To grow food or to protect nature? It often seems as if one can only be done at the expense of the other. In this podcast, farmer & ex-MP Neil Parish seeks to find out if, in fact, we can do both.
Our relationship with food is on the brink of a massive shift. Global instability disrupting food security, UK farmers are being incentivised to promote biodiversity rather than grow food. And climate change is starting to transform what we grow, what we eat and how we live. As a Somerset farmer, Neil Parish is facing up to all these changes. And as an EU & UK parliamentarian, for 20 years he helped design the policies that shape our food system. Now, he has unfinished business. In this podcast, local, national & global experts join Neil to tackle crucial questions about the past, present and future relationship between food and the environment.
Produced by: jakelloyd.co.uk (https://open.acast.com/networks/65a15ed1ca23410016afeffc/shows/65a16089f45af800167d1e26/episodes/jakelloyd.co.uk)
Social media by millyfyfe.com (https://open.acast.com/networks/65a15ed1ca23410016afeffc/shows/65a16089f45af800167d1e26/episodes/millyfyfe.com)
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SOPHIE GREGORY is an organic dairy farmer and recent Nuffield scholar. In this episode Neil visits Sophie to find out what she learned about organic farming on her international travels during the scholarship, and she explains how it is impacting the way she farms with her husband on their Dorset farm.
Listen and you’ll hear: what she learned during her scholarship (0m53s); the market for organic food in the USA (10m09s); what lessons she learned that she thinks farms could adopt in the UK (12m15); why the UK needs more than just organic farms (17m09s); her relationship with the dairy company Arla (17m45s); about her farm (22m00s); the future of her farm (26m22s).
This conversation was recorded in October 2025.
Follow Sophie on Instagram: www.instagram.com/farmer_in_training (www.instagram.com/farmer_in_training)
This podcast is produced by jakelloyd.co.uk (akelloyd.co.uk)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
29 Jan 2026
Building soil health in arable Oxfordshire
TOM KNOWLES runs a 150-hectare mixed farm in Oxfordshire that he has shifted from dairy to regenerative arable farming. Tom grows wheat and barley without pesticides or fungicides, focusing on building soil health through compost extracts, herbal leys, and careful monitoring of plant nutrition.
In this episode, Neil visits Tom to learn about his innovative approach to soil management, including mixing compost tea with herbicides to repopulate microbes, growing beans alongside wheat to reduce nitrogen inputs, and working with Thames Water to protect water quality while maintaining profitability.
Listen and you’ll hear: the background to his farm (0m53s); his approach to growing crops (5m03); his approach to weeds (8m49s); marketing his produce (16m40s); how he measures the health of his plants (20m39s); reducing the amount of nitrates going into the water (26m15s); looking around the farm (30m31s).
Follow Tom’s farm on Instagram: www.instagram.com/village_farm_emmington (www.instagram.com/village_farm_emmington)
This podcast is produced by jakelloyd.co.uk (jakelloyd.co.uk)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
28 Nov 2025
Pitch Up!
TIM MAY runs a 2,500 acre organic farm near Basingstoke. He is also the founder of ‘Pitch Up!’ – a network of UK farms that provides entrepreneurs with land and capital to get environmentally friendly businesses off the ground. In this episode Neil visits Tim to find out more about this initiative, the philosophy behind it, how it works in practice, and where its future might be headed.
Listen and you’ll hear: how Pitch Up! works (1m30s); the businesses Tim has on his farm (4m23s); the ideal businesses for a project like this (9m00s); Tim’s system of farming (13m51s); ideas or future initiatives on his farm (19m25s); Tim’s pitch to people with suitable business ideas (24m45s).
Learn more about Pitch Up! On their website: pitchupandgrow.com (pitchupandgrow.com)
Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pitchupandgrow (www.instagram.com/pitchupandgrow)
This podcast is produced by jakelloyd.co.uk (jakelloyd.co.uk)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
Who has been a guest on We Can Do Both
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Amelia Greenway
Jason Greenway
JOHN LEE OBE
PETER REED
ANN MAIDMENT
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
38
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Podcast Authority Score: 30 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
23
Social presence
0
YouTube
63
Engagement
32
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