Toplines and Tales

162 - Christmas Special - New Year Kist Party - Part 3

Still at our Christmas Party, which just kept getting better. This time someone posed the question of the best beast that maybe should have won Smithfield but didn’t which set the minds of my highly knowable guests to work. As the drink flowed, Stuart Hunter recalled his last Smithfield kist party drinking out of a Pringles tube, Donald discussed the excessive size of modern show winners with some solid opinions added from some wise men, before eventually persuading Ian Anderson to sing us a ditty!
This is an absolutely priceless listen!

161 - Christmas Special - Smithfield Kist Party - Part 2

In part 2 of our Christmas party, we reminisce about some of the nights ‘downtown’ in London before my fellow cattle steward, Julian, and I have more serious chat about the challenges of running the show. Then follows some stories about the frequent visits of the Royal family, and a few rather hilarious tales around that.

160 - Christmas Special - Smithfield Kist Party - Part 1

This week we hosted an online Christmas kist party for our listeners to celebrate 19 years since we were all last at Royal Smithfield Show together. Taking about legends in the fatstock world, to legends in the fatstock world, we start with a roll of honour for all those champion winners over 50+ years which morphs into more general chitchat and tales from the event with over 40 distinguished guests. As the party went on until 2am, this is the first hour, with more shenanigans and craic to follow as the drink flowed!

159 - Characters in Livestock - Kenny Sutherland

A familiar character about the show scene, Kenny Sutherland and his family run one of the largest livestock operations in the North of Scotland, with 2000 ewes and 400 suckler cows. A past champion winner at Smithfield and an involvement in the Highland show, Kenny discusses their more recent success with the Longhorn breed as a base for their cows, as well as Cheviots, Texels and Suffolk sires in the sheep. They have also diversified into tourism at Sibmister Mains in Caithness.

158 - The Nuffield Farming Scholarship

Started by Lord Nuffield in 1947, the Nuffield Farming Scholarship has been paramount to the success of many candidates who have applied and reaped the rewards. Now with over 1000 scholars being awarded I speak to Nuffield's Charlotte Mersen about the fascinating history of the Lord, the Award, and its current operations in UK and around the world.    

157 - Media Special - Marteye

Marteye has been an incredible success story since the start of Covid lockdown, a system now used by over 100 livestock markets across Ireland and UK to stream online sales and facilitate bidding. I speak with one of its founders, Jamie Nolan, about their journey and what the company now offers 2.5 million farmers who now tune into to sales, bringing local and national marts into their own homes.

156 - Characters in Livestock - Olivier Rambert

Highly interesting chat with Frenchman Olivier Rambert, the manager of Interlim, the commercial arm of the Limousin cattle society in France, based at the Pole du Lanaud station. Holding 4 bull sales per year they market upwards of 500 bulls selected from the best in the country. With many going for export, the bulls have undergone strict tests, not just for weight and muscle but also genomics and temperament. We also hear the differences in beef consummation between France and its neighbouring countries, particularly around eating older animals  

155 - Characters in Livestock - Robert Groom

Robert Groom is rather unusual guest, being an Englishman in New York! Having dispersed his Angus herd in Scotland he has been breeding top Angus in USA for 25 years and is a regular exhibitor on the American show circuit. A great ambassador for the breed, he also reveals that he is behind the set-up of a nucleus herd of American type Angus back in Scotland.   

154 - Special episode - Live from Young Handlers competition

A quite unusual special short episode live from the Young Handlers section of the Stars of the Future calf show at Stirling. This episode is backed up with photos and short video on our Toplines and Tales Facebook page.

153 - Characters in Livestock - Arwel Owen

Welshman Arwel Owen is not only a top Charolais cattle breeder and judge, but also a man who sees, assesses and buys a lot of bulls through his day job as Beef Supply Chain Manager for Genus, one of the world’s leading semen supply companies. This week we get a fascinating insight into the changing state of the industry both at home and worldwide as beef-from-dairy makes rapid inroads, while Arwel furnishes us with some excellent words of wisdom gained by 40 years in the business.