Toplines and Tales

It was my pleasure to sit down with The Late Jim Stobo, OBE, in his home 10 years ago and record some of his wisdom. Sadly no longer with us, Jim was one of the great men in the UK livestock business…

One of the most successful Angus and Hereford breeders in Ireland, Mathew Goulding talks through his journey with both breeds. Mathew attributes his initial success by applying principles in female f…

From a top stockman to one of the most successful breed CEO’s, David Benson has been involved in Charolais cattle, both man and boy. We have a chat about his early years with the breed as well as his…

Top auctioneer from North East England, Drew Patrick, speaks to me about the essential role of the livestock auction market in UK as well as the state of play with the industry, before delving into s…

Gavin Douglas was a highly respected sheep breeder in the Scottish Borders who sadly died earlier this year. I chat to his neighbour and friend Derek Redpath about the prowess of Gavin and how his So…

Phil Stocker has been CEO for the National Sheep Association for 12 years and he gives us an insight into what the NSA provide for the UK sheep industry. We discuss animal welfare, general sheep stat…

An entertaining episode when I chat with fellow podcaster, Noel Clancy, based in southern Ireland who runs the highly successful ‘Out the Gap’ podcast. His monthly podcast speaks to folks in live rur…

Hill farmer and social influencer Gareth talks candidly through how we must work harder to try and resolve the disconnect between agriculture and the general public. Through his high-profile media pr…

Film producer Gareth Fielding divulges a fascinating look into what happens behind the scenes filming the popular series This Farming Life which airs on BBC TV shortly. From choosing the farmers, fil…

This week one of UK’s leading breeders and stockmen, Ali Jackson, speaks to us about his many successes as well as an insight into some of his feeding regimes. We are also joined by Jordan Aitken, lo…

Another well known face around the cattle lines across Scotland, Bob McWalter shares some of his life and stories with Toplines and Tales from a long, fun-filled and able career in the business. 

My great friend and real 'character' Jan Green has a birthday today, so it was fantastic to catch up with her to talk about the early days in the British Blues, hers and John’s leap of faith move to …

This week a combination podcast, with my character in livestock being the well known George Harvey, and a recording live from the Royal Welsh Show in Builth Wells in this highly spontaneous if not so…

Bruce Mair of the Muiresk Suffolk and Texel flocks in Turriff needs little introduction as one of the greatest minds in the sheep world. He speaks of the early days when the flock continued to annual…

This week we run a special episode which some of you may have seen at the Scottish beef event, when it was my privilege to speak to Professor John Gilliland, a man who really knows his stuff in the b…

One of the greatest characters in Scottish livestock, Ken Fletcher, long time editor of the Scottish Farmer magazine, shortly due to retire, talks through his times at the paper and the livestock ind…

One of the most successful Angus breeders and showmen in Ireland, I speak to the well known and respected Albert De Cogan about his 60 yeas in showing cattle, and his links with the breed.

Not just any rancher, Jaclyn Wilson and her father from Nebraska have just won 2023 National Beef Quality Assurance Cow/Calf Producer of the Year out of over 700,000 beef cow operators in the United …

I speak about sheep shearing with possibly two of the funniest guys in agriculture, Dye Clark and Cammy Wilson, as we preview the Golden Shears world sheep shearing event due in Edinburgh next week. …

Scotland doesn’t have many characters more ‘larger than life’ than my guest this week, Albert Howie from Aberdeenshire. Albert tells of his early days in continental sheep, his business dealings in E…