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Padel in a potato store? Hear how a farmer's embraced the sporting craze, plus spring drilling tips
The AG Show Episode 1625th February 2026 • The AG Show • AHDB
00:00:00 00:36:51

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The AG Show is stepping onto the court - literally - as one inventive farmer has transformed his potato store into a set of padel courts to cash in on the fitness craze everyone’s suddenly obsessed with. Turns out the old barn is exactly the right height for anyone hoping to hit the perfect lob!

With spring drilling creeping up fast, we also check in with AHDB’s agronomy guru Bek Hirstman, who’s got some seriously handy tips for tackling those soggy fields.

Oh, and there’s also a royal visit to an auction mart - so plenty to talk about this week!

SOME USEFUL BITS (FROM AHDB & BEYOND)

Padel: What is it and why is the racquet sport so popular? - BBC Sport

Padel Farm York | Play Padel in York

Recommended Lists for cereals and oilseeds (RL) | AHDB

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Charlotte, Hannah and Producer Martin would love to hear what you think! Got feedback, stories, or ideas for future episodes? Drop them a message at agshow@ahdb.org.uk.

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Transcripts

Charlotte:

You'll be pleased to know I survived the Hen Do.

Martin:

Just congratulations. Just where was it you went?

Charlotte:

Cardiff. Charlotte Hendu is a very different person to the Charlotte that you see on the Ag Show.

So Cardiff is still in one piece and that's the main thing, I think. Let's just say an espresso martini hates to see me coming. Hello, I'm Charlotte Forkes-Rees.

Martin:

I'm Hannah Clarke. Oh, hang on a sec. You should probably read the script first. I'm producer Martin. No, actually, the rate I'm going, I'm presenter Martin.

And welcome to the Ag Show.

Charlotte:

In this episode, we're going to be featuring potato stores, but not as you usually know them.

Martin:

That's right. We'll be hearing from a mixed farmer who's diversified his business by creating a couple of paddle courts. And they're proving to be quite the hit.

Callum:

Old potato stores are prime for it, really. So it's an inside shed and the roof height, we're 12 meters to the apex, and everyone on this paddle game likes to do these lob shots.

Charlotte:

We'll also be sharing some good advice ahead of spring drilling from our agronomy and environment manager, Becman.

Bek:

I imagine that as soon as it does dry out and people can get on the land safely, they'll be going at a rate of knots. But again, it's making sure you've picked your right variety.

Your soil temperatures with it being so wet, made sure you've been keeping an eye on your slug pressures. Really.

Charlotte:

A reminder, new episodes of the Ag show drop every Wednesday at midday. Available wherever you get your podcasts with

Martin:

audio and video versions for every show. Just subscribe to make sure you don't

Charlotte:

miss an episode and get in touch. We'd love to hear from you. Comment on any of our social posts or email agshowdb.orguk.

Martin:

right. You're not fueled by espresso martini still, are you, Charlotte?

Charlotte:

I wish.

Martin:

On with the show, then. Well, we're always keen to hear about what you're doing on farm here on the Ag Show.

As stories, we can find that they often inspire others to make positive change. Last week we heard how Kate Drury started a business making ropes out of wool.

And actually, our first guest this week is also a great example of diversification, veering into the world of health and fitness.

And as someone who classes themselves as a runner, albeit someone who's been using crutches and been on the physio table more often than pounding the streets in anger in his trainers, so far, this Year. It has certainly got my attention.

Charlotte:

Callum Stark farms near York and has found a novel use for an old potato store, Padel courts.

The sport of padel, which you may or may not have heard of, is a bit of a mix between tennis and squash and it is certainly growing in popularity with even calls to get it included in the Olympics. More about the racquet sport in a moment. But when I caught up with Callum recently, I began by asking him about the land he farms.

Callum:

We're a mixed farm, Charlotte. So we've got pigs, potatoes, sheep. We grow all seed raised, barley, wheat. We're a Traditional mixed farm.

2000 ewe flock, a thousand sow pig unit, all indoors that now we rent out to Moses and then, yeah, grow 850 acres of potatoes.

Charlotte:

You're busy.

Callum:

Yeah, busy. I've taken two:

um problem, but I'm renting a:

Charlotte:

I suppose that probably leads us a little bit to what your new endeavor is, and that is the paddle courts. And do you want to kind of maybe tell me how that came about?

Because quite often you hear farmers are diversifying and it might be there's a glamping pod or they've put in, you know, a farm shop somewhere. But paddle, I mean, a lot of people I think might not even know what that is.

Callum:

The reason why I went into it was I, well, we, we filled this store up last season and as everyone can remember, it was very dry season. Well, it was very dry season. It was difficult season and unfortunately I didn't get the yield I wanted to.

And then with storage costs and everything, I ended up sort of losing £12,000 on the store of potatoes in this store. So I sort of kept on threatening sort of the processors and believe me, I understand with the processors as well, they're in a hard.

They're getting pushed from the other side as well.

So I sort of called their bluff really, and decided to make some more money out of these stores then, rather than storing their potatoes in, so stuck the paddle courts in and never really looked back. 9,000 pound investment. It paid itself back in sort of like eight months. I started this project at 106 kilograms and now I'm. Now I'm 90.

So it's, it's caused me about, caused me about 16 kilos of stress.

Charlotte:

Is it stress or is it all the paddle that you're playing?

Callum:

I'm not, I honestly I can't get on. I can't play.

Martin:

It's.

Callum:

Yeah. I'm very lucky in the fact that we were the first, we were the first indoor paddle course in the York area.

One of the major things is, is the roof height and we're an insulated shed and know the really poor weather we've been having. I mean old potato stores are prime for it really. So it's an inside shed and the roof height we're up to. We're 12 meters to the apex. So.

And everyone on this paddle game likes to do these lob shots. So it's a shed built for paddle basically and yeah means farming's a bit.

Yeah I think I'm a farmer by heart and I love farming and everyone on the farm works so hard to what we do but it's just fine margins and I'm just trying to do this to help the family and the fact that we've still got this inheritance tax come in. We're a reasonable size farm and even with the. My granddad passed away, my gran's 93.

There's 2.5 million you have to play with now if you're a potato farmer. The at the size we are we're growing 850 acres. Just the kit alone puts us over that threshold.

So I needed to find some extra, extra source of income to actually get us so I wouldn't be selling off assets so that we could survive as a family, as a, as a farming family. So. And I'm very lucky in the fact that we've done the, we've done the paddle and it's, you know, it's landed on its feet.

I mean can't say I've done a few other things that haven't landed on its feet. So we're very lucky in that aspect really.

Charlotte:

So it's not that you've undertaken this as a way to kind of get out of farming to sort of scale back on what you're doing. It is there to mean that you can continue to keep farming.

Callum:

Yeah, it's. And yeah that's.

I mean, I mean you guys will know for all the listeners everything everyone in farming works incredibly hard and it's to keep those guys really in a job. I don't want to, I never wanted this to take away from what we actually, what we actually do. I mean it's like this age old saying, isn't it?

If a farmer Won the. If a farmer won the lottery and what would he. And they'd say, well, I'd carry on farming until I lost it all. Well, that's the problem with it.

It's all trained in, it's in our blood.

Charlotte:

There's something that I probably want to ask is like, how did you decide on paddle? Cause it is a cross, isn't it, between. Is it squash and tennis? Kind of. But it is quite new, isn't it, to be in this country?

There's not that many places you can go and play.

Callum:

No, well, it's the fastest growing sport. I mean, I was very lucky in the fact that me and my cousin were talking and he set up a company called Paddle Court Construction.

And they go and build courts. Well, yeah, they go and build courts around the country. And I was like, well, we'll, we'll have a go at that.

Charlotte:

So it was just fortuitous that that conversation kind of came about at the right time for you, I guess then.

Callum:

Yeah, I was, I was looking at doing like glamping and things like that and all, like a wedding venue, but it's already been done. And then I was like, well, that

Charlotte:

also sounds butting in. Weddings don't do it.

Callum:

No.

Charlotte:

From just being from the other side and organizing a wedding. Horrific. So imagine having to have that happen every weekend. No, I would not be going down that route. Pedal sounds much more sensible.

Callum:

Yeah, well. Yeah, well, I've landed on my feet chart, basically. That's all I can say. And it's not with some blood, sweat and tears, but.

Charlotte:

All right, I think this might be a good point. If you don't mind. I think it'd be great if you could show our listeners what your courts look like.

Callum:

This area is the sort of reception room, plus sort of like cafe area.

Charlotte:

Oh, cool. So you've got a cafe as well. So people can come, they can play, but they can also have a nice drink while they're there.

Callum:

A loosely termed cafe. It's. Help yourself coffee. I'll show you the cafe. And then these are the two courts. This is how they get the balls. It's the ball vending machine. So.

So you buy your balls from. You've got a snacks machine as well. And if you come this way. This is my cafe. This is a. This is my, this is my barista. There we go.

Charlotte:

Oh, very cool. Does it come with the latte art on top? When they get.

Callum:

It's got everything. Look, you got like, you've got your double espresso, your black americana White Americana. And you can do anything with this bad boy.

Charlotte:

Catering for everyone.

Callum:

Yeah. And then, and then these are the two courts. So you've got the first court here and then the second court at the back. And then.

Yeah, and then to keep the, keep the potato vibe going, we've got the, we've got the potato boxes at the back there, you see.

Bek:

Oh, cool.

Charlotte:

Really tying in with that kind of like agricultural and the rustic vibe. And actually people love that, don't they? They really buy into it.

Callum:

Everyone loves the countryside and everyone wants to support farmers and that's what everyone needs to realize is that actually people have got our backs and it's not our fault that the market is flat and that's, that's all is. It's. Yeah, we're, we're price takers, not, not price makers.

But the general public always want to support the rural areas and people who move from the city, they obviously want the city vibe in, in the countryside.

And if you've got a shed like this and put it in, it doesn't even have to be paddle, it can be like Pilates, it can be a high rocks gym, it could be a spin classing.

You know, if you've got something to offer and you've got a nice rural area, people would love to drive out and see, you know, do it in the countryside rather than quite a lot of these spots. They're there in industrial units, you know, and you know, with the high rocks, you have to do a 5k run.

Well, if you, if you can offer like a Hyrux gym, but you're running around like a farm track, which is lovely. I mean at the moment it's, you know, awful rain.

But you don't realize what you have on farm level until people start coming and telling you, oh, we've always wondered, we've always wondered what's in this shed. Or we've always wondered what it was like here. And it's quite refreshing really. You can get quite down about it really.

You think that no one's got your back but you get to realize the general public really want to support us. And that's the. And maybe I'm lucky my local area, but that's what I feel anyway.

Charlotte:

So then what are your plans for the future? Do you want to put in more courts? Do you want to expand and do other things? I mean, I'm putting it out there if you've got a lake somewhere.

I love open water swimming, so putting, you know, somewhere for me to come and swim. And I would Be up there like nobody's business.

Callum:

You're preaching to the choir here. I'm telling you, we're in the Vella York. We're standing on top of clay. I've got 75 ponds on the farm.

They're all marl ponds, so my great granddad dug them out to put the clay on top of the sand to get better yields back in the day. But we actually have a pond just outside these two stores, which in. In the future I'll be converting into a wild swimming pond.

If you're really interested, I can go and show you the plans over. I've got up on the wall over here for the next sort of phase, if you want. So I think that'd be great.

Charlotte:

Yeah. And maybe you can have a little part of your pond that's called, like, Charlotte's Dip or something.

Callum:

Oh, Charlotte's dip.

Bek:

Yeah.

Callum:

I could always do that. Charlotte. Don't you worry about that. This is where we're sat at the moment in this. In the shed here. So we're turning two more indoor courts in.

This section's gonna be a women's changing room underneath. And then there's gonna be a mezzanine floor. And there's gonna be a Pilates complex on the top here. That's the male. That's the male changing room.

These are two single courts, indoor. That's an outdoor court. That's a Hyrox gym. That's a spin class, which are in shipping containers. And then these are all in shipping containers.

And these are all office spaces that I'm renting out to businesses in the area. That obvious home. And, you know, people get bored working from home, and I need. I need people to come and sort of stay here and turn it into like a.

A place at the end. I'm basically child. I'm basically turning into a place I want to go. So just. I'll just turn it into that. And then. And then that's the. That's an out.

That's a cafe that serves inside and outside. And then this is my. This is my play play feature. Basically. I've got an outdoor court here, but I've got an office space there.

And I'm gonna put this, which is a hot tub on the top with a mezzanine floor.

Charlotte:

Oh, amazing.

Callum:

And then it's gonna be ready for the football, hopefully the football World Cup. So when people come and watch the footy, I'm gonna charge people to have VIP seats in the hot tub and then just watch another big screen there.

Charlotte:

I have to say, Martin Callum was such a great person to talk to such a character.

I think this is definitely one of those episodes where I would recommend, if you aren't watching us already on YouTube, carry on listening wherever you are and check out the videos, because there is so much to see. And, yeah, he was just brilliant to have on as a guest, I have to say.

Martin:

That's it. He took us on that tour of the. Of the paddle course there. You might get a little bit seasick because he's holding his.

His phone and so he's wobbling about a little bit. But it was just really impressive to see what he's actually slung into that potato store of his.

But, yes, I'm surprised you managed to get a word in edgeways. So kudos to you on that one, but we'll certainly be hearing more from a little bit later on in the show.

But still to come, advice ahead of spring drilling. You're listening to the Ag Show, Martin Winch alongside Charlotte Faulks Reese this week.

Bit squeezed for time, I think, already, so a bit of a truncated news section, Charlotte. We'll just go with something that you've seen, I think.

Charlotte:

Yeah.

And you might be thinking, Charlotte, you seems to be on a bit of a royal run, because my news piece this week does have a little bit of a royal flavour to it as well.

But it was all around Clitheroe Auction Mart, and the other week it was buzzing because His Majesty the King actually dropped in to meet with farmers, young farmers and rural organizations to learn more about the challenges and opportunities which is facing the farming communities, particularly in that Lancashire region. Pretty cool, I have to say. But I think for me, the real headline isn't just about the royal visit.

It's actually that spotlight that it is kind of throwing onto a world that a lot of British public eyes have barely seen or understand. And it is that vital role that Marts quietly play for farming communities every single week.

been a trading hub since the:

It is that lifeline, a business center, a social anchor and a support network all rolled into one so farmers can sort everything from legal and financial advice to land management all in one place, speaking directly with rural policing teams and access, health and wellbeing support from field nurses who really do understand the pressures of the job.

And the Mart also champions the future of Farming, hosting young farmers, rare breed groups, rural charities and show societies that can help keep the community vibrant and connected. So yes, the King was there and admired the livestock and met local farming families.

But what his visit really highlighted is that essential role that many marts play in keeping rural life resilient, reducing isolation, supporting livelihoods and strengthening the social fabric of farming.

Martin:

Right, well, it will soon be time for spring drilling and I'm sure those who need to be are already working on their fertilizer and nutrient plans too.

Charlotte:

Which is why we thought we'd get some top tips and last minute advice for you. And that's from our agronomy and environment manager, Bec Herstman. And they began by talking about HDB's recommended lists.

Bek:

The recommended lists are sort of one of those flagship publications that HDB do been doing for a lot of years. So a lot of people probably know about them, but I think they're a bit mysterious in what people understand about them.

There's a lot of trials that happen around the country with a variety of different people and locations and they all sort of have different functions depending on what we're looking at in those trials. Some look at how do the varieties perform with no fungicides to give that comparison for their disease ratings.

Some look at larger plot scale, how does it go through the milling process to get those sort of, you know, what's your protein content and understanding those bits from it. Some have a full fungicide program, which comes under a bit of debate sometimes about, you know, is it the best, is it the most representative?

But the problem being is that we're trying to compare data from around the country and we have to have the same spray program to be able to do that.

So while it's probably stronger in some areas than people would, you know, economically do or seasonably do, it has to be pre decided and it has to be level so that it can give that accurate comparison.

It's not that we don't understand that it's not necessarily representative of those regions in that particular season, but you know, those choices are made and they're made in advance so that it can be planned, ready for the trials and the trial operators to know what they're doing.

Charlotte:

So I guess it's the recommended lists then. It's not just about what you could be going and buying, it's about, oh, actually, what have I got? And then how can I get the best yields from these?

Bek:

Yeah, exactly. So they sort of build a bit of a picture. Obviously they can't predict farm by Farm system by system, which will be the best variety for you to grow?

They just give an indication, you know, if you're looking to hit the top proteins, which variety is that, you know, you might be looking for? If you live in different regions of the country, different disease pressures are higher or lower.

So in the west, people will be more concerned about septoria pressures and we'll be looking for higher resistance to septoria.

Charlotte:

So we are now kind of into spring drilling very much, aren't we? And this year I feel like we've had it particularly wet. Last year it was quite dry. The year before it was very wet.

I mean, what are some things that people really need to be thinking about? Considerations or top tips that you might have for them?

Bek:

I mean, yeah, as you mentioned, it's been incredibly wet. People are going to be chomping to try and get spring drilling, but nobody's going to be able to achieve that for a while yet.

I was out in a field yesterday, and you just, you know, if you stood still too long, you were sinking in your boots. So realistically, nobody's going to be driving anywhere anytime soon unless you're particularly lucky with your soil structure and your soil type.

Given that, I would be considering the fact that, you know, make sure that your land is. Is really fit for travel.

You know, you don't want to take any risks in putting machinery on there that's just going to do more damage to your soil structure.

We're doing a lot of sort of events and information about healthy soils at the minute that people have been coming to, learning about nutrition and how the soils and their general health build into that.

So you don't really want to undo all the work you've been doing on your healthy soils just by trying to go in too soon, just because the dates are ticking round. That does link back to some of the stuff that we were just talking about with the recommended list. There are drilling windows in there.

There are some varieties that will do better earlier and some that will do later in terms of how long they take to mature and get to that harvest point. I imagine that as soon as it does dry out and people can get on the land safely, they'll be going at a rate of knots.

But again, it's making sure you've picked your right variety, considered your soil temperatures with it being so wet, made sure you've been keeping an eye on your slug pressures, really, because slugs, while there is a tolerance point, they will, you know, if it's completely underwater, not be a massive problem. But if it's wet enough, they'll be lurking around because that's a favorable condition for them.

Keep an eye on any baiting points and, you know, maybe be considering applying some slug pellets because you don't want to spend your time and money putting your seed in the ground for the slugs just to come and have them. So that's there.

And I think again, if your field has been particularly waterlogged, you might just need to be aware of the conditions that are in there. Has it caused a problem with those nutrient availability leaching, what fertilisers you might need to be considering?

There's the excess winter rainfall information that will be published, sort of something that comes out every year that feeds into your, you know, fertilizer, nutrient management planning type of stuff to work out what your soil nitrogen supply might be.

And you can use the amount of excess rainfall that's come to consider, how much nitrogen might have been lost from your soil and therefore how much you might need to put on.

So that will definitely be something that people need to be considering when they're thinking about their spring drilling as well, helping getting those crops away and growing once they are in the ground.

Charlotte:

So maybe now with all this wet weather, it's a chance to take stock, see where you're at, have a look at some of the resources which we've got on our website, maybe come to some of our events, get some ideas about things that you can be doing for that season ahead and just not jumping the gun too quickly and potentially causing yourself an issue further down the line.

Bek:

Yeah, definitely. I'd say it's probably, you know, a really good idea to be looking at some of your soil health type metrics.

We've got a soil health scorecard that people can use. I mean, people are well used to doing sort of digging up a bit of soil, sending it off to a lab and seeing what the results say, which is great.

And those do give you an indication of your soil performance, but they don't capture things like your soil structure and the number of worms that you might be finding in there. That's really sort of how the soil health scorecard links in together.

You do your lab test, you put in your results like your ph and your MPK levels and your organic matter.

But then the scorecard comes in and, you know, you put your spade in the soil, you have a look, you see what your structure is like and that rates from good to poor. You count how many earthworms are in there.

Again, that rates from good to Poor, what we tend to say is a good number for, you know, an arable system is at least more than nine worms per sort of soil pit that you've dug based on a 20 centimeter spade. So if you've used a different size spade, be mindful that you're going to find more or less worms in there. That would count as good.

So that is something that can be tailored in. More worms than that is. Great. Less worms than that you might want to be considering.

Is there something I could do that's going to encourage presence of those worms in there?

Because they're the things, you know, they break down the organic matter in the soil, make the nutrients available to your crops, but they also sort of break through some of those big clods of soil, making the holes that the roots can go through, because weirdly is to say, but a root and a plant can be kind of lazy in that aspect. And if there's a hole for it to already go through, then it will grow there first rather than doing it itself.

Charlotte:

So, sounds like me, if you can take an easy route. Yeah, why not?

Bek:

Path of least resistance and all that.

Charlotte:

Yeah, yeah.

Bek:

So, you know, you get different levels of worm activity and there are different types of worms and I think that's probably a bit too in depth and maybe a question for some of our more soil specialist type people.

But, yeah, we've been doing a bit of talking about that at some of the events and you can, you know, you can get a pack from our resources page that can guide you through how to do these soil structure assessments and determine whether it is. It's not designed to be done yearly, it is designed to be sort of done once in a rotation and keep a bit of an eye on how your soils are doing.

We are doing some more research to look at things that could be done a bit more regularly. It's called the early indicators or something like that. Because some of the stuff can be quite slow to change.

When you're looking at increasing your organic matter or maybe changing your soil structure, they can be quite slow. So doing the same assessments year on year isn't necessarily going to make it look like it's been worth the actions that you've put in.

But there are other telltale signs you could potentially look at and measure that will give you an indication of if you're moving in the right direction.

And that's the research that's being done at the minute, sort of working out what those signs are that are telling you whether you're heading the right way or not.

Martin:

Well, thanks to Bec, we'll certainly be getting them back on the Ag show over the coming weeks for more tips and advice. And we're actually going to be coming back with our paddle farmer, Callum in just a moment.

Charlotte:

You're listening to the Ag show with me, Charlotte Fawkes Rees and producer Martin Wind. Make sure you are subscribed so you never miss an episode. New episodes do drop every Wednesday at midday and we love to hear.

So send us an email, get hold of us on any of our social channels. Email address is agshowdb.orguk I'm really looking forward to this.

Martin:

Cause I think we're about to catch up with Callum Stark again. He uses his potato store, if you remember, at the start of the show, for paddle courts rather than the humble spud.

In fact, he's begun to grow quite the fitness hub on the family farm in Yorkshire.

Charlotte:

That's right. And when I spoke to Callum, I asked him if it was actually preventing him from concentra on the actual farming.

Callum:

I've got a three year old daughter and a, and a six month old. So it's.

Charlotte:

Well, you're doing this proper then, just, you know, all at once.

Callum:

Yeah, it's just quite, it's quite hectic at the moment and I'm very lucky in the fact that the farm. I've got a very good farm foreman, Simon Clark, who works his ass off. I've got very good secretary, Emma, who works her ass off as well.

I could have better farm staff if I tried. I'm very lucky in that aspect. You know, I'm sort of like dedicating half my day to this and then half the day to the farm and it's.

Yeah, it starts getting. When you're growing 850 acres of potatoes and with all the other bells and whistles it starts to. Yeah, it starts to slowly kill you.

It's like death by a thousand cuts, really. But once, once I, once I grow it, I will put a general manager on this and I will try my hardest to do both.

But that's future Colin's problem Charlotte. It's not my problem. It's not my problem.

Charlotte:

It's quite often a phrase that I use. It's future Charlotte's issue when it's like, I don't really want to do that today, it's future Charlotte's.

But my effort that would go into things would not be anywhere near as much as what you've been having to do for this. But I suppose it is that thing Isn't it?

You almost need to either keep it small so it is really manageable and it kind of is limited in that respect, or you need to go much bigger and throw everything at it. And it seems like you've got quite a winning recipe there.

Callum:

I mean, it's go big or go home, I always think, with a bit like. And we've always been a bit like that in the. Sort of. In my dad's been. Always been like that as well.

Like, you know, if we're going to do a trial potato variety, it's not. We're not just growing five acres or an acre here. We're going to go 20 to 50 acres of potatoes to trial it sort of thing. And it's the same.

Farming's a bit interesting at the moment, isn't it? At the end of the day, like I said to Dad, I was taking.

Me and dad were having a conversation like, well, I want to do this and I want to build the new taste store. And Stuart said, well, why would you. Because this thing turns the money over and the farming doesn't. Which is, you know, it's quite. And it's been.

Yeah, the dad's been in farming since he started running this farm since he was 20. And, you know, for someone who's dedicated his life for it to say, why would you bother? It's, you know, it's a bit.

It's a bit interesting to hear, really.

Charlotte:

We have talked on this show quite a lot recently about succession and the planning that goes into things.

And it kind of feels like you're using this as part of your succession planning, making sure that you can keep farming but having that support there, isn't it?

Callum:

I've got a brother, he's a doctor, so he's not. He's not really been into farming, but I. The other. The other aspect of. Is that it will get split up into.

And I've got cousins as well, so it will get split up into. You know, the next generation will divvy up the shares, basically.

And what I wanted to do is basically give the option to all the family is the fact that Rory's kids might be interested in the farm or my kids might be interested in the paddle or the. So, you know, the. Or the Pilates. Or the Pilates or the Hyrocks or the spin. It gives you more options so that everyone can have a slice.

And it keeps it. And it keeps in the family. Not sounding like this is a local farm for local people, sort of jobby, but it's. You Know, just try and keep it all.

All running, if you know what I mean. So that's the. That was the main. One of the main drives as well.

Charlotte:

I think it sounds very sensible, your approach that you've taken in that respect. So well done to you for thinking that so outside the box in some ways to make this work.

Callum:

Yeah. Thanks, Charlotte.

Charlotte:

And I can't wait to come for a swim.

Callum:

Well, of course you can. Yeah. Yeah. I wouldn't. I wouldn't look at it at the moment because at the moment it's. It's a bit of a muddy puddle.

In about a year's time, when we get that all sorted, we'll. We'll be there anyway.

Charlotte:

So I'll expect an invite for the grand opening, then.

Callum:

I'd like to thank all the lads who work on the farm and everyone who made it feel possible.

And I'm very grateful to my parents to enable me to do this because a lot of farming families don't have that foresight to let the next generation do this sort of thing. So that's what a major thank you to Mum and Dad and my grandma and everyone in the family as well. And.

Yeah, and I just think, to say, to farming, farming, don't be afraid. Just, you know, at the end of the day, this costs 90,000 to first put it in and I've just been adding to it as it goes.

The price of a new tractor now is 250,000.

You know, if you look at it, farmers just need to look to diversify and it might give a bit of a boot up the ass to people who actually set our prices. Don't be afraid. That's. I always say, don't be afraid. You're sat on an asset that you can use to advantage, to diversify.

And that's what I'd say to other farmers, basically. And if. And if they were.

If they're nervous about it and they want to talk a load of rubbish to me, you can always leave my details at the end of it and I'll always give them a hand because I think this industry is worth fighting for and I'd love to keep it alive, even if just diversifying, even if they don't have to do what I've done, but they, you know, I'm always here to help, basically. Anyone.

Charlotte:

If you do want to contact Callum, there is a form on his Paddle Farm website and details are going to be in our show notes for you, producer Martin. I think I'm going to have to give you a new name. I think you're gonna have to just be Martin. And I don't know how I feel about that.

Bek:

Well, it's.

Martin:

I think we've used it before to create that distinction between someone who you should be hearing from and who you shouldn't be hearing from and. Yeah, certainly. What's it now? Three weeks on the spin. But I've really, really enjoyed it. But yeah, that's. That's about it for another ag show.

Action packed at. Absolutely. Loved, loved, loved that interview with Callum talking about paddle. Such an inspiring story.

You know those Padel courts already paying for themselves and those ambitious plans to try and get sat in the hot tub watching hopefully England win the World cup final.

Mind you, it'll be at silly o' clock in the morning probably so quite whether people will be wanting to be sat in a hot tub at that point, I don't know.

Charlotte:

Yeah, and I think I'm going to say producer Martin, because I think it'll help me with organizing this.

Producer Martin we do need to start thinking of like a list of destinations that we need to go and visit and do like a little ag show on tour and go and see all these great places because there's so many inspiring stories that make me want to get out there and see it. But that is really all we do have time for this week.

So make sure you're subscribed to wherever you listen to your podcasts, send us an email or get hold of us on our socials. Email address is agshob.org.uk and I'm going

Martin:

to start a campaign, Bring back Hannah. I'm going to email in now. Get rid of this chap, this interloper called Martin. Anyway, on that note, cheerio by.

Charlotte:

Sa.

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