April 28, 2025 • 6 mins
Our UK farming correspondent suggests local elections this week will send a big message to the government. We also talk about a dry spring, poor commodity prices and the London Marathon.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's our guy. On the other side of the world,
are UK farming correspondent farmer Tom Martin, social media influencer.
For what it's worth, Tom, your prime minister, Sekeir Starmer
appears to me to be a bit of a planker.
Can I say that without offending you? And he's certainly
coughed things up on the home front, especially with farmers,
but on the world stage he seems to be making
(00:22):
an impression.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
He's yeah, I mean, is he good? From far? Far
from good? Maybe for a range of ten thousand miles,
he looks pretty good. And I would say internationally, to
give him his credit, he seems to be doing a
good job of sitting between the US and the EU
and seemingly coordinating this coalition of the willing to move
(00:46):
things forward in Ukraine. But yeah, back home there's a
lot of terrible, tough things going on. But no, internationally,
let's give him his due, he said me coming out
pretty well at the moment.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Well, let's have a look at things on the home
front and the UK. You've got your local elections coming
up on Thursday your time, and you're suggesting this could
result in a bloody nose for Labor and the Reform
Party might make some gains. What, if anything, does that
mean for UK farmers.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Well, it's a great question. This is I mean, these
are kind of early midterm elections. They are is the
time when typically the incumbent government loses a load of
seats due to a kind of protest at national policy.
But I think this first what is it ten months
for the Labor Party has been particularly challenging, and unless
(01:41):
you're a train driver or possibly a junior doctor, who
were both given pretty fantastic pay rises early on in
the term, it's struggled. You'd struggle to find people who
are happy with the way we're being governed at the moment.
So I think there'll be a lot of people looking
to vote for other parties.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I think there's a fair few people who are still
probably a bit disappointed with the fourteen years of Conservatives.
Do they want to vote for Labor, No, they don't.
Do they want the Conservatives now? They don't. You know,
if you want to go right across the left, you've
got the Green Party, you've got the Liberals doing a
pretty good job somewhere in the middle, But on the
right is the Reform Party and they are gathering a huge,
(02:23):
huge amount of votes. I think the latest poll shows
that if there was an election today, on the majority
of votes, we would have a Prime Minister called Nigel
Ferrat who's the head of the Reform Party. So it's
a real time of shake up, I mean globally, but
also here.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
In the UK the labor government, Sakeir Starmer, not doing
much for farmers. Is Mother Nature playing ball? You're into
your spring in the northern hemisphere.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Well, I found very heavy clay, so we haven't had
a lot of rain in a fairly long time, but
we can handle that. There will be far on the
lighter soils on the PiZZ sols that are that are
really looking for a drop of rain. And considering we
spent the whole of our winter or I did certainly
complaining about how it was, we're very quickly to start
(03:13):
mentioning the d word of drought and people being grateful
for for a drop of rain. Jamie, I realized I
didn't fully answer your previous question, what would the advance
of reform do to UK farming? And Reform are certainly
looking at, uh shaking things up. They are absolutely saying
that they are pro farming, but they're also pro doing
(03:34):
a lot of international deals there and they they're they're
very very against kind of red tape, very against government
interference and and and that would possibly mean bringing in
food produced to lower standards. So it's it's still it
would still be a concerning time for farmers. But if
they would reverse some of the crazy things that the
(03:56):
current government have done, that that could be a good Sorry,
that's where we are. Just realized I hadn't quite answered
your question.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Well not Nigel Faras is one of the great political survivors.
But going back to on the farm, you said it's
a bit dry, that's one part of the equation. Whither
What about your commodity prices?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, a bit of a shocker. I was talking to
one of the grain traders recently and he said the
only crop was really doing well for us in terms
of prices is canola, and for us this year that's
the one crop we haven't we haven't got in the ground.
So yeah, prices are pretty soft here. And you know,
for we'd need two hundred pounds stirling a ton really
(04:37):
and you're looking at one seventy, so you're looking at
a fifteen percent discount on that, and that's really going
to cause a lot of a lot of farmers to
be struggling at a time when a lot of the
other government decisions, a lot of the other meteorological impacts
are causing and some issues. It's a really challenging time
in UK farming and I feel like I have been
(04:58):
saying this a bit recently. I want to be a
broken record in it, but yeah, there's a fair few challenges.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Good job you've got a good off farm and come
with your social media influencing Tom.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
That would be very nice, wouldn't it.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
The end of conversation. Now, yesterday your time Sunday in
the UK was the London Marathon. I was looking for
you on the telly, or not on the telly, I
was watching it online. I was looking for you amongst
the hordes. Something like fifty thousand plus people running the
London Marathon. Unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, the biggest ever. I think it was the biggest
ever amount of finishers in any marathon. So it's a
remarkable event. I haven't run it this millennia. I ran
in nineteen ninety eight, but it is a tremendous event.
There are actually a lot of farmers running for farming
and countryside charities. A big shout out to my friend
Charles Anion who actually ran the Manster Maratha which it
(05:56):
was the same day for the farm Community Network. Lots
of great charities being demonstrated, a lot of money raised
for good causes, and an amazing spectacle of various different
people in costumes and all kinds of things running around
the streets to London. It's always an amazing day.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I did it in two thousand and six and I
was getting a bit tired. Once I crossed over the
Tower Bridge, which is just shy of halfway, and I
ran into an inverted piece of pizza and he was
He said, are you getting a bit tired lud, I said, yeah,
I am. I've done all the training. I don't know
why I'm tired. Only halfway through he said, stick with me,
and I ran with the piece of pizza for about
(06:38):
two k's and he says, you'll be right now when
he took off into the future or in front of me.
Amazing the dress ups and the event that is the
London Marathon. Anyhow, Tom, hey, thanks for some of your
time and good luck giving the Labor government a message
with those local elections on Thursday your time.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Thank you, Jermy, always a pleasure.
He's our guy. On the other side of the world,
are UK farming correspondent farmer Tom Martin, social media influencer.
For what it's worth, Tom, your prime minister, Sekeir Starmer
appears to me to be a bit of a planker.
Can I say that without offending you? And he's certainly
coughed things up on the home front, especially with farmers,
but on the world stage he seems to be making
(00:22):
an impression.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
He's yeah, I mean, is he good? From far? Far
from good? Maybe for a range of ten thousand miles,
he looks pretty good. And I would say internationally, to
give him his credit, he seems to be doing a
good job of sitting between the US and the EU
and seemingly coordinating this coalition of the willing to move
(00:46):
things forward in Ukraine. But yeah, back home there's a
lot of terrible, tough things going on. But no, internationally,
let's give him his due, he said me coming out
pretty well at the moment.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Well, let's have a look at things on the home
front and the UK. You've got your local elections coming
up on Thursday your time, and you're suggesting this could
result in a bloody nose for Labor and the Reform
Party might make some gains. What, if anything, does that
mean for UK farmers.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Well, it's a great question. This is I mean, these
are kind of early midterm elections. They are is the
time when typically the incumbent government loses a load of
seats due to a kind of protest at national policy.
But I think this first what is it ten months
for the Labor Party has been particularly challenging, and unless
(01:41):
you're a train driver or possibly a junior doctor, who
were both given pretty fantastic pay rises early on in
the term, it's struggled. You'd struggle to find people who
are happy with the way we're being governed at the moment.
So I think there'll be a lot of people looking
to vote for other parties.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I think there's a fair few people who are still
probably a bit disappointed with the fourteen years of Conservatives.
Do they want to vote for Labor, No, they don't.
Do they want the Conservatives now? They don't. You know,
if you want to go right across the left, you've
got the Green Party, you've got the Liberals doing a
pretty good job somewhere in the middle, But on the
right is the Reform Party and they are gathering a huge,
(02:23):
huge amount of votes. I think the latest poll shows
that if there was an election today, on the majority
of votes, we would have a Prime Minister called Nigel
Ferrat who's the head of the Reform Party. So it's
a real time of shake up, I mean globally, but
also here.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
In the UK the labor government, Sakeir Starmer, not doing
much for farmers. Is Mother Nature playing ball? You're into
your spring in the northern hemisphere.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Well, I found very heavy clay, so we haven't had
a lot of rain in a fairly long time, but
we can handle that. There will be far on the
lighter soils on the PiZZ sols that are that are
really looking for a drop of rain. And considering we
spent the whole of our winter or I did certainly
complaining about how it was, we're very quickly to start
(03:13):
mentioning the d word of drought and people being grateful
for for a drop of rain. Jamie, I realized I
didn't fully answer your previous question, what would the advance
of reform do to UK farming? And Reform are certainly
looking at, uh shaking things up. They are absolutely saying
that they are pro farming, but they're also pro doing
(03:34):
a lot of international deals there and they they're they're
very very against kind of red tape, very against government
interference and and and that would possibly mean bringing in
food produced to lower standards. So it's it's still it
would still be a concerning time for farmers. But if
they would reverse some of the crazy things that the
(03:56):
current government have done, that that could be a good Sorry,
that's where we are. Just realized I hadn't quite answered
your question.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Well not Nigel Faras is one of the great political survivors.
But going back to on the farm, you said it's
a bit dry, that's one part of the equation. Whither
What about your commodity prices?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, a bit of a shocker. I was talking to
one of the grain traders recently and he said the
only crop was really doing well for us in terms
of prices is canola, and for us this year that's
the one crop we haven't we haven't got in the ground.
So yeah, prices are pretty soft here. And you know,
for we'd need two hundred pounds stirling a ton really
(04:37):
and you're looking at one seventy, so you're looking at
a fifteen percent discount on that, and that's really going
to cause a lot of a lot of farmers to
be struggling at a time when a lot of the
other government decisions, a lot of the other meteorological impacts
are causing and some issues. It's a really challenging time
in UK farming and I feel like I have been
(04:58):
saying this a bit recently. I want to be a
broken record in it, but yeah, there's a fair few challenges.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Good job you've got a good off farm and come
with your social media influencing Tom.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
That would be very nice, wouldn't it.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
The end of conversation. Now, yesterday your time Sunday in
the UK was the London Marathon. I was looking for
you on the telly, or not on the telly, I
was watching it online. I was looking for you amongst
the hordes. Something like fifty thousand plus people running the
London Marathon. Unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, the biggest ever. I think it was the biggest
ever amount of finishers in any marathon. So it's a
remarkable event. I haven't run it this millennia. I ran
in nineteen ninety eight, but it is a tremendous event.
There are actually a lot of farmers running for farming
and countryside charities. A big shout out to my friend
Charles Anion who actually ran the Manster Maratha which it
(05:56):
was the same day for the farm Community Network. Lots
of great charities being demonstrated, a lot of money raised
for good causes, and an amazing spectacle of various different
people in costumes and all kinds of things running around
the streets to London. It's always an amazing day.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I did it in two thousand and six and I
was getting a bit tired. Once I crossed over the
Tower Bridge, which is just shy of halfway, and I
ran into an inverted piece of pizza and he was
He said, are you getting a bit tired lud, I said, yeah,
I am. I've done all the training. I don't know
why I'm tired. Only halfway through he said, stick with me,
and I ran with the piece of pizza for about
(06:38):
two k's and he says, you'll be right now when
he took off into the future or in front of me.
Amazing the dress ups and the event that is the
London Marathon. Anyhow, Tom, hey, thanks for some of your
time and good luck giving the Labor government a message
with those local elections on Thursday your time.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Thank you, Jermy, always a pleasure.
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