You are listening to Agri Culture, a podcast that aims to explore the stories of the people that make up our agricultural industry and culture of farming, in Scotland and beyond.

Welcome to part two of a two-part episode series about Steading and Co and the family. Mary-Jane Lawrie is joined by Phillip, Konrad, Symone and Alex, a multigenerational family running a regenerative farming business in Fife. They talked about their journey from a dairy farm in Ireland to an arable farm in Canada, and now building a life of health from the ground up on their farm in Scotland. The family have come together after time spent working in different careers, with the common goal of running a sustainable farming business. They are focussed on the benefit of regenerative practices to improve soil health, food quality, nutrition and health.

If you missed the first part of this episode series, you can catch it right now, wherever you normally listen. If you’d like to get in touch or find out more about Steading and Co, you can find links in the show notes.

This episode was presented by Mary-Jane Lawrie, produced by Kerry Hammond and edited by Cameron Waugh, in association with the Scottish Government.

Part 1: Agri Culture - Building A Life Of Health From The Ground Up: Steading & Co Family (Part 1) | FAS

Resources:

Discover Sustainable Farming Practices at Steading & Co. - Enhance Soil Health & Wellness

Steading&Co (@steadingandco) • Instagram photos and videos

About - Soil Food Web School - Regenerating Soil

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Twitter: @FASScot

Facebook: @FASScot

National Advice Hub

Phone: 0300 323 0161

Email: advice@fas.scot

You are listening to Agri Culture, a podcast that aims to explore the stories of the people that make up our agricultural industry and culture of farming, in Scotland and beyond.

Welcome to part one of a two-part episode series about Steading and Co and the family. Mary-Jane Lawrie is joined by Phillip, Konrad, Symone and Alex, a multigenerational family running a regenerative farming business in Fife. They talked about their journey from a dairy farm in Ireland to an arable farm in Canada, and now building a life of health from the ground up on their farm in Scotland. The family have come together after time spent working in different careers, with the common goal of running a sustainable farming business. They are focussed on the benefit of regenerative practices to improve soil health, food quality, nutrition and health.

Make sure you catch the second part of this episode series right now wherever you normally listen. If you’d like to get in touch or find out more about Steading and Co, you can find links in the show notes.

This episode was presented by Mary-Jane Lawrie, produced by Kerry Hammond and edited by Cameron Waugh, in association with the Scottish Government.

Part 2: Agri Culture - Building A Life Of Health From The Ground Up: Steading & Co Family (Part 2) | FAS

Resources:

Discover Sustainable Farming Practices at Steading & Co. - Enhance Soil Health & Wellness

Steading&Co (@steadingandco) • Instagram photos and videos

About - Soil Food Web School - Regenerating Soil

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot

Twitter: @FASScot

Facebook: @FASScot

National Advice Hub

Phone: 0300 323 0161

Email: advice@fas.scot

You are listening to Agri Culture, a podcast that aims to explore the stories of the people that make up our agricultural industry and culture of farming, in Scotland and beyond. On today’s episode Mary-Jane Lawrie is joined by Anna Wylie and Jack Munro. Anna and Jack met when they both attended the Tesco Future Farmer programme for young farmers run through Harper Adams university. The programme gave them the opportunity to meet other farmers from all backgrounds across the UK, to learn from each other and to attend in person meetings, webinars and farm business visits. They talk about what they both enjoyed about the course, how it shaped their own plans for their futures, and how important they both feel it is to be involved in the farming community, learning and making time for personal development.

Thanks for joining us for this episode of Agri Culture. If you’d like to find out more about the Future Farmer Programme or if you would like to contact Anna to learn more about the World Food Forum, you can find links in the show notes. This episode was presented by Mary-Jane Lawrie, produced by Kerry Hammond and edited by Cameron Waugh, in association with the Scottish Government. 

Resources:

Future Farmer Programme | School of Sustainable Food and Farming

Anna Wylie | LinkedIn

Jack Munro | LinkedIn

For more information, visit  www.FAS.scot

Twitter: @FASScot

Facebook: @FASScot

National Advice Hub

Phone: 0300 323 0161

Email: advice@fas.scot

You are listening to Agri Culture, a podcast that aims to explore the stories of the people that make up our agricultural industry and culture of farming, in Scotland and beyond. On today’s episode Mary-Jane is joined by Barbara McLeod. Barbara owns and runs Cruciferous Croft in the Lochinver area of North West Scotland. She took on a croft herself, renovating an old building to live in, and has since started growing vegetables, finding most success with cabbages. This gave her the idea to start fermenting them into sauerkraut to add value. She now sells her products at food festivals and fairs. She tells us about what it was like getting started in crofting, and discusses heritage practices such as using seaweed for fertiliser, and following chemical free growing practices. She also tells us about the various sources of funding and support she has used to get her business up and running.

If you’d like to get in touch or find out more about Cruciferous Croft, the Farm Advisory Service mentoring scheme, the HIE food and drink tech hub, or the other sources of support that Barbara mentioned, you can find links in the show notes.

This episode was presented by Mary-Jane Lawrie, produced by Kerry Hammond and edited by Cameron Waugh, in association with the Scottish Government.

Related Resources

Home - Cruciferous Croft Website

Food and drink TechHUB | HIE

FAS Mentoring Support Available | Helping farmers in Scotland

For more information, visit  www.FAS.scot

Twitter: @FASScot

Facebook: @FASScot

National Advice Hub

Phone: 0300 323 0161

Email: advice@fas.scot

You are listening to Agri Culture, a podcast that aims to explore the stories of the people that make up our agricultural industry and culture of farming, in Scotland and beyond.

On today’s episode Mary-Jane Lawrie is joined by Wallace Currie. Wallace may be familiar to you as he runs his own podcast R2Kast as part of his brand Rural 2 Kitchen, which started during lockdown as a way to share his farming life. Later he became a lecturer at SRUC and has since gone on to do a Nuffield Scholarship on pathways into agriculture through education, youth groups and consumer engagement. He talks to us about his farming background, his thoughts on how agriculture should be woven into our education system, and his work with the Young Farmers and Farmstrong Scotland.

Thanks for joining us for this episode of Agri Culture. If you’d like to get in touch or find out more about R2Kast, Young Farmers, Nuffield Scholarships, or Farmstrong Scotland you can find links in the show notes.

This episode was presented by Mary-Jane Lawrie, produced by Kerry Hammond and edited by Cameron Waugh, in association with the Scottish Government.

Resources:

Rural2Kitchen - YouTube

R2Kast - People in Food and Farming/All In - Hosted by Wallace Currie

Rural2Kitchen | Facebook

Wallace Currie MSc (@rural2kitchen) • Instagram photos and videos

The Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs | SAYFC

Agricultural Studies | Nuffield Farming Scholarships

Farmstrong Scotland - Live Well, Farm & Croft Well

For more information, visit  www.FAS.scot

Twitter: @FASScot

Facebook: @FASScot

National Advice Hub

Phone: 0300 323 0161

Email: advice@fas.scot

Content Warning: The following episode mentions pregnancy loss.

Mary-Jane Lawrie is joined by Eilidh Verstage from Arngask Home Farm. Eilidh and her husband Lloyd are new entrants, who purchased Arngask 4 years ago. They have rare breed pigs and this year have just started growing chemical free vegetables to sell wholesale, at markets and locally in weekly veg boxes. They have also branched out into running events with a neighbouring farm. Community is at the heart of what they do, and this evident from the volunteers who support the veg enterprise, the local community, frequenting their honesty horse box, and the vibrant digital community that Arngask Home Farm have built on social media.

Thanks for joining us for this episode of Agri Culture. If you’d like to get in touch or find out more about Arngask Home Farm, the Oxford sandy and black pig foundation, or the rare breed survival trust, you can find links in the show notes. This episode was presented by Mary-Jane Lawrie, produced by Kerry Hammond and edited by Cameron Waugh, in association with the Scottish Government.

Resources:

ABOUT | Arngask Home Farm

Arngask Home Farm (@arngaskhomefarm) • Instagram photos and videos

Arngask Home Farm - Facebook

Oxford Sandy and Black Pigs - Oxford Sandy and Black Pig Foundation Charity

Ooooby | Ecommerce for small farms, veg boxes, food hubs, CSA's and craft food.

For more information, visit  www.FAS.scot

Twitter: @FASScot

Facebook: @FASScot

National Advice Hub

Phone: 0300 323 0161

Email: advice@fas.scot

Mary-Jane Lawrie is joined by Liz Haines to talk about her lived experience of being neurodivergent and working in agriculture. Liz tells us about her background in farming and how she and her husband became new entrants to agriculture. Liz shares some of her systems and process that help her run their successful dairy farm since being diagnosed with ADHD in 2022. This diagnosis led her to pursue a Nuffield scholarship. She has travelled the world to study neurodiversity in agriculture, and she shares with us her learnings, and how we can help and support neurodiverse people in our agricultural industry.

Thanks for joining us for this episode of Agri Culture. If you’d like to get in touch or find out more about the ‘Level The Field’ campaign, you can find more information in the show notes. You may also want to listen to the two Agri Culture podcast episodes on dyslexia. This episode was presented by me Mary-Jane Lawrie, produced by Kerry Hammond and edited by Cameron Waugh, in association with the Scottish Government.

Resources

Level the field - Farmers Weekly

BBC Two - Inside Our Minds

Agricultural Studies | Nuffield Farming Scholarships

Agri Culture - Cathy Magee: Delving into Dyslexia | FAS

Agri Culture - Pete Black: The Superpower of Dyslexia | FAS

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot

Twitter: @FASScot

Facebook: @FASScot

National Advice Hub

Phone: 0300 323 0161

Email: advice@fas.scot

Mary-Jane Lawrie is joined by Josh Barton from Brose Oats.

Josh tells us about the company, Brose Oats, and their oat milk products, telling us the story of how the company grew from an idea in a small kitchen, to distributing Scottish oat milk across the Lothians and beyond. He also talks about the importance of sustainability, both in terms of food production, but also in terms of societal sustainability and how important it is to create local jobs for local people. We also discussed how we can make work more accessible for those who maybe have found it challenging to gain and retain employment.

Thanks for joining us for this episode of Agri Culture. If you’d like to get in touch or find out more about Brose Oats, resources for food and drink entrepreneurs, and the UK government’s access to work programme for those with disability or long term health conditions, you can find links in the show notes. This episode was presented by me Mary-Jane Lawrie, produced by Kerry Hammond and edited by Cameron Waugh, in association with the Scottish Government.

Resources

Brose Oats | Scottish oat drinks from East Lothian

Josh Barton | LinkedIn

Brose Oats Facebook Page

Brose Oats (@broseoats) • Instagram photos and videos

THRIVE Programme | Scottish Centre for Food Development Innovation | Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh

Access to Work: get support if you have a disability or health condition: What Access to Work is - GOV.UK

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot

Twitter: @FASScot

Facebook: @FASScot

National Advice Hub

Phone: 0300 323 0161

Email: advice@fas.scot