This week’s podcast is a very special insight into diversity and inclusivity in farming from the Oxford Farming Conference. News reporter Chris Brayford sat down with Inclusive Farm co-founder Mike Duxbury and dairy farmer Rory Christie from Dumfries during the conference to discuss the issues surrounding diversity in farming and the positive inroads being made to do even more. Mike, who was registered blind at the age of six-years-old, provided an inspirational key-note speech at the Oxford Farming Conference to showcase how anything can be achieved regardless of your background through hard-work, dedication and support in an industry we call our own. He challenged the industry to do even in an industry where people should be recognised for their commitment, rather than by what they cannot do. The team from Farmers Guardian - including Chris, chief reporter Rachael Brown and editor Olivia Midgley - were all at the conference last week to listen to a jam-packed programme on the power of diversity. We gained reaction and thoughts from farmers and industry leaders who participated in some thought-provoking and challenging debate around the issues impacting diversity in farming. There are still many challenges the industry faces in becoming more diverse - not just its people, but in its thoughts and actions. But we cannot forget the positive steps the farming profession has made in becoming one of the most welcoming and adaptable professions in the world. We should be proud of this industry and the in-roads it is making to learn, adapt and overcome the barriers to farming. We really hope you enjoy this week’s podcast.
This week’s podcast is a very special insight into diversity and inclusivity in farming from the Oxford Farming Conference. News reporter Chris Brayford sat down with Inclusive Farm co-founder Mike Duxbury and dairy farmer Rory Christie from Dumfries during the conference to discuss the issues surrounding diversity in farming and the positive inroads being made to do even more. Mike, who was registered blind at the age of six-years-old, provided an inspirational key-note speech at the Oxford Farming Conference to showcase how anything can be achieved regardless of your background through hard-work, dedication and support in an industry we call our own. He challenged the industry to do even in an industry where people should be recognised for their commitment, rather than by what they cannot do. The team from Farmers Guardian - including Chris, chief reporter Rachael Brown and editor Olivia Midgley - were all at the conference last week to listen to a jam-packed programme on the power of diversity. We gained reaction and thoughts from farmers and industry leaders who participated in some thought-provoking and challenging debate around the issues impacting diversity in farming. There are still many challenges the industry faces in becoming more diverse - not just its people, but in its thoughts and actions. But we cannot forget the positive steps the farming profession has made in becoming one of the most welcoming and adaptable professions in the world. We should be proud of this industry and the in-roads it is making to learn, adapt and overcome the barriers to farming. We really hope you enjoy this week’s podcast.
Free tickets are available. See you on the virtual fields. You're listening to the Farmers Guardian podcast. Hello, everybody. I'm Chris Brayford and this is the Farmer's gardening podcast. Right. Let's get cracking. A warm welcome to all our listeners far and wide. This week's podcast is a very special insight into diversity and inclusivity in Farm and the Team from Farmers Garden, including myself. Chief reporter Rachael Brown and editor Olivia Midgley. Where all the Oxford farming conferences last week to listen to a jam packed program of the power of diversity, which was one of the key themes of the conference. We gained the reaction and thoughts from farmers and industry leaders who participated in some thought provoking and challenging today at the conference. There are still many challenges the industry faces in becoming more diverse in not just its people, but its far actions as well. But I think we also cannot forget the positive steps the farming profession has made in becoming one of the most welcoming and adaptable industries in the world. We should be proud of this industry and the inroads it is making to learn, adapt and overcome the barriers to farm. And so I caught up with the inspirational Middlesbrough, who is a co-founder at the Inclusive Farm in Bedfordshire alongside his partner Gnasher Litter. If you haven't heard my story before, it's one that really provides the inspiration and it's really moving and powerful. So here you go. So my Lost is-I completely at the age of six years old, I could never comprehend what that must have been like to go through so many times in his life. Mike said that he's been told by people what he can and what he can't do. But this didn't stop him from achieving what was his ultimate dream to become a farmer. Mike, who is originally from Blackburn in Lancashire, said he faced rejection from numerous colleges before being accepted to Warwickshire College of Agriculture, where he developed a niche for pigs. Mike says he was the first person who was registered as blind to go to agricultural college in the UK, which was a massive achievement. Only three years ago Inclusive Farm was founded, which has provided a platform for disabled people to enter farming and demonstrate that they are enthusiastic, hungry and determined to fulfill their own farming dreams. So almost some 40 years later, Mike provided a very powerful keynote speech at the Oxford Farming Conference. In turn, he received a round of applause in just showing what disabled people are capable of, what disabled people can do, and how the industry as a whole could do even more to provide those same opportunities that make us. So it's an absolute pleasure to be joined by Mike Duxbury. Mike, Chris. How are you doing? We're doing good. Yeah. Excellent. We are live up the Oxford Farming Conference. And you've been heavily involved today, haven't you, Mike? Yes, I was presenting the, if you like, the closing presentation to send everybody away, fully teamed up with plenty of things to do. Tell us about the was it. Will Evans invited you to speak at the event here Will. I've been involved with AFC now for about two years. I've come in and spoken to the the scholars met with quite a lot of them over the last couple of years that are obviously involved with this and will obviously curiosity and obviously his tenure as chairman and this being a what we call a year of 2024 being breaking barriers. He felt that obviously the work I've done with setting up and running the crucible and project forces there that bill perfectly. Absolutely. I think obviously, like you've said, the mike the big focus of the conference has been inclusivity, diversity in farming. And just just how important is that topic is? Chris, is huge. It really is because it is the knock on effect then to other industries. And, you know, other industries do a lot of talking about diverse inclusion and very little impact on actual actions. Yeah, farming is has gone a long way to actually try to do something tangible with obviously the setting up of inclusive farm and other projects. You heard there that people are doing to promote women in agriculture, people of color, in agriculture, you know, disability in agriculture. What we have to do now is start bringing all those elements together to really create a industry where it becomes just people in agriculture. I think what was really one of the many inspiring moments from from his speech, Mike, was that agriculture has been and very diverse and open to both use both yourself to to the people. Yes. Well, it's been one of the, the leading, kind of enterprises. Yes. In agriculture has been an industry that and I think because farmers face so much difference anyway whether it be different whether on different days and you know, prices of of produce are always all over the place, they are in good times, bad times. I think they don't have time to discriminate. They don't have time to have all the nonsense. So when people come along that can support them and there are their own ideas, you know, farming is having to do through a huge element of diversity in its enterprises. But that only be done by people. So if you want it to be successful, diversity in people, diversity practices and diversity of thinking is key through it all. Do you think 2024 can leave a big, big, big change in in making farming even more inclusive and diverse? I think I think you can. I really think you can. And I've already had conversations with people in, you know, from Harper Adams again, from hopefully the NFU, get them involved. Had a long conversation last night with the secretary of state. Frankly felt yeah yeah so yes I feel like a can do but again as long as we all push together, yes I think there's a very strong message that the farming community as a whole has to come together on this issue. But I think it probably goes even further than that. You know, it there needs to be more of a general understanding towards diversity in the work place in itself and the contribution that people with disabilities, what they can bring to a workforce. Absolutely. And you're absolutely right. I mean, you know, I mean, long term, my hopes would be that we start working with schools. Yes. Bring people who have got a hunger for farming from schools and prepare them with the right skills through college so that when they go out into the industry, it's not just an apprenticeship. So on the fact that they are now trained to work in that industry. One of the things that didn't come over today, which I was a bit disappointed with, was that we talked a lot about agriculture. Yeah, what we've forgotten is all the other stuff. Yeah. Forestry, fisheries, you know, the massive food industry, all the allied industries that work alongside agriculture. You know, that in itself keeps people. Massive opportunity for employment, you know, instead of chasing cows around the fields, they can work in, you know, supply chain management within, you know, supermarkets, for instance, or that there's just some options. And we're going to go to kind of go to the speech. Now, my was was it quite emotional for yourself when you got that that consensus among a group of farmers that were really buying into this message of the diversity in farming that you were saying? Was it quite emotional? Yes, it was very emotional for me because I've been fighting and campaigning for vets of choice for disabled people for a long time. And when you see an experience and feel the doors opening in front of you and the world, people welcome in what you're saying gives you so much hope that finally we are on the right track to make a difference. Mike, why are you passionate about farming? What gives you that hunger every single day to get up, do such a very hard job? You know, with all the the passion and the enthusiasm that you have. What what what inspires you? That inspiration came at the age of seven years old. Yeah. And I guess I've never shied away from picking the the the probably the hardest choice for a blind person. Yeah, but no, for me, I really can't explain the love I have for farming. The joy it brings me the reward. You know, it's not a high paid holiday job. It's long hours. It's. But when I sit on the bench, the top of my farm on a beautiful spring evening, and all the animals are now quite fed and at rest. I cannot tell you the feeling it brings that that is my bit of Britain, my world. There, that brings me so much reward. And I want others to experience that because it's something you cannot describe unless you actually feel it. Well, that's some really powerful words, Mike and I heard some very positive news that we are that we're funding. A to open a second farm in Scotland. Yes, we are literally days away days from knowing the green light or not. I am very confident it will be. Yeah, but like everything, this always can be that 11th hour moment. So yes. And the Scotland project will be even bigger because it's a much bigger farm. Yes. With or with already a commitment by some big organizations to put some fund there. Yes. And the progression on this new project will be, instead of me building it, I will build it with a group of students. I have people come to the farm and they can be like me. Yeah, but they. It's not easy. Yeah. You know, been living with a with blindness and. And being a farmer, it's not easy. I'm not pretending to be. But it can be done. It can be done. Yeah, that's the difference. Yeah. Was it quite when you got that. Was it Emily, that some farmers got in touch. Did she give you the, the good news about on intervening in Ambassador. I was really impressed. I was chuffed. And I'm not often impressed by anybody apart from them. But when I was with when they win, that's very rare. The point there is because I'm a, you know, joking sort and I actually said to them, you know what you're doing really fills me with hope. Because you're recognizing that there is a need to do something. Yes. Right. And the more people within the industry, whether it be the press, whether it be a farm, whether it be whatever, the more people come to me and say we recognize this and it needs to be, that means that we are doing our job right. And that is that there is a need to reach out to people. Yeah. And get more people in. Yeah. And then farming will be able to tackle the big problems that are coming down the pipeline for me. And I know this, you know, we both work with the outset of this project and it's all our own money. Yeah. You know, not no investment from anybody else or money. Yeah. And we did it because we believed in it. Yeah. And now others are believing in it, too. Yeah. So you going? Yeah. Yeah. It's our. It's our inspiration. Yeah. So, yeah, we're. We're very pleased. Mike, thank you so much for your time. Absolute pleasure. They switched things for you to. We also caught with dairy farmer Rory Christie from Jury Farm in Dumfries. So Rory apparently wanted to be an astronaut before into the family business as a farmer. He was a man. Speak at your in one of the Oxford Farming Conference sessions, which was titled Getting People into Agriculture. You could diverse topics farming recruitment as you'll be able to tell from the interview. Rory is very passionate not just about farming, but what more can be done to get people from diverse backgrounds into the industry and how farming can address the many challenges it faces in providing a bright future through the power of diversity. Here's a listen. Back to my interview with Rory Christy. So, Rory, thanks for joining some starting today. And so from your session early today about and get to the target culture and if you could diversity fit farmer recruitment what did you have to say to those only through what was some of the points that you use. So, yeah, I mean, I agree with you kind of. I think within time that is absolutely necessary. If people have absolutely thought this is most important, I guess you say, and one of the things I didn't see was the creation of a government which I would have liked to have more ten times, which is effectively would appear to want to stop innovation. They want to stop us fighting new people. Is that one of the barriers then? Well, if the don't want innovation, then they need to invest in bringing in people, people who are not currently involved in farming into farming. You can't cut off the supply and or make it very challenging and very bad without helping to make other solutions for those in one hand, they have control of supply and then they just hope that we will be able to fix it ourselves. But they will need to help invest in every apprenticeship scheme that is into helping people from all walks of life, all by values. To see farming as a fantastic job and see agriculture as one of the things I did see is I'm a culture too. Not all fixes and fixes in people's minds before for tractor in a wellies on Monday. And I thought what we need are jobs that build communities. I think we need to see so many rules within the rural community, not just in farming, the traditional farm laborer. We need to get into the universities and explain to people that you can work in robotics, that you can be an engineer. Goldsmith Will becomes H. But if the part a rural job that people think of that is another option, but not as so many other things as people, that these people of chemistry degrees come in to work for. I think suppliers of, you know, sprays for crops and things are not huge luxuries for chemical companies, for the seed companies, but it is right down into the community effort. If there is strong farming, there will be strong community, there will be people needed in the shops, there are people needed to have that so we can keep clubs going properly. There will be enough people to make sure that the restaurant in the local village make sure there's a public out there vast with you that we will not be able to build strong communities. And this is a fight to keep 30% of people in the upper 95. People are asking for people to come on. I think it's about 1%. And I so that means that we are not honestly relevant to our customer. And as a business proposition of farming, agriculture, food needs to remain relevant to the consumer. So if it doesn't have a wide range of bunch of people working in the system, we will continue to lose our relevance and the people who when industries lose relevance, people stop being opposed to it and industries do disappear. And I'm not saying time is going to disappear, but it will continue to struggle. So I see diversity as a survival and necessarily for survival necessary to thrive if And what have been some of the key issues that have held the industry back in that sense and over, you know, so many years? You know, what's held farming back in that respect to being more diverse. I just think it's been good to a huge change process and the change process for 50 years now is probably what it started. That is a reduction of what we call subsidy and disconnecting from government control. It was, you know, what I was actually telling. McSherry Reforms can only happen because they are, you know, long term the them like no, no pictures, but it's a huge change process then you know hasn't and nobody really sleepwalked into labor crisis. The villages dwindled. We went away We just blame the blame something else. But we now need to build back communities, real society. So it's a good place for people to live. It's all very well employing that we can employ the feeling with. We'll get lots of good ideas and if we want to find incentives for them, but probably by the end of the day we actually need to give them a good place to work and a good place to live. So they should see a good place to live. They need to be able to come together and connect with somebody when they go into the house and shut the door on a dark night in the middle of winter after a hard day's work, they need to be able to come to me and saying they're the problem. Find the next wife or husband to right. They need to be able to build lives and live in a place as well as work in a place in life. You don't need itinerant workers to get people to come to this communities, whether it be from another country or from another town or city. We need them to come and live in the community and be part of the same quality as far away as satisfying the issue of community values, I think sometimes people don't really understand the the successes and maybe the how wonderful farming is as a community of like minded people who want to come together. And we have to be very good at selling our story. Yeah. Need to sell it. Yeah. Much better off. Yeah. It's it's tough at times, but we do have the absolute right to hard work through early mornings, long days. Many, many people in a country, many people work shifts. Many people get up in the middle of the night to do the job, not just do it. So we need cut outs. We need to talk about all the good stuff that goes along with the hard one. Because if you're going to be successful in any profession, in any industry, it's only ever by heart hard luck. It's a pure, unadulterated luck. I would suggest more than often it's hard work and termination, so I bet it's what we do. So let's let's just assume we're still talking about it stopped all the good stuff very far away. Then Rory and in terms of the future of farming, how long do you think this this process might take? You know, that for farming to to keep bills building these bridges thousands of years, you always need the crisis trade chiefs that speak our in crisis and try to we can't find enough people to work on that have many farmers vacancies. This is fresh air. Let me say there is something that people still need to find talent. If you want to turn an industry around and deliver for society and more than food, also environment, we want to be the climate solution or part of it at least. We need talent, new ideas. Therefore, we diversity and government are going to make it easy for us. It's clear that we are only interested in populist ideas like stopping people come to our country. Let's start with those who are still being the seed capital of diversity and you stop people coming to your country and stop the seed capital of diversity. We'll finish on a strong point. The opportunities for the hopefully, hopefully that will change. Thank you to both Mike and Rory for their time and effort in addressing such a powerful topic and providing farmers the inspiration to achieve their dreams regardless of what people might think will hold them back. Thanks for listening. Of a fantastic week. Let's catch up next time to find.