Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
President of the National Farmers Union, first woman to lead it, representing British farmers and running her own farm.
On the island
Eight records
For me, I'm traveling a lot. I'm abroad a lot and I wake up sometimes in a hotel thinking that I'm at home and realizing that I'm not and very occasionally thinking, and which country am I in? That line is very apt, and just the green, green grass of home, that really reminds me of my home.
This track, 500 miles, always makes me smile. It's just a shout out to all those businesses that are feeling the pain of COVID, our caterers, the people that run the bar, the people that do the security. They're all out of work at the moment. They're all suffering. We haven't had one single wedding in 2020 and that goes across many different farming businesses as well as to the challenges that we've all faced. So this track reminds me of the past and the good times and it reminds me of the times to come when the dance floor will once again be packed with people having the time of their life.
Spring (from The Four Seasons)
Nigel Kennedy and the English Chamber Orchestra
Spring is such an important time of year. We are calving, we are lambing and Vivaldi Spring is just about green shoots. It's just about new life coming into the world. It's about hope. It's about optimism. And it's about excitement for the year ahead, no matter what the winter has thrown at us. And Vivaldi Spring just explodes in your mind when you hear it.
Give a Little BitFavourite
My oldest friend lives in Scotland now. Becky, I've known since we were three. So we don't get to meet up very often. Occasionally, it's in Glasgow Airport for a quick cup of coffee and a croissant if I'm up there. But she's one of those friends that we all have, that knows you so well, has always been such a solid person in my life, says it how it is. And this reminds me of the first concert that we ever went to, which was Super Tramp.
Christmas is massively important to all of us. For me, it's always been important. But on the back of what happened to my son George when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on the 16th of December 2009. I have chosen Silent Night, which is sung by Salisbury Cathedral Choir. ... And this track reminds me of how important Christ's birthday is. It's always a time when I remember that my son pulled through his diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.
This is the eye of the tiger sung by Survivor. For me, this is about that forensic look at the tiger on the way forwards. It's about what leadership means to me. It's also about running. I've run in three marathons and raised over £50,000 for charity. So running is an important part of my life. I always remember the captain of the England World Cup team saying, 'You're going to leave your heart and soul on that pitch.' And that is what I say to my team at the NFU. We're going to make sure that British farming has a thriving, profitable future. But you do everything. I want you to come off that pitch looking exhausted. And so this track is about that forensic eye of the tiger look on the future. And it's about empowerment.
For me, this is just such a wonderful track. It's Bet Midler and it's Wind Beneath My Wings. And for me, there are two parts effectively to this track. There are always an amazing team of people. The team in the NFU that works with me, that gives me all the support. The experts that I work with are amazing and they keep me in the air. They keep the wind beneath my wings. And also to my mum, who throughout my entire life has been in the background, who's kept me airborne in all sorts of extraordinary situations. This is, I think, a lovely track that sums up the importance of my friends, my family, my work colleagues, the people that keep me in the air.
Gustav Holst (melody from Jupiter)
I guess this final track means so much to me. I think my own faith has been about a journey, my commitment to the farmers of this country at this major time of reset. And so what I have chosen is I vow to be my country, sung by the very beautiful Catherine Jenkins. And it's my commitment to the farmers that I represent in my bid to do the very best that I can on their behalf.
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:26What about the impact of COVID-19 on farmers? What have they been telling you?
COVID-19 was a story of two halves really. You know, we were the key workers. Our job was to feed the nation. And as farmers, we really rose to that challenge. ... But for all of us and our out-of-home eating, our Costa coffees, we don't at home have those things. We tend to have an S Cafe with a splash of milk. So for those farmers, dairy farmers supplying the out of home market, supplying the likes of Costa, they lost their market overnight. They couldn't furlough their cows, they couldn't furlough their workers, they were dealing with the perishable product. ... So those growers, you know, perishable product again, massive losses.
Presenter asks
6:01What are your most urgent priorities [as NFU president] at the minute?
It is all about, for me, making sure that consumers get access to the high quality food that they want. They really want to see animal welfare, environmental protection, food safety maintained in this country. So we've got to make sure that when we look at future trade deals, that we're achieving that, effectively, that those imports are produced to the same standards that we have here, and we're not importing food that ultimately would be illegal for us to produce here. That's really important.
Presenter asks
10:02How did your parents get into farming?
The keepsakes
The book
Michael Rosen
Holly and George, one of my favorite times when they were growing up, when we were going out for picnics, when we were exploring the farm … was reading to them in the evening, we're going on a bear hunt and I guess it works for my life what the moral effectively of this story is all about and I hope it's worked for them because it is all about we can't go over it, we can't go under it, we'll just have to go through it. And in the splashing through puddles, going through long grass, climbing through brambles, you've just got to go through it. And I think it's been probably the mantra of my life and I hope it will become the mantra of theirs. It's certainly how I tried to bring them up that there's not always a way over or under and you just sometimes got to crack on and go through it.
The luxury
During this period of lockdown, I've obviously been at home and I really decided that I wanted to be able to make some bread, but I couldn't buy any flour. … And ever since then, I've been making bread. So, what I'm going to do is use my wonderful members to provide me with the brilliant ingredients. I'm going to pick up some butter and I'm going to make some bread. And I make it every week. And that's going to be my luxury item. And it's going to remind me of the brilliant farming businesses that I represent out there across the country. … I'm going to make it before I go, and then I'm going to take it with me.
He was one of three. His brother got left a small farm. His sister got left some money and he got a note saying best of luck. And so I think that was quite a guiding principle for him. He had to make his own path. And my mum came from Oxford. She didn't have a farming background. The rural life was something that she really wanted. They never thought they would farm in their own right, and they did. But they always told me that that wouldn't happen because they farmed effectively in partnership with my current landlord, so we had no succession tenancy. And I, again, had to make my own path into farming.
Presenter asks
11:08[Your father] didn't think that women made good farmers. Why not?
He was old school. He just thought that it was too physical. And I think he worried that the farm would not be there for me and he wanted me to get out and go away and get a different career.
Presenter asks
18:13Have [your twin children] shown any interest in following in your footsteps?
They do, and there's a real danger for me and that I grew up being told that you will never have this, and there's a real danger that I don't say to them too much, you know, you have the opportunity to farm because that was a really important thing for me that they would have the opportunity. And so I never say it to them. I just try and say, look, I want you to get the best education that you can. I want you to go out and do what you want in the world. I don't ever want them feeling that they have to come back to the farm. I have built a business that is there for them if they want to come back, but I really have to steal myself not to ever go there on it because I want them to follow their dreams. I want them to follow their passions in life.
Presenter asks
21:42[Your son] George was just five the Christmas he was diagnosed with type one diabetes. What happened?
So it was December. I'd had a chest infection. I was on antibiotics and George, to all intents and purposes, appeared to have the same thing. And I took him to our downtown surgery. So George was obviously very ill. ... The doctor checked him out and said, well, look, I would take him home, keep him warm. And if you're at all worried, take him into A and E. And within half an hour, that doctor had driven out to the farm and said, Look, I'm going to test him for type 1 diabetes. And I'm forever in a day grateful that he came out, he tested him and he said, Right, take him into hospital right now. ... And before I knew it, the room was just full of people, and ultimately George's body had shut down, his veins had collapsed. ... and he was in a very bad way, but he was fully conscious and they were trying to get lines into him, so they were putting needles into his arms, his feet, and we got through to the following morning and I knew he was going to be okay then. It was just the most massive relief.
Presenter asks
24:52Vegetarianism and veganism are both on the rise. ... Is that movement something that farmers have responded to and interested in?
We need to be growing much more of our fruit and veg here. So currently we're producing about sixteen percent of our fruit and about fifty two percent of our vegetables. So we should, with the maritime climate that we have, we should be producing much more of it here. But for me, it's about what are the best components of that healthy balanced diet. And meat and dairy have a role to play in making sure that we get the right nutrients in our diet. But every single one of us, no matter what age we are, we need to be eating more fruit, more vegetables. ... I think we tend to forget the importance of nutrient density of growing things in our soils, which ultimately is what gives the nutrient density to what we are eating. It starts with the soil, really. Everything is about the soil and we got to focus and are focusing on farmers on ever better soil health.
Presenter asks
26:10What particular pressures do farmers face when it comes to their mental health?
I think one of the challenges now is that farming is much more independent. When I think of the farm that I grew up on, there were a lot more people within that community. Every farm had more people working on it. As we've mechanised and progressed, you've got less people. In many cases, you've just got the farmer doing all the work on their own. So they're isolated. They're isolated. And COVID, of course, has led to more isolation. So it's about outreach and it's about engagement and it's about getting people to talk and open up.
“I started farming with really a very derelict farm with 15 suckler cows to my name, not a fence on the place, no buildings, no nothing, and all my friends saying, You're mad, don't do this.”
“For me, it's about what are the best components of that healthy balanced diet. And meat and dairy have a role to play in making sure that we get the right nutrients in our diet. But every single one of us, no matter what age we are, we need to be eating more fruit, more vegetables.”
“I think we tend to forget the importance of nutrient density of growing things in our soils, which ultimately is what gives the nutrient density to what we are eating. It starts with the soil, really. Everything is about the soil.”
“It's about outreach and it's about engagement and it's about getting people to talk and open up.”
“There's not always a way over or under and you just sometimes got to crack on and go through it.”
“My life has been in boxes that I feel I have truly unpacked for Desert Islandists, and it's been the most enormous privilege.”