March 24, 2025 • 6 mins
Our UK farming correspondent (and influencer) comments on another UK farming influencer, updates the latest farmer protests against the Labour Government, and looks forward to spring on his arable farm.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's our guy in the UK. Farmer Tom Martin social
media influenza extraordinary, But Tom, are you as big an
influencer as clear? Taylor Claire was on the show yesterday
from Australia. Good Scottish Neffield scholar, and I know that
you and Clear your paths have crossed.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
That's right. We met the tea in my garden some
months ago and we decided that the Northern Hemisphere wasn't
big enough for the tour of us. So we thought,
we thought, we both settle these things. And she's moved
down to the Southern Hemisphere. She has become a token
antipathy in And yeah, but Claire Claire amazing, amazing advocates
(00:39):
for farming, got a fantastic background in media and a
great voice, So yeah, she's she's doing a brilliant, brilliant job.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
She's very vivacious and bubbly. She's a wonderful face for agriculture.
Of course, her Nuffield scholarship is on the anti farming agenda,
and as I said to her yesterday, she's got plenty
to work on on her home country of Scotland. For
you guys in the UK, it just goes from bed
to worse. Of course today you've just had farmer protests
(01:09):
across the country.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
That's right, And do you know, I just feel this
par tip of the iceberg. It's the outworking of the
incredible frustration that we're feeling here. We know, as farmers
we have to keep the general public on side. We
know we enjoy incredible public support. Farmers are just behind
our doctors and nurses in terms of public support, and
that is so important that we have to get the
(01:33):
message across that food security is national security, that when
we screw down our farmers, actually we're affecting the rural
economy and having huge, far reaching and irreversible impacts in
the countryside and therefore for the whole country.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Rachel Reeves, I think she's known as Rachel from accounts, Well,
come back to that story. She's your Chancellor of the Exchequer,
the same as Minister of Finance. I think this week
she comes out with her spring statement, which is like
a half year statement, is she going to pile more
misery upon British and UK farmers.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, I mean I hope not. I hope not. I
don't think we can take anymore. I don't need to
rehearse the full list of daggers that we've endured and
continue to endure, well attempting to endure. There are people
who will not be enduring them. Businesses will be going
to the war, people will be struggling to the end.
(02:33):
But I heard Tom Bradshaw, the president of the National
Farmers Union, speaker last week and he was saying, you know,
whereas normally we look ahead at the Spring Statement with
hope for support for farmers, for measures that might encourage
productive and sustainable farming, he said, I hope, I hope
we're not mentioned. You know that they are cutting, cutting, cutting,
(02:58):
and crippling our economy. He said, you know, if we're
not mentioned, if we get away with it, then that
will probably be a good thing. There have been rumors
about taking the exemptions of red diesel. Of course, we
aren't driving our tractors on the road or largely, and
so we have an exemption for agricultural vehicles and if
(03:19):
they remove that, that'll be another I think it's thirty
to forty pence. I'm not sure that is in Kiwi sense,
but onto a liter of diesel, well, that's it's just
another another added cost in an industry where average average
profits used to be between zero point five and one percent. Well,
(03:41):
now we'll be way off there. There'll be people losing
money hand there a fist, they'll be losing livelihoods. And
for an industry where no other industry beats us in
terms of workplace accidents and suicides. It feels very morbid
to say that. I think we're just at the beginning.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Well, we're very lucky in this country. We've a farmer
friendly government at the moment. Let's try and brighten things up.
You are heading into your spring. You're an arable croping farmer.
This must be the time, tom when you get a
real spring in your step.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yep, that's absolutely right. We've been through the false winter,
the false spring. Sorry, we had a warm period about
two or three weeks ago. We then went into what
traditionally is known as blackthorns little winter. When the blackthorn
produces its white flowers, often we get a very cold patch,
and we did. We had a few frosts about a
week or so ago, and we're back into sunshine and
(04:33):
warm weather. Can I tell you it feels good after
the winter we've had. It feels great to be out
doing a bit of land work. We've been planting our
springstone crops, and the lambs in the field, the sheep
in the fields are approaching lambing there. They're all April
lambers around us, so they'll be lambing in the coming day.
So yeah, it's amazing what a bright, warm, sunny day
(04:55):
can do, even in the midst of a the.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Bad news a lamb frolicking in a field. Okay, I
sound almost like Shakespeare there. You and I met in
Dustal Dwarf at a Bay of Farming conference many years
ago now, and I'm encouraging you to come over to
New Zealand. I promise you, I'll put you up, I'll
feed and water youre tom but you would You said
you would only come as long as you could have
a barbecue with Jasunda Ardurn. You're a Biginda fan boy. Unfortunately,
(05:25):
my budget doesn't stretch to getting you to Boston because
that's where Jasunda is at the moment at Harvard.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Well, do you know, just from our conversations over the years,
you know there are a raft of these young Ish
presidents and prime ministers, and you've got Makarn and Trudeau
and Jacinda and in our country Starma and Starmer is
a great example of them in that I think he's
doing a very good job internationally, is certainly, I hope,
(05:51):
viewed pretty well from abroad until you start looking into
what's happening inside the country in terms of national politics,
not international politics, an unmitigated disaster. And my Canadian family
is saying the same thing. We've always looked at trade
and thought, well, it seems like a nice chat from
over here, from a few thousand miles away. The same
thing with mccron, who's almost come unstuck in the last
couple of years. And you know, there's certainly been seemed
(06:14):
to be mixed views of Cinder's premiership within New Zealand,
but she always looks pretty good from this part.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Oh yes, Tom, Well, I think she falls into the
same category as Trudeau and Sakia Starmer, perhaps better on
the international stage than domestically. It's five years to the day, incidentally, Tom,
since just send a locked us down here in New Zealand,
that is a very contentious issue. That's another issue for
another day. Look, I hope Spring treats you well, and
(06:41):
I hope you don't get a hiding midweek from the
Chancellor's Spring statement, thank you.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
We need all they before we can get very grateful
He's our guy in the UK. Farmer Tom Martin social
media influenza extraordinary, But Tom, are you as big an
influencer as clear? Taylor Claire was on the show yesterday
from Australia. Good Scottish Neffield scholar, and I know that
you and Clear your paths have crossed.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
That's right. We met the tea in my garden some
months ago and we decided that the Northern Hemisphere wasn't
big enough for the tour of us. So we thought,
we thought, we both settle these things. And she's moved
down to the Southern Hemisphere. She has become a token
antipathy in And yeah, but Claire Claire amazing, amazing advocates
(00:39):
for farming, got a fantastic background in media and a
great voice, So yeah, she's she's doing a brilliant, brilliant job.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
She's very vivacious and bubbly. She's a wonderful face for agriculture.
Of course, her Nuffield scholarship is on the anti farming agenda,
and as I said to her yesterday, she's got plenty
to work on on her home country of Scotland. For
you guys in the UK, it just goes from bed
to worse. Of course today you've just had farmer protests
(01:09):
across the country.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
That's right, And do you know, I just feel this
par tip of the iceberg. It's the outworking of the
incredible frustration that we're feeling here. We know, as farmers
we have to keep the general public on side. We
know we enjoy incredible public support. Farmers are just behind
our doctors and nurses in terms of public support, and
that is so important that we have to get the
(01:33):
message across that food security is national security, that when
we screw down our farmers, actually we're affecting the rural
economy and having huge, far reaching and irreversible impacts in
the countryside and therefore for the whole country.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Rachel Reeves, I think she's known as Rachel from accounts, Well,
come back to that story. She's your Chancellor of the Exchequer,
the same as Minister of Finance. I think this week
she comes out with her spring statement, which is like
a half year statement, is she going to pile more
misery upon British and UK farmers.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, I mean I hope not. I hope not. I
don't think we can take anymore. I don't need to
rehearse the full list of daggers that we've endured and
continue to endure, well attempting to endure. There are people
who will not be enduring them. Businesses will be going
to the war, people will be struggling to the end.
(02:33):
But I heard Tom Bradshaw, the president of the National
Farmers Union, speaker last week and he was saying, you know,
whereas normally we look ahead at the Spring Statement with
hope for support for farmers, for measures that might encourage
productive and sustainable farming, he said, I hope, I hope
we're not mentioned. You know that they are cutting, cutting, cutting,
(02:58):
and crippling our economy. He said, you know, if we're
not mentioned, if we get away with it, then that
will probably be a good thing. There have been rumors
about taking the exemptions of red diesel. Of course, we
aren't driving our tractors on the road or largely, and
so we have an exemption for agricultural vehicles and if
(03:19):
they remove that, that'll be another I think it's thirty
to forty pence. I'm not sure that is in Kiwi sense,
but onto a liter of diesel, well, that's it's just
another another added cost in an industry where average average
profits used to be between zero point five and one percent. Well,
(03:41):
now we'll be way off there. There'll be people losing
money hand there a fist, they'll be losing livelihoods. And
for an industry where no other industry beats us in
terms of workplace accidents and suicides. It feels very morbid
to say that. I think we're just at the beginning.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Well, we're very lucky in this country. We've a farmer
friendly government at the moment. Let's try and brighten things up.
You are heading into your spring. You're an arable croping farmer.
This must be the time, tom when you get a
real spring in your step.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yep, that's absolutely right. We've been through the false winter,
the false spring. Sorry, we had a warm period about
two or three weeks ago. We then went into what
traditionally is known as blackthorns little winter. When the blackthorn
produces its white flowers, often we get a very cold patch,
and we did. We had a few frosts about a
week or so ago, and we're back into sunshine and
(04:33):
warm weather. Can I tell you it feels good after
the winter we've had. It feels great to be out
doing a bit of land work. We've been planting our
springstone crops, and the lambs in the field, the sheep
in the fields are approaching lambing there. They're all April
lambers around us, so they'll be lambing in the coming day.
So yeah, it's amazing what a bright, warm, sunny day
(04:55):
can do, even in the midst of a the.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Bad news a lamb frolicking in a field. Okay, I
sound almost like Shakespeare there. You and I met in
Dustal Dwarf at a Bay of Farming conference many years
ago now, and I'm encouraging you to come over to
New Zealand. I promise you, I'll put you up, I'll
feed and water youre tom but you would You said
you would only come as long as you could have
a barbecue with Jasunda Ardurn. You're a Biginda fan boy. Unfortunately,
(05:25):
my budget doesn't stretch to getting you to Boston because
that's where Jasunda is at the moment at Harvard.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Well, do you know, just from our conversations over the years,
you know there are a raft of these young Ish
presidents and prime ministers, and you've got Makarn and Trudeau
and Jacinda and in our country Starma and Starmer is
a great example of them in that I think he's
doing a very good job internationally, is certainly, I hope,
(05:51):
viewed pretty well from abroad until you start looking into
what's happening inside the country in terms of national politics,
not international politics, an unmitigated disaster. And my Canadian family
is saying the same thing. We've always looked at trade
and thought, well, it seems like a nice chat from
over here, from a few thousand miles away. The same
thing with mccron, who's almost come unstuck in the last
couple of years. And you know, there's certainly been seemed
(06:14):
to be mixed views of Cinder's premiership within New Zealand,
but she always looks pretty good from this part.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Oh yes, Tom, Well, I think she falls into the
same category as Trudeau and Sakia Starmer, perhaps better on
the international stage than domestically. It's five years to the day, incidentally, Tom,
since just send a locked us down here in New Zealand,
that is a very contentious issue. That's another issue for
another day. Look, I hope Spring treats you well, and
(06:41):
I hope you don't get a hiding midweek from the
Chancellor's Spring statement, thank you.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
We need all they before we can get very grateful
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