BASF Agricultural Solutions UK

This episode's conversations were recorded at a dinner bringing together people from across the food industry to celebrate the role of farming over a shared love of food and to discuss the challenges the industry faces. The evening was held at FarmED in the Cotswolds, a demonstration farm owned by Ian and Celene Wilkinson. Dinner guests included farmers alongside chef Ben Ebbrell, of Sorted Food fame, Government representatives, retail supply chain managers, Claire Evans the headteacher of an inner-city primary school and Professor David Hughes, an immensely well-travelled professor of global food chains.   Against the backdrop of increasing pressures for farming to be profitable, rising food inflation and the government's recent Farm to Fork Summit, the timing of this episode feels fitting, bringing together a host of people who shared a meal and conversations around the future of food, and its sustainable production. The best conversations and the fostering of understanding, happen around food.

This month's podcast comes from Angus in Scotland where we speak to Matthew Steele (see grower spotlight above). During the podcast we chat about why his family has increased their potato area, challenges within the supply chain, what could come next for the sector and why he remains positive about growing one of our country's favourite vegetables. And, as with every podcast this season, we find out his top recipes containing the “tattie” (spoiler: it is a traditional Scottish recipe.)

To kick off our year, we sat down for a coffee with Paul Goddard, Business Development Manager for Speciality Crops at BASF. We talked about some of the innovations and successes that will be supporting growers this year including optical sorting and stem pullers, we reflected on the impact of the dry season in 2022, hear more about Pauls' visit to Jersey and, in his own words, found out why “Honesty” is the best approach.

BASF's #BiggestJobonEarth podcast shares experiences from the people that grow our food and care for the environment. In each episode, we talk to farmers about what they do, why they do it, and why despite the ever-changing challenges they face they get up every morning to do their job. This episode shines a light on food availability and affordability, and the role that individuals, charities, and community groups play in making meals available for the 14 million people in the UK – 4 million of them children - who are struggling to eat. Farm businesses up and down the country are going beyond their commitment to food production by initiating incredible work that supports their local communities to eat, and to eat well. This is a celebration of just how key farming and farmers are to looking after those around them. We at BASF are incredibly proud to share these stories. We spoke to farmers Andrew Stirling and Sally Mercer whose families supply charities and community organisations with surplus food to alleviate hunger and to support people in understanding food health and cooking from scratch. We also sat down with Ali Gourley from food redistribution charity, FareShare's, Public Affairs and Policy team to hear more about their campaign to source unharvested produce direct from farmers' fields – at no cost to the farm. For more information on any of the issues or organisations raised in the podcast contact us on social media or visit https://fareshare.org.uk/giving-food/ To show your support for UK agriculture, tell us why you think farming is the biggest job on earth to receive a free T-shirt: Biggest Job on Earth T-Shirt Give Away (basf.co.uk)

This time of year, people come together with friends, family and sometimes strangers to celebrate the festive period. Food plays an essential role in all our celebrations and the festive plate is the outcome of hard work and dedication from our farmers. We caught up with 3 farming families who supply our food from the traditional turkey to the carrots and sprouts that adorn our plates. We also reflect on just how different Christmas will be for some people around the world this year. We spoke to an Agricultural Economist and refugee from Ukraine who tells us about the special food, moments, and traditions she shares with her family and her plans to travel back to Kyiv to be with them this Christmas.

BASF's #BiggestJobonEarth podcast shares experiences from the people that grow our food and care for our environment. In each episode, we talk to farmers about what they do, why they do it, and why despite the ever-changing challenges they face they get up every morning to do their job. In this episode, we have frank and open conversations with farmers about the challenges, differences and difficult conversations they have had; conversations which can be easily overlooked to the detriment of everyone's mental health. We talk to Ben Taylor-Davis about his battle with mental health following a life-changing accident experienced by his youngest child, and how regenerative agriculture has helped him on a path to a more positive future. Lydia Slack shares her experience growing up in the farming community as a gay woman and the journey she found herself on alongside her immediate family to a place of acceptance and advocacy. She shares her belief that through storytelling we can collectively create a more inclusive community that benefits from diversity. Finally, we hear from Jude McCann from the Farming Community Network about the service they provide for farmers and families experiencing personal or work-related challenges. Our guests are open and transparent whilst discussing how by accepting themselves and reaching out when needed they were able to be their most comfortable, confident and creative. Have a listen and to show you're support, tell us why you think farming is the biggest job on earth to receive a free t-shirt here: www.agricentre.basf.co.uk/biggestjobon…arth/tshirts

In our first international podcast, Brendan Rockey talks about how he is meeting the challenges of growing at high altitude in Colorado. He shares how one cover crop led to another, and how he's using companion crops to attract beneficial insects and boost nutrition.

In our podcast this month we chat to Angus grower, James Porter. We chat water, soil, environmental impacts, challenges and contracts. We also find out how potato tasting can just be like wine tasting!

BASF's #BiggestJobonEarth podcast shares experiences from the people that grow our food and care for our environment. In each episode, we talk to farmers about what they do, why they do it, and why despite the ever-changing challenges they face they get up every morning to do their job. In our first episode, we're talking about all things bread. Where it comes from, how it's made and our favourite types. We talk to Lincolnshire farmer Andrew Ward, who gives a frank picture of farming, and the role farmers play as stewards of the environment. Angus McDowell shares his experiences as a farmer, maltster, and miller from East Lothian and finally, we hear from Pete Welborn a third-generation family baker. Friends of BASF share their favourite bread and how they like to eat it and are way off in how many loaves the UK bakes every day. Have a listen and to show you're support, tell us why you think farming is the biggest job on earth to receive a free t-shirt here: https://www.agricentre.basf.co.uk/biggestjobonearth/tshirts

In our podcast this month we chat to Lancashire grower Andrew Webster who talks about some of the challenges he is facing growing potatoes and his trials that are looking to help mitigate them in the future. We also talk about the loss of AHDB and his focus on setting up a new grower group in Lancashire to help share knowledge and ideas to support the future of the sector. And with all our podcasts, we find out about his favourite variety…spoiler, he had two!!

How do you plant potatoes in a field that is so steep you can't use a tractor? And what does hemp and tea have to do with potatoes? This month we sat down with Mike Renouard, Business Unit Director from the Jersey Royal Company to find out how they are growing potatoes, investing in their environment and supporting the local community. We packed a lot into this short 20-minute podcast.

This month we chat with Aberdeenshire grower Graeme Mackie, and BASF Potato Campaign Manager, Sophia Sutherland. We find out about the Mackie's export business, seed treatment trials and new methods for helping to improve on-farm sustainability. We also discover what you can see at the BASF Potato Hub open days, hosted this June and July in Suffolk, Fife and Staffordshire.

Did you know a potato has more vitamin c than an orange… but you need to leave the skin on to take advantage of all its nutritional value? In our next podcast we chat to Paul Goddard, Business Development Manager at BASF, Lucinda Smith, Agronomist at Dyson Farming and Simon Faulkner, an Independent Agronomist from Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk. We talk about the value of potatoes, managing pests, Nemaslug® and trials on farm.

This month we chat with Aberdeenshire seed potato grower, Jim Reid, and BASF's Agricultural Sustainability Manager, Mike Green to look at how and what can be done on-farm to support the future of potato production, whilst also protecting our land and the environment. We talk rotations, straw mulch, beetle banks, wildflower strips, headlands, PCN, blight and… stones!

In our first podcast of 2022, Seed and Tuber expert David Turner and Justin Wilderspin, Head of Farming and Procurement at Albert Bartlett join Paul Goddard, Business Development Manager at BASF to reflect on some of the challenges facing the potato sector last season, plans for the year ahead, new innovation and trials, and their favourite potatoes ... teaser, they didn't all agree on the same spud! Tune into this short 20-minute podcast to join them.

A whistle stop tour of a series of interviews with the some of the industry's leading thinker's on cereal weed control, IPM and resistance management.

In Episode 3 of Perfecting Potato Together, host Cedric Porter chats to Meg Edmonds, trials manager at the Eurofins site in Derbyshire about the lessons from this year's blight trials, while Paul Goddard, Stewardship & Value Chain Manager at BASF describes how current and future blight products have controlled one of the worst disease outbreaks for years. Oh, and we also discuss the Potato Photographer of the Year.

It is a time of the year when Alternaria, also known as Early Blight, can hit potato yields. This year's variable weather could mean crops are even more at risk from the disease. In this second episode of Perfecting Potato Together, SRUC potato pathologist Ruairidh Bain discusses how to identify Alternaria and what you can do to prevent it taking hold. Paul Goddard, Stewardship and Value Chain Manager at BASF highlights the products you can use and gives us a sneak preview of a brand new solution due next season.

The loss of old chemistry (mancozeb), increasing difficulty to approve new products and new potato blight strains becoming resistant to existing chemistry all means that there is a need for new product.

Bill Angus (AWC, Wheat Breeder)discusses the topic of genetics and fungicides & presents his thoughts on how to make the most of innovations from both genetics and chemistry to build a strong and sustainable wheat strategy.

Prof. Jenni Dungait joined us to talk about "The Effect of Soil Health on Grassweed Management". She shared some great, practical advice on how you can understand and improve your soils to help with weed control.

John Cussons from NIAB talked us through what weed challenges to expect this autumn after a tumultuous season, along with an informative discussion on mitigating risks.