned businesses that have grown. Chingfords was intriguing as it has a turnover of £306m just through packing fruit and vegetables – it has its own suppliers and then sorts and packages everything. There is a demand there for effective packaging for the supermarkets.

“There is a transition in Uganda at the moment.

There are more middle class people who are becoming concerned about food and interested in quality. At the moment, little of our food is packaged – it goes straight to the markets. But this new part of the population doesn’t want to go to markets so this presents a big opportunity.

“The visit to Chingfords changed my thinking. If I can come up with an idea for a company, I can advise growers, increase productivity, employ others, sustain life and make money for my country.”

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A different kettle of fish: kate hill Kate Hill never thought she’d break free from her routine office job. Then five sheep led to a job shearing in Norway and the rest is history

Farming background? Zero.

I don’t have any background in farming, and my mum and dad aren’t farmers. I just wanted to get my foot in the door and my love of the rural way of living helped. I started with pigs, and then I swapped pigs for goats and ended up buying five sheep too. I just knew they were what worked best for me and the sort of land I have, and also I enjoy working with them the most.

I’m a bit sheep obsessed.

I have just short of 80 sheep; I’ve almost trebled my numbers since last year and intend to do the same again next year. My farm is around 60 acres, but I have 15 acres I graze a couple of miles or so away. It’s easy to spot those little white dots on the hill out of my window.

I followed the sheep to Norway.

I would head out to the farms with my boss and we'd visit around 10-15 of them. I would lift the scanning crate out of the truck at each farm and set it up where required. It’s the farmer’s job to have the sheep ready in the correct pens so they keep running through the crate to be scanned, but more often than not I ended up organising sheep. Once we were good to go I used an electronic reader to read the ear tags, making a spreadsheet as we went.

It was my job to scan the ewes too.

For every ewe I recorded the tag number and the number of lambs she was carrying, and then put a coloured mark on her face. They scan a lot higher than in the UK – in one pen there were three sheep carrying 13 lambs between them.

It was a lot of travelling.

It was intense with longer hours, and there was a hellish amount of driving involved. We'd go from the very south of Norway to the west, and then over to the east, which takes four weeks. Then shearing commences again at the beginning of March. After that I’m back home with yet more sheep. I can’t get enough of them. By the way, this is all done without being able to speak a single word of Norwegian.

The city? Never again.

Before this I worked for a finance company. I left because I was falling asleep at my desk, and my boss was getting grumpy because I was turning up to work with straw in my hair. I was farrowing my pigs during the week and decided it was easier to sleep in the barn besides them. So I decided I’d leave that job and try and find something outdoorsy. I’ve never looked back. At least you know the pint you drink at the end of the day is well deserved.

Norway is a different kettle of fish.

All of their stock is indoors the majority of the year, so it’s more labour intensive. The sheep are either on slats or bedding, but need to be fed twice a day. They are pretty geared up and a lot of sheds have fancy conveyor feeders or a strange contraption that gives fodder to the sheep. Oh, and you’ll almost definitely run into the Spael Sau sheep – it’s special and that’s all I’m going to say. Just wear protection.

You can do it.

I’ve learnt to push myself and not give up. You’ve got to be willing to try something new and to take opportunities.

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20/04/2015 09:55

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the 2,000 mile harvest: chris adamson I did the harvest as part of my second year at reaseheath.

To complete the harvest you start at the bottom of America, in Texas, and work your way up through the middle until you reach North Dakota.

We were a travelling circus.

You’re working for contractors going from farm to farm. One day you can be working on a 5,000 acre farm, cutting all their wheat and barley. Then you’ll uproot and move to the next one and you essentially move in a line right up the centre of America. We set up this huge camp, with static caravans that can be towed on the back of the trucks.

I was the only Englishman.

In a camp full of Irishmen – can you imagine? It was a good craic and full of banter.

2,000-acre field? Isn’t that a farm?

It was different experiencing the harvest in America – it was eye-opening and extreme to say the least. The scale of the operation is massive, with a lot of the general things being the same as what we’d do here, but multiplied. You’ll pull into a 2,000 acre field one day, whereas over here that’s a farm. It was mind-boggling. We had five combines working in a team with 35ft headers, so the ground covering each pass was enormous.

The landscape changes too.

You can see the landscape changing as you drive, and it became more diverse the further north you went. We harvested things like wheat, barley and peas. Towards the end you go back down to Texas and change the headers on the machinery for maize cutting. Then the process starts all over again – that’s the fall harvest.

Another day? Another dollar.

My main role was as a grain cart operator. You’re essentially the person that loads the wagons with grain from the combine. They gave me the chance to do the wagon driving and I hated it. A lot of the time you were waiting around twiddling your thumbs – every farmer hates that. It sounds like an easy job but it’s all about judgment as you had to make the right call when the combines were full.

You’re new? Let’s go.

When I got out there I shadowed someone – the day after they just threw me straight into it. You learn some amazing skills, especially people and management skills. You had to make decisions and stick by them, and they impacted the whole team.

You learn to be independent.

I left home when I was 13 to go to an agricultural school in Somerset, so I was used to being away from home, but not in another country.

Note to self: don’t use diesel.

We had to fill the diesel tanks with a truck in the field, and every 17 days it was your turn to fill it before everyone got up. One day, when it was my turn, I was holding the pump in the tank and I started daydreaming, which was the worst thing I could’ve done. It came out and covered me in diesel and the pipe was flying around like a snake.

You only live once.

It’s a totally different experience to farming over here.

The scale is just mind-blowing and I think everyone should experience that in life. You’re only a click away from starting an adventure.

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cavemen and crocodiles: joe birch Apply for a TV show? Go on then.

The TV show was called The Island and it was an experiment headed up by well-known survival expert, Bear Grylls. I saw the advert on our local Young Farmers Club website and it advertised the show as an experiment to see whether modern day man had lost his hunting instinct. I ended up taking part in 11 interviews; the group was whittled down from tens of thousands to just 12.

I’m from a beef and sheep farm in Derbyshire.

We lamb 200 ewes and have 150 suckler cows. I think farming is a job which gives a special kind of satisfaction, the kind you can’t get anywhere else. I trained as a joiner when I left school – my dad said I should get a trade and I’m glad I did – but it didn’t give me the same satisfaction as farming.

No matter what anyone says, you can’t prepare.

You can’t prepare yourself mentally or physically. It was hard and draining, and it killed you emotionally. We had a day's training where Bear sat us down and explained the nitty gritty details of what we should be doing, complete with a massive list of what we definitely should not be eating. This list included tons of fish and fruit that looked edible, but some could’ve given us a nasty rash, or even killed us. A good example is a Stonefish. You do not – I repeat do not – want to eat one of those.

It was a personality cocktail.

There were 13 different men, from all walks of life, with 13 extreme personalities.

We all had different backgrounds, different jobs and different ideals, all of which provided hours of conversation.

There was something very caveman about it.

We had to feed ourselves and find drinkable water. We had to keep the fire lit, which turned out to be surprisingly difficult – we kept it going for the entire month. Food was our biggest problem. We caught a crocodile and I killed it.

How do you prepare yourself for that? It’s mind over matter. If we didn’t kill it, we wouldn’t have eaten. If you’re in the situation that we were, and you were as hungry as we were right then, you would’ve done the same.

We filmed it ourselves.

We were given training on how to use a handheld camera and we had to film it all ourselves, which was part of proving how real it was. If there was a crew and team producing the show, you'd wonder what they were eating and drinking. That took away every doubt and made the challenge even harder.

Baling twine – the farmer’s friend.

Farmers in general have a great work ethic of ‘make do and mend’. What can’t you fix with baling twine? I haven’t found a job yet that you can’t. When we were in that situation, without power tools or electricity, I thought my farming background really helped me. We had loads of string and rubbish wash up on the beach regularly. Farming teaches you to be resourceful. As I’m a joiner I had skills that proved vital on the island for making tables, beds and items around the camp.

I’m the new croc pest control.

There are no more crocodiles in Derbyshire, that’s for sure. I’ve wiped all of those out. I’m a full time pest controller, so if anyone wants any work, I’m your man.

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Agri Evolve: jonny rowland When Jonny Rowland arrived in Uganda to work with the Kagando Rural Development Project for two months, he was tasked with bringing fresh ideas that would rejuvenate the local hospital farm, writes Georgina Saunders. Not an easy feat, considering the scene when he arrived: two derelict tractors, no crops and four unenthusiastic members of staff. Jonny’s father Martin had visited 20 years previous with another charity and taken four Friesian cows with him which produced around 30 litres of milk a day. By the time Jonny arrived, the herd had deteriorated and was mostly made up of local cows, producing as little as one or two litres each day.

Not one to be daunted by a challenge, Jonny got stuck in and started setting goals. “Despite being told to lower my expectations of what I could achieve in two months, I didn't take much notice,” he said. “I have always been ambitious and as I am someone who likes to work hard and lead by example, I was confident that we could achieve a large amount of the list in the time we had.”

The first job was to build autofill water troughs that would provide seven fields with constant water access. This meant the cows wouldn’t have to be taken to the river twice a day.

Secondly, Jonny made changes to the herd's diet: “The results soon came and we immediately started to see an increase in milk yield." The team also reinstated the irrigation system, created an accounting system, set up an office and feed store, established a silage machine and pit to feed the cows during the dry season and introduced artificial insemination.

“The workers were all keen to learn and responded well to new ideas,” Jonny said. “I was learning a lot too, as I was in a system and environment like no other I had experienced.

As a team we achieved something I will always be proud of.

There are still a few items on the list to tick off, but work will continue until we have a thriving farm, producing high yields, demonstrating the best methods and, most importantly, which is a sustainable business that is not only surviving but also creating large profits to help fund the hospital.”

But the story doesn’t stop there. Following his two months in Uganda, Jonny had a brainwave. “The problem was clear – although the direct inputs were all there, the indirect inputs such as financial capital, knowledge, infrastructure, technology and markets were lacking. This was effectively what I was able to add to Kagando Farm. So I thought about how I could do that on a much bigger scale in order to benefit many more farms.”

The answer was Agri Evolve: an organisation set up by Jonny, his friend James and his dad Martin. The aim is to provide support to farmers, not only in the form of investment, but by working with communities to improve their farming practices, which in turn would increase production and income.

“Too much reliance on aid and donations has created an environment whereby people are never forced to make their farms sustainable,” Jonny explained. “When things go wrong or there is a lack of money, nothing is done about it. As a generalisation people have relied on the backing of aid and charity. The new business model would eliminate this mind-set."

The organisation is based on the principle of share farming; Ugandan farmers provide the land and labour, whilst Agri Evolve provides capital for machinery and seeds, along with agricultural expertise. Money from investors in the UK, who will receive a return from their investment, will enable the Agri Evolve team to turn their plans into reality. Eventually, Jonny hopes they will be able to export some of the items produced such as coffee, vanilla and honey but overall the aim is simple: to have a huge impact across Uganda by teaching farmers to be successful businessmen.

Watch this space.

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20/04/2015 09:58

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emigrating to new zealand: tim pike What’s your business?

Mid Canterbury Growers.

We’re seed and ware potato farmers.

Along with our own mainstream variety supply contracts, we contract grow for other companies developing and multiplying new varieties. We also contract pack potatoes for export and contract harvest 75ha of carrots for processing.

Why New Zealand?

I always liked the look of the country and had heard the Kiwis were very agriculturally focused. The rugby was also a draw card!

How was it when you first arrived?

It didn’t take long to realise how much I liked New Zealand.

My first summer job was fairly terrible but still couldn’t put me off. After about a year it got pretty tough, when I realised I wasn’t going to see my family and friends as much, but once we made the decision to stay for good it strangely became easier.

Did you start the business straight away?

No, we bought a spraying contracting business to start with and ran that for five years. It gave a great insight across a lot of different farming methods and provided some great contacts. In September 2011 we sold the spraying business and bought out a small retiring seed potato grower and expanded the company from there.

What’s better in new zealand compared to UK farming?

Due to the smaller number of people chasing the same market, there are many more opportunities. Legislation of UK levels also hasn’t reached New Zealand’s shores yet but I’m sure it will.

The climate is also a lot more dependable which makes the growing and harvesting operations a lot easier.

What’s worse?

New Zealand is a long way away from a lot of the markets it competes in. There is little opportunity for quantity; it has to be quality.

What do you miss the most about the UK? Apart from family and friends, a decent pint of real ale.

Could you do what you’re doing now back home or not?

I don’t think so. The cost of getting up to a sustainable scale from scratch, together with the very crowded UK potato market, would make it very tough. We’ve been very lucky with the help and support we’ve had to get us going which wouldn’t have been there in the UK.

What would you say to young farmers thinking about doing something similar?

Don’t think about it for too long – just get stuck in.

If you are willing to work hard and get your head down it is possible to do well. Hard work can really get you somewhere out here.

Do you have any tips for becoming successful?

Don’t be afraid to ask someone for advice. If you put in the hard yards the rewards will be there.

What are the main challenges of starting a business abroad?

The fact you’re starting with close to zero local knowledge and contacts. We couldn’t have achieved what we have if it wasn’t for locals lending advice and/or machinery!

As long as you’re not afraid to ask, then most people are more than willing to help. Although the country’s climate and farming systems are similar to the UK, there are some big differences.

The use of irrigation on nearly every crop grown in our district took some getting used to.

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the thick of it Europe gets a bad rap. But the decisions made in BrusSels are pretTy important for farmers in this country. Victoria Wilkins goes behind the scenes, and finds out if there’s more to the EU than banNing wonky vegetables…

East Midlands MEP Emma McClarkin fell into politics while having a drink at her local.

Now she’s representing hundreds of farmers right in the heart of the European Union.

It started in a pub.

I started chatting to a press officer for MEPs – that was when I knew what I wanted to do.

We swapped contact details, and I emailed asking for tips and advice. She replied saying she’d just been offered a job in Brussels and did I want to apply for her job in Nottingham?

Within six weeks of randomly meeting someone in a pub, I was involved in politics.

Sometimes you just get lucky.

What I would say is that you should always follow up on people, and don’t be shy. I was always too timid to ask for help and advice, but you need to stay connected to the people you talk to. Getting as much experience as possible, and helping with campaigning, including leafleting, is all part of the experience. Writing articles is a great way to get your foot in the door – you never know where it might lead.

There’s only so long you can wait.

You’ve got to make your own opportunities. I really thought there weren’t very many young normal looking and normal sounding women representing Conservative views. You can wait a long time for someone else to do it before you realise that you’ve got to make it happen yourself.

Nothing is ever the same.

But there’s a pattern as we work in three different countries.

We’re in Brussels for three weeks of the month, four days a week. We fly back to our respective constituencies for the remainder of the week. Once a month we fly to Strasbourg where the other seat of parliament is located. It’s a huge travelling circus but we have to go there to tell the constituents what’s going on.

The time back in your own area is the best.

I can be meeting with constituents regarding their specific problems, or I can be meeting farmers. It’s so important to be hands-on in this job. I recently visited

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"You can wait a long time fo r someone else to do it before you realise that you’ve got to make it happen yourself" a bison farm, and then Denby pottery. They let me loose on glazing a teapot, which was probably a bad idea.

I get to meet so many people and see many different things, including wonderful organisations and inspiring charities.

It’s so important to Back British farming.

It’s one of our flagship campaigns. In the East Midlands farming is huge. If we look at where the basket of food is coming from in the whole of the UK, a lot is coming from the East Midlands. All these rural areas are producing top quality produce and we absolutely need to support them.

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April 2015

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that you’re running around to different offices, not around a farm.

It involves a lot of travel, and during outreach we visit farms in as many member states as possible.

We’re keen to meet farmers.

The Commissioner has set a target to visit every member state in the EU including England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

We spend a lot of time down on farm seeing different methods in practice which is very interesting, especially seeing how different countries farm.

The key to a good speech? A laugh.

I suppose you can’t beat a joke or a witty comment at the start, especially if it’s tailored to the local audience. Another great addition to a speech is a quote from a famous person or a wise man or woman that ties into the theme.

Don’t get hung up on too many themes.

You don’t want any more than four, and arguably the best is three, all of which relate to the audience. You’ve got to think of them at the forefront of everything. If we go to NFU Conference and start talking about olive oil, it’s not a good speech. But if we go to talk about simplification, and how we can work to try and reduce red tape for farmers, I think that’s something that would make slightly better speech. Try and finish it with a witty comment to wake up anyone that’s been sleeping. Don’t engage in big talk or have mammoth claims like saying Ireland will retain the Six Nations championship (which they probably will). Note: they did. The swines.

We’ve heard from an MEP, but what about the people behind the scenes? Meet Phil Hogan’s speechwriter, Kevin Keary.

Start locally and work your way up.

Politics is really interesting and people-orientated – if you like having a laugh and being out and about, politics is a great hobby to have. You’ve got to start local, such as getting involved in a local campaign, which perhaps isn’t even party politics. It might be something that’s directly related to you or your local community. Get involved and get caught up in the buzz – it’s a great activity to be involved in because you can set a goal and work towards it and, when you achieve it, or don’t have the outcome you wanted, at least you can say you were part of something that made a difference. There’s always another day to fight – that’s the beauty of politics.

I’m part of a group working with the Agricultural Commissioner, Phil Hogan.

I work in the cabinet (pronounced ca-bee-nay), which is a very fancy French term for the personal office around the Commissioner. There are nine in total, covering different areas that he works on, and we all give guidance on specialist areas. My priority is communications and relating items to the European Parliament, as well as the Council of Ministers. I’m also involved in trade, which is interesting at the moment because of the big trade deals being negotiated with the US.

Different day? Different story.

Every week is different. Just like farming, there are long days where you’re up early and in bed late. However what’s different is

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Brussels is the EU rugby pitch.

CAP directly affects agriculture, which is something set by the EU. The most important decisions are not made in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh – they’re made in Brussels. They’re made with the input of the British government, but it’s a common policy thus affecting all of the EU. Europe was starving after World War Two; the whole basis of CAP is that we all play our part to make sure we have a safe, high-quality food supply. How that policy is decided is in Brussels. That’s why young people should come over and engage with MEPs and decision-makers. Brussels is the rugby field where decisions are taken and made.

How does it work?

Brussels is the heart of the well-oiled machine that is the European Union. The European Parliament represents each and every one of you. There are 751 members of the European Parliament (MEPs), representing millions of people. These members are crucial in shaping the policy set out in the European Union.

To be fair, Britain is doing pretty well on the representation front. We’ve got 71 MEPs representing us, from a wide-range of constituencies. The European Parliament is the only EU body that is directly elected, so you’ll have an MEP near you.

To learn more about European Parliament visit www.europarl.europa.eu

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What did visiting Brussels teach you?

The Cereals Development Programme visit the NFU office in Brussels and deliver their verdict on the European Union "I must confess to previously having been befuddled by the machinations of the European Parliament; I lumped it in the ‘I should probably try and learn about this’ category along with the writings of Nietzsche and Grandma Johnson’s stilton cheese recipe. Thankfully, the good people employed by the NFU to champion our cause in Brussels happen to be experts at explaining not just their role, but the workings of the EU as a whole. The biggest lesson I learnt was of the importance of people. Lobbying had been an abstract word to me, but I learnt that a well-timed cup of coffee with an MEP might be the difference between a law being passed or being squashed.

"As farmers, we are not in the habit of acknowledging the good work done on our behalf in Europe. Perhaps that is because much of the work is done in making sure certain proposed laws that would have a negative impact on us never even see the light of day. The NFU is fighting fires and though not particularly glamorous, it reinforces the fact that in order for farming to flourish in the UK, the people in suits are just as important as those in overalls."

JOe Johnson

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"All walks of life feel the clutches of bizarre health and safety laws born in the EU nowadays. Jam producers are not allowed to put too much sugar in their product, ‘bent’ cucumbers were banned and of course, they are stripping away many plant protection products widely used in agriculture. When the Cereals Development Programme took us to Brussels, I thought it would confirm my suspicions – the place would be awash with bureaucrats, dreaming up ways of meddling with our way of life to justify their existence. However, I found another side to Brussels, discovered organisations I wasn’t aware existed and realised they are working tirelessly to maintain Britain’s agricultural industry as one of the most innovative in Europe. As long as we are ‘in’, we need these people, who do so much and with very little recognition, to continue fighting our corner."

Daniel Hares "The visit was invaluable in gaining a better understanding about how the decisionmaking processes of the EU work. It demonstrated how the NFU and us all as individual farmers can play a role in influencing that decisionmaking process. The BAB office has been described as the jewel in the NFU’s crown and when you spend time there you can see why. It would be almost impossible to influence a decision at the most important stage (i.e. before it has been made) without the early intervention of this small team."

"Going to Brussels with the Cereals Development Programme has given me an insight into just how important it is to be involved in the conversations at a European level, but also how complicated the system is. It was great to be able to sit in on dairy talks – not only to experience the atmosphere of debate from all the difference countries, in 20 languages, but also to be able to hear the different attitudes of the participating countries towards the milk commodity."

Matt Redman

Stuart Roberts

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see new zealand Rich Wigram’s legacy started as a student with a love of dairy farming, which led to him discovering what New Zealand had to offer. However, after Rich died in 2010 his family wanted his vision to live on, and so they started offering young people scholarships to experience farming in one of the greenest countries in the world.

Right from the start, Rich Wigram knew he wanted to be a farmer, and a dairy farmer at that. But Rich didn’t want to farm in the UK, as much as he loved the industry. He set his sights on New Zealand; home of hobbits and copious amount of sheep.

But his time in New Zealand was cut short in 2010 when he

21-year-old Zoe Jackson, who studied at Hartpury College, was lucky enough to be selected last year, taking up a job on a farm near Rakaia, one hour south of Christchurch.

Here’s what she had to say: “Before arriving in New Zealand, I had just a bit of dairy experience, having previously worked on the university farm and a neighbour's dairy farm back home, but plenty of farm experience from a family-run beef unit and helping on a friend's sheep farm during lambing.

"After noticing an advertisement for the scholarship in a local agriculture magazine, I decided to apply. The process was straightforward and I was delighted to be offered the full scholarship just one week after my interview.

"While looking for jobs in New Zealand I was keen to push myself out of my comfort zone, and looked for a farm with both large numbers of cows, with a staff team that encouraged learning on the job and ideally a rotary cow shed, as well as being supported by the scholarship.

"After applying for several jobs, I was finally contacted by Tom and

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was killed during an accident on farm. The Rich Wigram NZ farming scholarship was set up in his memory by his friends and family to offer young people in the UK the opportunity to experience dairy farming in New Zealand.

The scheme is for one student per year, selected by charity committee members in the UK and New Zealand. You’ll be well and truly looked after, with return flights to NZ, 10-months work with two months for travel, a mentor and help finding a position that suits you.

And don’t think because you don’t have a family farm, or loads of knowledge about dairying that you don’t qualify to apply for the scholarship – it’s open to anyone. All you need is a willingness to learn.

Leanne Heneghan who had previously known Rich Wigram.

They have a 1,400 cow dairy farm in Raikaia with a 70-bale rotary on 330ha of grazing, with a seasonal calving system in place, as well as calf and heifer rearing.

"Since arriving, my skills have developed enormously. In June and July, during the dry season, the focus was on wintering the cows on the fodder beet paddocks with supplementation of silage feeding out and getting the farm set-up for calving, including maintenance to the parlour, yards, fences, races and equipment. The weather here was relatively dry in winter, having only experienced a couple of rainy days before calving. However, any amount of rain in the fodder beet turned the soil to thick mud, which became a challenge when the first few spring heifers calved prior to going onto grass.

"Between July and September all 1,400 cows calved – during the peak, 45 cows calved on one day alone. The days were long but rewarding. As a dairy farm assistant no two days are the same. I get every other Saturday, Sunday, Monday

off, when I can explore the beautiful south island of New Zealand. So far I have been able to go horse trekking, skiing, walk around Rakaia gorge and visited some amazing places.

"I’ve had the most amazing opportunity given to me – it’s a life-changing experience and something that I will hold onto and benefit from in the later years of my life.”

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Meanwhile, in this country...

Drunk pigs, drones and lambing: our pick of the farming news

Reader of the month One man and Warning: you’re about to feel incredibly unfit. When we read this story, we were eating chocolate.

And now we hate ourselves.

Natalie Plummer wanted to do something to help dairy farmers hit by falling milk prices, so she ran four (yes, four) half-marathons to raise money for RABI (the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution).

The NFU hooked her up with a rather fetching t-shirt, and, branded to the max, Natalie smashed each half-marathon, clocking up a personal best and even finishing first female in one race.

Natalie said: “We will see what the future brings for Britain’s dairy farmers, but I hope people will continue to support them and realise the importance of the industry for generations to come.”

Forget Kim Kardashian’s bum – farmer James Rebanks caused the nation’s media to go into a tailspin and he didn’t even have to take any clothes off. He live-tweeted his sheepdog Floss giving birth to ten puppies, complete with pictures (CUTE). Needless to say his children got in on the action too: "Growing up on a farm has its great moments," James tweeted. We have a feeling that his Herdwick sheep aren’t going to know what has hit them once this gang has grown up… Follow James at @herdyshepherd1

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A farmer’s love for a gadget knows no bounds. Ireland’s Paul Brennan shunned the sheepdog and decided to try his hand at herding sheep with a drone. A video posted to YouTube went viral, clocking up more than 600,000 views. To watch it, simply search for ‘Shep the drone’.

Solar drones to

connect countryside?

Farmer breaks

internet

his drone

Do you want the next government to sit up and take notice of British food and farming? Of course you do! In that case, make sure you support the NFU campaign ‘Great British Food Gets My Vote’. Celebrities like Tom Kerridge are backing it and thousands of people have added their name to the cause online at www.votebritishfood. com. We want to make sure that the next government, whatever it looks like, takes our industry seriously – but to do this we need your help. So vote now!

MORE DRONE NEWS: solar-powered drones could one day fly broadband into rural areas with poor connectivity, after Facebook tested a new technology in Britain for the first time.

The drones, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg says will “have a wingspan greater than a Boeing 747 but weigh less than a car,” have been developed by a Somerset-based company called Ascenta.

They will be able to fly at 60,000ft for months at a time, beaming-down laser-guided signals to users below. The first test flight has taken place, so watch this space…

New NFU Job Site

Are you leaving university or college soon? Has the realisation that you’re actually going to have to get a job started sinking in? Never fear, the NFU is here!

We’ve set up a new jobs website for the farming industry, so if you’re looking for a full-time job, or even some work over the summer, visit jobs.nfuonline.com.

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Go home pig,

you’re drunk There’s always one who can’t hold their alcohol, isn’t there? A pig has been barred from a pub in south London for headbutting patrons. We’re not even joking: Frances Bacon, a four-year-old Vietnamese potbellied-pig, likes to indulge in a few beers and then start fights at the Conquering Hero.

She’s been barred, or at least banned from drinking beer, by her owners, who run the pub. Not that easy though, seeing as she’s been stealing sips from patrons, some of whom found it ‘hilarious’ to buy her pints of her own. They might stop now though, considering that it clearly brings out the worst in her and they end up on the receiving end…

THE LAMB LEAGUE

We can make anything into a competition, so we asked the lovely colleges who have advertised in #studentfarmer how many lambs they’d brought into the world this spring. Let the games begin…

Wiltshire College: 1,264 warwickshire College: 464 Royal Ag Uni: 193

Reaseheath college: 900 Writtle College: 221 Nottingham Trent uni: 176

Our new favourite blog COLLEGE WATCH We discovered a new blog that we love; Ask Aunt Annie, written by a student at the Royal Agricultural University (https://askauntannie.wordpress.com). This one is for everyone currently completing their last term of university (sob):

11 things you will miss about student life 1. Spontaneous wine drinking on a school night. This doesn’t happen in adult life. Or at least, it doesn’t happen if you want to keep your job.

7. Parties and balls all the time.

Face it, most real life existences are not dominated by parties.

And after a certain point your friends stop turning 21.

2. Holidays. Four-month long holidays to do whatever you like.

8. Being woken up at 2am by your housemates getting into bed with you, because after a hard night’s clubbing they want to spoon. Cute.

3. Friends on speed dial. Like physical speed dial. They live five minutes away. Meeting up with people is harder when your BFF lives in Cumbria and you’re in Devon.

4. Eating porridge out of a saucepan at 9pm while staring at your laptop.

5. Student houses. Yes, your housemate might be really annoying and wake you up with 7am showers, but it’s unlikely that they’re a seriously weird stranger.

6. Having a photo wall. This doesn’t seem like the sort of thing real adults do.

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9. Knowing everyone. The outside world is full of strangers. Beware.

10. Looking a mess. In real life your boss won’t be too impressed if you rock up in last night’s make-up and a pair of RAU trackie bottoms.

11. When you are a student, people are impressed by you managing to cook something that didn’t come out of a Heinz tin. When you are not a student it is expected that you can cook something that didn’t come out of a Heinz tin.

Our favourite headlines from agricultural colleges and universities around the country…

I’M SO FANCY: Pershore College is supplying vegetables to Claridges. Fera, the restaurant at the famous hotel, sometimes takes 2,000 radishes from the college every week. Mad radish growing skills.

MY LIFESTYLE’S TERRIBLY WILD: Can’t resist a Wretch 32 reference. Anyway, students from Wiltshire College Lackham showed the World Tractor Show who was boss when they managed to rebuild a vintage Massey Ferguson tractor in six minutes, 23 seconds.

SIR LAMBALOT: Nottingham Trent’s Brackenhurst campus is all about lambs at the moment; out of approximately 180 expected lambs, they had 55 twins, 12 triplets and one ewe managed to give birth to four lambs. Twenty students worked 12-hour shifts to deliver them all.

TELLYBOX: Reaseheath College apprentice Jason Smith featured on Countryfile in March to celebrate the launch of Apprenticeship Week. They filmed him carrying out his duties as assistant herdsman at his family’s dairy farm. Enjoy the fame, Jason.

PMQS: Speaking of Apprenticeship Week, some apprentices from Myerscough College met the Prime Minister during the week in March. We hope you gave him a grilling!

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ROAD TRIP! Introducing the #studentfarmer ultimate farming road trip We’ve focused a lot so far on the amazing places you can travel to if you’re interested in farming and broadening your horizons. But maybe you don’t have the cash just yet to venture abroad? Well, never fear, that doesn’t mean that you have to sit at home in the dark, rocking backwards

and forwards, resigned to a life of loneliness and boredom. There’s plenty to see in this country too, so grab some mates, get in your car and go exploring. There’s nothing better than a road trip. In case you need some inspiration, we’ve put together a map featuring some of the best

Daylesford

Yummy Yorkshire Well, it wouldn’t be a road trip without a stop for ice cream, would it? Yummy Yorkshire makes the tastiest ice cream, using milk from the cows on their farm, and we can report from experience that it is worth the journey. They’ve got all the classic flavours – but don’t be vanilla, you’re more adventurous than that.

Why not try some beetroot ice cream, or maybe black garlic and dark chocolate?

Yorkshire parkin also sounds like a winner, marmalade cheesecake sounds a bit cheeky and dandelion and burdock is definitely a contender. Editor Emily visited here to write a feature a couple of years ago and was forced/asked nicely to dress up in a cow costume – and even she would like to return! The ice cream is that good.

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We’re going to put it out there: this is the ultimate farm shop. Based in Kingham, Gloucestershire, if you like your farm shops with a side of spa, then you’re in luck. The food is delicious, the shop is amazing (there’s a CHEESE ROOM) and the farm is beautiful.

If you’re interested in organic and sustainable farming, this is the place to visit, as any awards they haven’t won are frankly not worth winning. This is a farm shop at its poshest, but they haven’t forgotten their roots – the vegetables still have mud on them, the produce is British and they champion the very best of what this country produces. Even the salad is nice, and that’s saying something.

farming-related spots we think are worth a visit in the UK. There are loads more besides this, in fact we were spoilt for choice, but these are some that we’ve either visited or been told good things about. So enjoy – and if you visit any of the places on the map, make sure you send us a photo!

Riverford When Guy Watson started farming, he had three acres of land and a wheelbarrow.

Now, Riverford is a massive business, which pioneered the idea of delivering vegetable boxes to peoples’ homes. Today they deliver 47,000 boxes a week to people all around the UK. It’s well worth popping by – you can borrow a map and an MP3 player with audio explaining what you’re seeing (although that depends on how good you are at reading maps). They’ll even lend you a pair of wellies, although we imagine that won’t be necessary for anyone reading this magazine…

The Hop Shop We imagine that you might smell this farm before you see it. The Hop Shop at Castle Farm has the most amazing lavender fields – this a strong contender for most photogenic farm in the country. You can even have a massage in the lavender fields if you get down there in July. But that’s not all – the farm has also been producing hops for 290 years. They’re only 20 miles from London, so it’s well worth a visit, even for those without a car.

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Three Choirs Vineyard One for the over-18s only (sorry young’uns – don’t hate the player, hate the game). Three Choirs is worth a visit to see how wine is produced in England – it’s one of the largest vineyards in the country and you can treat yourself to a tour and a tasting session. And don’t panic if you’re not a fan of wine – they also produce their own beer and cider, so you can educate yourselves on the very best that the British alcohol industry has to offer. You can even stay over (and this is probably a good idea, unless you're a keen designated driver).

If you get really attached to the vines, you can even adopt one.

Chatsworth Bit of culture for you, this one. It wouldn’t be a true British road trip without a visit to a stately home, would it? But not just any stately home – the stately home where Colin Firth jumped in the river as Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, we’ll hit you with these two facts: it has a farm you can visit. And an ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND.

Lancashire Cheese Trail I don’t think we need to elaborate on this really – I imagine that you’re already in your car, starting the engine. And don’t think there’s just one trail – oh no, these aren’t cheese-loving amateurs, they know what they’re doing. There are three separate trials; the tasty trail, the crumbly trail and the creamy trail. Each trail takes you past cheesemakers' dairies and you’re encouraged to pop in and treat yourself to a chunk, before carrying on to call at other dairies, restaurants, pubs and shops, which all have one thing in common – you guessed it, cheese. This may be the only walk in history where you weigh more at the end than you did at the start...

Royal Welsh The Young Peoples’ Village (or Pentref Ieuenctid, if you’re going native) is an institution. Greg James from Radio 1 (friend of the magazine, don’t you know) said of it: “One of the most fun gigs I have ever done – they had to drag me away.”

Hosted by Wales YFC from 18-23 July, it’s essentially a week-long party, held on a site that’s just a 10 minute walk from where the Royal Welsh Show is held.

There's live entertainment every evening and a FUNFAIR. Both the village and the show are worth a trip – visit www.yfc-wales. org.uk for more details.

Garlic Farm You need to get on a ferry for this one, but we have a feeling it would be worth it. The Garlic Farm is an institution on the Isle of Wight – the restaurant probably isn’t the ideal place for a first date (unless you plan to put them off with your personality, in which case don’t worry) but if you’re a garlic fan, there’s nothing better. Actually, we stand corrected, turns out there is – there's a two-day Garlic Festival every August. What could be better than listening to some music in the sunshine, whilst munching on ALL the garlic? See you there – we’ll be by the garlic fudge stand.

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The Edible Bus Stop Farming isn’t just a rural thing anymore.

There are all manner of cool things popping up, especially in the capital, so if you find yourself in London don’t just spend your time taking selfies in front of Buckingham Palace. One of the cool things you can see is the Edible Bus Stop.

This little gem started when some rather nice people got together and decided that something lovely could be done with some disused space. Guerrilla gardening has since taken off – Londoners are chucking seed bombs around, converting rooftops into gardens and even setting up hives so they can produce their own honey. It’s practically a revolution.

DO YOU KNOW SOMEWHERE great in the UK THAT DESERVEs TO BE ON OUR MAP? LET US KNOW...

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Out of this world What would summer be without a stonking good festival? Rubbish, that’s what. The people behind several Midlands music festivals have teamed up with the Umberslade Estate in Warwickshire to create a brand new festival that won’t rinse your pockets for the weekend.

If you haven’t heard of Umberslade, we forgive you. For most of us in the Midlands, it’s a family farm where our parents took us to pacify us as kids. But forget stroking donkeys and racing that one annoying kid around the playground – the Lunar Festival is in town.

From 5-7 June, this all-new You won’t have to hunt down your dinner. weekender promises good, solid We can’t promise you won’t need live music and plenty of activities to your Le Chameaus, but at least boot. Fancy having a go at crafting and you can rock out to the diverse even African drumming? That’s fine – music on offer. Have a look at the there are tons of workshops you can line-up and activities by visiting get involved in. Or maybe you want www.lunarfestival.co.uk – we promise to channel your inner Bear Grylls you won’t be disappointed. and show how native you can The guys behind the be by learning Lunar Festival have given us a pair of weekend bushcraft? But tickets to give away . don’t worry, there’s an to enter drop an em ail to studentfarme actual field r@nfu. or g.u k wi th ‘Lu nar Festival’ in the with facilities. su

and include your na me

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and address.

bject line

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#studentfarmer

why should you vote?

Why vote? It’s certainly the question of the moment, and we have a very simple answer for you. It’s not because people gave up their lives so you’d be able to (although they did – listen up ladies). It’s not because it’s an important institution and it’s definitely not because polling stations are secret hotbeds of fun.

It’s because if you don’t, you won’t have the right to moan for the NEXT FIVE YEARS. Unhappy about how much you’ve been taxed?

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Keep it to yourself. Annoyed about the NHS, train ticket prices, the cost of a pint, that soul-destroying moment when filling your car up with petrol takes ALL your money?

Well, we don’t mean to be rude, but no one will give a monkeys if you don’t vote. You had your chance; you missed it.

So don’t be a mug. You like whinging – we all do! You’re British, for God’s sake! What will you fill your days with if you can’t moan about the government?

You’d have to increase the amount you chat about the weather, and in all honesty, sometimes that crosses the

line into politics, so you’d probably Not sure who to need to steer vote for? Visit ww w. away from voteforpolicies.org .u that too. to see which party k be st You’re represents you.

British. You You’ve got the chan ce – like a moan. take it!

Embrace it and vote. Get yourself down to a polling station, take your form from the mildly patronising old lady at the desk and put a cross next to a name you’ve never heard of. AND DO IT WITH PRIDE. And then you can moan until the cows come home.

20/04/2015 14:13

April 2015

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A member of the British Youth Council addresses other members of the organisation in the House of Commons.

Photo credit: © UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor

Mita Desai is the chair of the British Youth Council. They want a world where young people are respected and able to influence policies that affect their lives. And that’s why in this upcoming election your vote is needed more than ever. Let’s stand up and be counted

It’s alright if you’re not aware of the policies.

Lots of people aren’t aware of what each party is pledging.

However, online you can check which party best represents you through a website called www.voteforpolicies.org.uk and taking their test. Don’t worry if you think none of the parties represent you, which is actually the general consensus from our research.

But the best way to change that is through showing you’re active. Go out and make a statement and show that you’re engaged with the process – then decision-makers have to take your vote seriously.

Young people don’t feel represented right now.

Currently we have a situation where people don’t feel represented and don’t cast their vote, which means politicians aren’t interested in the age bracket because you have no power.

However, if you do vote, you’re actually demanding to be counted, and politicians have no choice but to listen to you. We can see how politicians direct their policies at the largest voters – for example the elderly are the most likely to vote, and therefore a lot of policies are directed towards them. Young people are the least likely to vote and then that’s reflected in party policies, with very little targeted at them.

Not enough is done for young people in rural areas.

I think the bigger parties need to listen to young people in rural areas, and make sure that they don’t leave them behind.

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One of our members who comes from an agricultural background has put forward a motion to show how young people need more information on where their food comes from. They want the public to be more aware of the process from farm to fork. They believe the public doesn’t see enough of that and that’s something we can learn from rural areas. I think there’s this idea of party policy – we’re not asking for investment, but asking for us to be listened to.

We could swing the vote.

Currently, two-thirds of young people are undecided in terms of their vote, which makes them a powerful group. We could potentially swing the election if we all voted. If young people do cast a vote we have so much power to change our future. In this election it means that the policies made after the election are going to benefit young people. The point of democracy is that lived experiences are reflected in policies. The reason we don’t have a dictatorship is because we know one person can never have the knowledge of all lived experiences to construct something that’s useful. There are policies out there that are affecting young people. But they’re not engaging young people enough to hear their opinions.

This election is the most exciting one we’ve seen.

It’s hard to see which way it’s going to go. Currently a lot of young people are angry because we’ve seen our youth service cut, and we were let down at the last polls by the raising of tuition fees. Young people can’t stand for being ignored anymore.

We are going to need more policies that engage us. Once we show them we are voting they’ll become more aware of us.

We are the future.

20/04/2015 10:34

April 2015

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"I was lucky enough to go to a cider reception hosted by a group of MPs and producers with an interest in the subject – how’s that for a Westminster in-cider?"

When a man tires of London…

You might recognise Jim from our last edition. Well, after six months of working on #studentfarmer, our graduate trainee has moved to work in the NFU’s London office during the election. But what it is like on the ground – and does he have any predictions for the result?

Saying ‘aright guv’nor’ or ‘wotcha mate’, never came naturally to me. When I was 18, I came to live in London for the first time. I quit my natural habitat (Worcestershire) and went eastwards to seek my fortune and, more to the point, a degree. A wide-eyed country boy, who used to go and watch the traffic thunder down the Euston Road. That was 2010, a year which saw the election of the first British coalition government since Sir Winston Churchill left office in 1945.

Five years down the line and now more at home in this big, bad city, I am on a six-month secondment to the NFU Government and Parliamentary Affairs office, a whisker from the House of Lords. This outpost is one of the important junctions where NFU members, our officeholders and staff from across England and Wales rub shoulders with government, Parliament and those who see themselves in either or both.

It’s now 2015, and it looks like there’s an election on. The boffins are predicting… well, they’re having a pretty hard time predicting anything at all. That’s because this election is widely regarded as the closest and most unpredictable in decades. Will it be a coalition? Will we have a minority government supported on key votes by one or several smaller parties in return for concessions and legislation that support their aims? Will one single party defy the pollsters and secure an outright majority?

No one knows. What’s clear is that the NFU will continue to put in hours defending and developing British agriculture. To do that, we are reaching out to parliamentary hopefuls of all persuasions and showing them what they can do to support this essential piece of the jigsaw.

My mission is to get a handle on all the great work our organisation and the people behind it are doing across the board.

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This work is vital. We need to engage with politicians, future, present, past, and those who might not quite make it this time (they will turn up somewhere – don’t believe me, just watch). So I’ve been busy creating a battleground map of Great Britain and plotting our work – hustings, where candidates can talk directly to and hear from members, or farm visits, where future law-makers trade brogues and high heels for wellies and see first-hand the issues that affect the farming community.

All this engagement really does work. I was lucky enough to go to a cider reception hosted by a group of MPs and producers with an interest in the subject – how’s that for a Westminster in-cider? Two days later, George Osborne stood up in the House of Commons and announced a two per cent cut in tax on cider as part of his final budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer. It proves that by speaking up, farmers and growers, the people who produce our food and drink, can shape how politics works for them.

20/04/2015 10:37

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#studentfarmer

#studentfarmer visit Ambridge Ever wondered how The Archers is recorded? Wonder no more, and join us on a litTle adventure. By Victoria Wilkins

I

’ve never been asked to imagine the sound of a sheep giving birth, nor did I ever think the sound would be made by swirling yoghurt, in a pot, with a wet towel.

It sounded very realistic, but then again I’ve never put my ear right next to the nether regions of a ewe.

This delightful noise is just one of the many sound effects the team behind The Archers, the UK’s longest radio drama, has the pleasure of creating on a daily basis.

Set in the fictional town of Ambridge, Borsetshire, The Archers follows the story of several farming and rural families, and the ups and downs they experience along the way.

It’s long been a firm favourite, raking in a massive 4.5m listeners each week, and around three million podcast downloads every week too.

In the show’s 60-year history, listeners have been fascinated by the goings-on of the farms lining the River Am, and enticed by imagining the sweet smell of Lynda Snell’s home baking.

At the time we visit, resident dog Scruff, who is of course a scruffy Border Collie, has been declared officially missing after the village was hit by floods when the river burst her banks. I am not a happy bunny.

That’s why when #studentfarmer writer Jim McKeane said we could go around The Archers studio, I literally bit his hand off.

I was going to find Scruff.

We were looking forward to visiting Ambridge, and having a drink in the Bull. Except there’s no such place as Borsetshire, and the closest you’ll get to the Ambridge local is the Old Bull in Inkberrow, Worcestershire.

In actual fact, the studio is nestled at the very top of the Mailbox in Birmingham, opposite a very non-rural Gourmet Burger Kitchen.

PLEASE DRIVE CAREFULLY Despite the surroundings, it’s immediately apparent we’re in Archers territory. Photos of fields, cattle and dogs cover the walls and the corridor is lined with images of the cast on farm.

Drama studio two is where we’re heading; we’ve officially arrived in Ambridge.

Let’s put this into perspective: ‘Ambridge’ is no bigger than a living room, and even then it has a kitchen, bathroom, dining room and even a pub mixed into it. Let’s not get carried away though, the ‘pub’ is about four

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feet tall, half a metre wide, and has a flap that lifts up to mimic when someone is coming from behind the bar.

The rest of the room is covered from head to toe in props ranging from cables to spatulas, and even has its very own Aga. There are several microphones everywhere that pick up all the sounds made in the room too.

At the back of the room, tucked away around the corner, is a flight of ten stairs that lead nowhere. Upon closer inspection, there are three different types of material on these: uncarpeted, carpeted and steel, all of which make different sounds.

And then we spot it: a board, on wheels, covered from top to tail in doorbells. Yes, doorbells. The annoying chime to every doorbell on the show is on this very board, and right now, I’ve got an overwhelming urge to press every single one of them. We decide against it because we’ve still got an interview to do.

Chris, the show’s sound effects extraordinaire tells us that nearly all the show’s sound effects are done here.

Hear that car door slamming in the

20/04/2015 10:43

April 2015

"There are reams of old casSetTe tape flung alL over the floor, and sure enough if you step on it you sound like you’re on fresh grasS" background? That’s Chris with what I can only explain as a fridge door. Hear a shower in the background? That’s Chris running the tap.

With your eyes open, it’s just a bloke running a tap, but close your eyes and travel to Ambridge and it’s (almost) like you’re sitting in on the famous raunchy shower scene.

However, the actors themselves often do their own sound effects, and it adds to the overall acting picture. We’re allowed to see this in action, as the Grundy family acts out their scene in the Grey Gables breakfast room.

It becomes quite clear as we move to a scene with Pip, Adam and Charlie, who are visiting a precision farming event, that the actors have to really use their imaginations.

They’re on their way to the event in a Land Rover, which is essentially a fridge door and an old chair. They’ve got to get up and move around to show the

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distance of them getting out of the car, but also have to remember what sounds are being played in over the top by the production team.

It’s a tricky game – but the green light soon turns off to say they’ve done it – after the twelfth take. This is the sixth and final day of the recording schedule – a whole month’s worth of episodes are filmed in just six days every month.

That’s four a day.

CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT Curiosity gets the better of us, and before we know it we’re walking into another room with a really welcoming name: the dead room. It’s like something out of The Matrix trilogy.

The walls are covered from head to toe in grey foam, all in different shaped triangles. We’re told that this is the part of the studio where there’s no acoustic or echo. In the dead room, no one can hear you scream.

The room bends around back on itself, much like the shell of a snail.

The further around the spiral you go, the further away you’ll sound – it means that you can practically be standing next to each other, but you’ll sound miles away.

Most of the outside scenes are done in here. There’s grass too. However, with all things I’ve found in this room, it's not actual grass. There are reams of old cassette tape flung all over the floor, and sure enough, if you step on it you sound like you’re on fresh grass. I haven’t

seen that much tape since I tried to rewind my Backstreet Boys ‘I want it that way’ cassette with a pen in 1999.

That’s just one of the hundreds of amazing recreations that the team behind The Archers does on a daily basis, and it’s surreal to see them being played out in real life. Our trip opened our eyes to where the magic happens: it's imagination heaven. However, one thing is for sure: I didn’t find Scruff. All I found was a sound effect.

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20/04/2015 14:14

April 2015

Get Jack farming

Four months ago, Jack Stilwell set up a crowdfunding campaign – Get Jack Farming. Today he has 25 Angus cows, and 50 acres of land to play with. He talks us through it...

"I’m quite open-minded. I’d never turn down an opportunity just because it’s not conventional. I think it’s kind of an advantage to not be afraid to try new things. The crowdfunding website, Hubbub, is mostly used to fund postgrad study in Oxford and Cambridge and places like that. I read about a girl who set herself a target of £26,000 for tuition fees and living expenses for a year.

In the end she got everything she asked for and a bit more. Her method obviously worked and I used her as a bit of a template, because she used social media a lot.

"I got the farming bug from my father. He’s an agronomist by trade but he’s always had a dozen or so beef animals on the side.

We’ve got about 20 odd acres of pasture in the family, which works fine for what he wants to do, but obviously you can’t make a living off that. That’s been a really useful platform, but it needed scaling. So I was looking for ways to make it bigger.

"I always knew social media was powerful. But I never realised just how powerful until I used it on this project. It’s kind of scary in a way how quickly you can reach so many people. I read up on crowdfunding and found that it hadn’t been done from a new entrant point of view or really any agricultural point of view. So I thought, I’ll give it a try and if it fails, I’ll try something else. I gave it a go and it went better than I ever could have hoped, to be honest!

"The crowdfunding money has helped me buy an extra 11 animals, so I’m up to 25 now. It’s all happened quite quickly, in the past six to eight months. I put the money I got turning my father’s cattle over into it, along with the money I got from my harvest jobs. I would have gotten there one way or another, but the object of the crowdfunding was to kick it on a bit. Capital was what I was lacking. I had to find another way short of going to the

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bank. I didn’t have any assets to borrow against, because I didn’t want to be up to my eyeballs in huge debts straight. I just tried to think of something different.

"I’ve learnt a lot of lessons, but I would do it all again.

Agriculture has its own mentality – there isn’t really anything like it. I definitely got a lot of grief on the Farming Forum!

When you’re doing something new, it’s always to be expected; not everyone’s going to agree with you, and that’s ok. The fundamental premise is that if you don’t like it, you don’t have to support it. Now that it’s worked, some people have changed their tune a bit. Some people said: “Well done, you’ve proven me wrong, hats off to you.” It was nice that people acknowledged that it had worked.

"When I started, I had no notion that it would blow up like it did. It was a bit of a learning curve, to say the least. My motivation now is to try and help other people and to share what I’ve picked up from it.

"I’ve got more land than animals – I need more beasts to justify it, which is a nice problem to have. I’m raising store cattle, turning them over between 18 and 20 months to get the numbers up. The long-term objective is to produce from field to farm; producing, butchering and distributing everything in-house. I’m currently building a website for online orders. People have really bought into the story.

"I’ve learnt you should trust your own ability and your own ideas. Not everyone is going to agree, but you’ve got to stick to your guns. You know where you want to go; you’ll move heaven and earth to get there. People love to tell you that you can’t do things if they can’t do them themselves; it’s that typical naysayer attitude. It’s very easy to think, are they right? Am I doing something wrong? But you have to believe in yourself and persist.

It’s very easy to lose confidence in yourself. I’ve always been prepared to fail. If you don’t try in the first place, you’re never going to get there."

Why not follow Jack on Twitter? Find him at @getjackfarming

20/04/2015 14:15

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#studentfarmer

I am a farmer

Ich bin ein Bauer

Tá mé ag feirmeoir

Soy un agricultor

Je suis un agriculteur

Ja sam seljak

Rwyf yn ffermwr

Io sono un agricoltore

Olen maanviljelijä

Jestem rolnikiem

a

www.nfuonline.com

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20/04/2015 10:45