S4 Ep 14 | Muddy Matches Founder, Lucy Rand

We are back in Birmingham for the NFYFC Achiever Awards 2023, celebrating the very best of Young Farmers across England and Wales. We chat to all the winners, as well as National YFC Chairman Rosie Bennett and Vice Chairman James Nixey.  We also bump into a few past guests of the podcast, including Ally Hunter Blair,  Ant Thomas and Charlie Beaty! 

This month we ventured up to London for the Farmers Weekly Awards 2023! Celebrating the very best of British agriculture, we chatted to just some of the brilliant characters and award winners in attendance. This included a chat with Andy Eadon who won this year’s ‘Farming Champion’ alongside his wife Linda for their ‘Len’s Light’ mental health campaign. From getting ready in the hotel room to partying on the dance floor, listen to our full Farmers Weekly Awards experience and relive an unforgettable evening! 

As an end of Series 4 treat, we visit The Game Fair for the first time! Have a listen to our trip up to Ragley Hall where we catch up with some of our series 4 guests. From a spot of shopping with Jake Flett from Wop Wops, to a trip to the fishing village with fishing icon Marina Gibson! We also chat to the founder of Country Girls UK Tania Coxon, Tom Litten from Digby and Litten, as well as a surprise feature from Holly’s Dad Nick…

We’ve come to the end of series 4, so we take a look back at our biggest series yet. From our valentines day episode featuring Tom and Joanna Pemberton, to our most recent trip to Groundswell Agriculture, it’s been a packed series full of inspiring stories, guests and events.

“Soil is sexy!” This week we’re at Groundswell - the Regenerative Agriculture Festival - in collaboration with the headline sponsor Affinity Water. We’re visiting this world-renowned festival for the first time and bump into loads of inspiring farmers, speakers and exhibitors. Listen to part 1 to hear from Groundswell Event Director Alex Cherry, Author Nicole Masters, Karl Franklin (aka the pretend farmer), JJ Livestock and lots more!

In part 2 of our Groundswell adventure we chat to the innovative farmer, author, teacher and regenerative agriculture expert - Richard Perkins. We also bump into lots of familiar faces, finding out where their interest for regenerative agriculture comes from and what they’ve learnt from this year’s festival. Thanks to the headline sponsor Affinity Water for having us.

In the words of Holly's Dad Nick Gilbert “we’re a Wop-Wops family” here on the podcast. Just like the rest of the agricultural community, we have become obsessed with this country clothing brand inspired by the kiwi lifestyle. This week we’re chatting to the Wop-Wops founder Jake Flett about the story behind the creation of the brand, how it’s become a YFC must-have and what ‘Wop-Wops’ actually means!

You will have heard us chat about the country dating site Muddy Matches for two series now, but this week we get to chat to the co-founder herself - Lucy Rand! From the initial idea during a chat at the pub, to travelling the country to encourage people to join, we talk through the story of how Muddy Matches has grown to help thousands of country loving people find their match. Make sure you listen to the end to hear an exciting exclusive about the future of the site!

On the eve of this year’s Devon County Show, we joined our friends at the Addington Fund for the 2023 Devon Farm Business Awards. Have a listen to see who we chatted to at the awards, as well as interviews with lots of the winners including The Dartmoor Shepherd, Oliver Lee from How Now Dairy, Niall Tewson from South Devon Dairy, Elizabeth Hammett, Surfing Cow Ice cream and more!

Holly and Dan take on Devon County Show round 2 - this time giving you a taster of their 2023 experience. Talking to those who show cattle, cheering on the Tug of War and Sheep Shearing, to the YFC After Show Party and everything in between, this episode is definitely a unique one not to be missed!