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ONE HUDRED AND EIGHTYYYYY 🎯  Luke Littler really put Darts back on the scene at the turn of the year with his rise to the World Darts Championship Final at 16!  Luke currently sits at 31st in the world and sure to rise (he says with no understanding of darts)  Today I (as Ed got stuck in Orkney) sat down with Rab Smith, ex-WORLD NUMBER 4! We’ve had the privilege of picking the minds of some people right at the top of their game, Stevie Nicol, Rose Davies but never someone to reach the dizzying height of, in his words ‘one win away from number 1!’… The mentality of Rab, 47 years on from his major triumphs in the sport was still there…hadn’t touched a dart in 4 years and I got the chance to play with him…he knew exactly where the Oche was, dart board to the millimetre right height and there was a small wager that you’ll hear in the video…I failed!  A great story with a gentleman who truly reached the top of his profession who welcomed me into his own home! Thank you to magicmind for their support, check out the website www.magicmind.com/rukitchen20 and use code rukitchen20 for 56% off!…16 double top % that is!! Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Business, drones and…robots?! Today we welcome someone who I wrote about during my masters a fair old bit!  Sam Watson-Jones started the Small Robot Company.  A business aimed at creating a system where per plant farming can treat a field as a million plants instead of a field.  This means less requirements for chemical and fertiliser, just where and when it’s required…think of it as a very specific variable rate technology!  This month unfortunately SRC had to go into liquidation with various investors seeing it as being to far ahead of the rest of the market as is. Sam is now deducting his Nuffield scholarship to per plant precision! Very interesting chat with someone I’ve been a massive fan of for some time! Enjoy!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Looking good!! I’d like to think most of the time I have an idea of what I’m talking about with a guest but would be fair to say today that was not the case!  As I mentioned during the chat, as I sat here in a triple Tesco get up interviewing the founder and editor in chief of Femme Magazine, Brontë Clare Mitchell! Creating a quarterly magazine aimed at showcasing rural fashion and lifestyle came with stresses though!  We speak what it’s offered Brontë at such a young age, her uni times, fast fashion, Rupert…of course and so much more!  Great chat with an interesting entrepreneur!!  Thank you to Howden Insurance and the Scottish Farmer!  Enjoy!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Goats, goats and…goats!  In June you may have seen me walk in to the goat tent with RHS TV loudly exclaiming that this was in fact ‘heaven in a tent’…I stand by it! A top 2 animal up there with cats!  Today we bring on a Nuffield scholar who started as an English teacher and after a chat on a plane with her partner, Fraser decided to buy some goats.  Obviously at this point it wasn’t time to ditch the full time jobs but there was time! Fast forward today and with three figures of milking goats Rachel Yarrow of Norton and Yarrow Cheese is trying to find a pasture based goat system that could be implemented large scale here in the UK! We talk tenancies, getting into farming and so much more…also some goats!! A great chat with a goat nerd!  Thanks to Howden rural and Scottish farmer for their support! Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marbles? Marbling?  Today we welcome Gwion Parry! Gwion has been successful in a Nuffield application this year with a focus on a grading system for meat that allows the UK to tell the consumer what to expect as opposed to the outdated fat class and EUROP Scale! Gwion ‘studied’ at Aberystwyth university before a brilliant time in New Zealand.  He then headed home to join the home farm but wanted his own business and found one that leaves him as one of only around 5 in the country.  He scans cattle for far depth and marbling, a techniques used heavily in stabilisers which Gwion runs at home.  It’s now branching out into other breeds too! He’s got a few flights awaiting him and I look forward to following!  Thanks to Howden rural and the Scottish farmer for their support! Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What’s the difference between, you, me and the next person?  The answer that question could be a few things but class in society isn’t one of them.  Our guest today is an utter saint of this sector…and literally and OBE (as of this week).   Navaratnam Partheeban, or Theeb is a vet…by the way listen to the name change tradition in Theeb’s culture (Tamil), it’s really cool and also leads to a lovely lineage!  Sorry, he’s a vet…he’s a Nuffield scholar, he’s an OBE, he’s a lecturer but there’s still something even more impressive about this man. Partheeban was victim of negative racial comments from a client before said client was sided with by his manager and he knew it was time to leave and also change the industry from within which he has done. Co-founder of the British Veterinary Ethnicity and Diversity Society, a Nuffield scholarship carried out researching diversity in the sector and a new curriculum about to get read out through all vet and agriculture institutions it’s fair to say this man, unlike some is completely deserving of that OBE title.  A chat with a gentleman changing the world one step at a time. Thanks to Howden Rural and Scottish farmer for their countries support!  Enjoy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As this podcast started a second series aiming to showcase anyone with one rule, no ties to food or farming I expected roughly where that would go given Ed and I’s interest…sport and travel! Which in fairness it has almost been exclusively! Today we bring on a PROPER thrill seeker, seeking a thrill that not only has the potential to be but proven lethal at times…that goes today is Ricky Forbes, someone who knew wanted a career of thrill or adventure, ex-host of Tornado Hunters, motivation and all round sound Canadian!  Trust me, this is FULL of INSANE stories! When we filmed this it was during that cold snap here in the UK, I said to Ricky ‘sorry we’re late mate, it’s a bit cold here’ failing to mention it was -3…before he said ‘not a problem my man, we’re the same here’s…his same was -42 C! Considered my pride well and truly through the digestive tract by now! I also need to thank Suzette for all the nerdy tornado knowledge in this one…Suzette! You even get a mention and shoutout from Ricky!! Brought to you by magic mind who you can get 56% off with at checkout using the code rukitchen20 Enjoy!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A PhD, farming 200000 hectares and saving lives. Do you ever get the feeling you’re just meant to meet someone?! I got that sort of initial feeling the second I shook today’s guests hand! Today we welcome Keith Dawson onto the podcast! Normally when someone has a PhD that’s a pretty big thing but we barely mention it in today’s episode! Keith was an environmental scientist in agriculture WELL before it was cool and has been involved in various projects over the years. His most notable are establishing farming businesses in Poland and Ukraine consolidating rentals from thousands of landlords to ultimately farm around 200000 hectares in the west of Ukraine alongside his partners.  After a few successful years there and various careers given to numbers of households in the country they changed the plan. They decided to farm much less (few thousand hectares) of potatoes aimed at crisping and those that don’t for start production! That’s still not the best thing about Keith though! He’s been instrumental in the pick ups for peace charity and it just seems like his whole purpose now sending pick ups across the continent to Lviv to literally save lives…but hear that for yourselves here! A great episode with a great man that I have spoken to for hours on end back in October on the P4P mission out to a wonderful city. Thanks to Howden Rural and Scottish Farmer for their continued support!  Enjoy…and support if you can!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first ever for the R2Kast  We’ve had people like Claire Taylor, Alec Pirie and Christine Cuthbertson who have appeared on two episodes (one as an individual and one on the group series) or even Jane Strawhorn who has appeared in an individual episode, group podcast and even and extra for our group who went to Africa!  Today’s guest finds herself as the only one to appear on two episodes both times as an individual!  Sophie Gregory came into farming from accountancy and has properly grabbed the bull by the horns! Running her own organic farm alongside her partner, being on the arla board or her new Nuffield application success she has done a phenomenal amount! Great guest for the one to open the potential for repeat episodes on the R2kast!  Check out episode 108 before this one to hear her whole story! Enjoy!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deer, calves and…flowers?! Today’s guest, Laura Awdry grew up on a deer farm in New Zealand. She then decided to travel to the UK for a couple years before meeting her now husband and they found themselves expecting!  Throwing herself into the deep end at her partner, Sam’s farm she started her calf rearing business with a hundred calves in a rented shed from her father in law which in his words he ‘thought he’d have it back in a year’…16 years on Laura rears 600. Along with Sam and the kids they have now started a Duchy tenancy only moving in this year with a pretty impressive system on the go aiming at cutting costs.  Laura is carrying her Nuffield out looking at sustainability and profitability of the dairy beef sector! Enjoy!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I have filmed…well 170 episodes and to me this is the wildest!  Our guest today is not only an ESPN pundit, he’s not only an ex-NEW England Revolution manager of 10 years in the MLS but he’s also a European cup winner who played for a decade in ‘that’ Liverpool team. Barcelona around 2010, Real Madrid in the late 50s, maybe even AC Milan around 1990 but few top the Liverpool of the late 70s into 80s. Stevie Nicol was the right back for a fair chunk of the 80s lifting the division 1 title 4 times, the FA Cup thrice, European cup once and representing Scotland including one trip to the World Cup!  He made the PFA team of the year and was once voted the PFA Writers footballer of the year before finding success as a manager in the states as well!  A great that with a great guy who truly made the peak of his profession. Sponsored today by magic mind, thank you for your support, ed and I have enjoyed the product and we want to share it with our listeners! Check it out at www.magicmind.com/rukitchen20 and use our like rukitchen20 for 56% off!  Enjoy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Philosophy, accountancy and soil! Today’s guest has fitted a LOT in!  Coming from a small farm in Yorkshire, Tom Scrope went to uni to study philosophy (I had a wee chat about this with no idea about what was going on) before starting working in accountancy!  At a soil convention Tom came across an academic called Ben and they started a business together, Soil Benchmark! A very interesting data driven business which looks at soil profiling and mapping the country and creating a knowledge transfer area. A lot of this above my head but I found it very interesting!  He’s taken this to Nuffield and plans on looking at knowledge transfer models implemented in all soil affecting/affecting industries! Great episode with pretty bloody clever guy!  Enjoy!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.