Autumn's arrived, and to mark Love Lamb Week we're catching up with a familiar face from The Great British Bake Off who's flying the flag for British lamb.

Mike Wilkins is a sheep farmer with first-hand experience of what TV can do for farming's image. He explains why shows like Bake Off can help tell farming's story to a much wider audience, and why he's backing the long-running Make It Lamb campaign.

He also lets us in on a behind-the-scenes Bake Off secret, revealing who he couldn't resist sharing details of his TV appearances with while filming. And let's just say, it wasn't limited to the immediate family.

SOME USEFUL BITS (FROM AHDB & BEYOND)

Make it Lamb | AHDB

Search Resources Only - Food A Fact Of Life

Let's Eat Balanced | AHDB

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Do you know what it's time for?

Christmas?

Even better than that.

My birthday?

No. Pumpkin spice latte season. Dark nails, cosy knits. It is autumn and it's my favourite time of year.

Have to say, even though my birthday falls in November, October is my favourite month of the year because you still get those bright blue skies, but there's just a Christ coldness to it all.

I always wanted to get married in October and my husband vetoed it because basically all his family were born in October. He's like, no, we can't have another expensive thing in that month. So that's why we did September.

But that means it's also your first anniversary coming up. Hannah too, doesn't it?

It is, yeah. Two weeks time.

Ooh, very exciting.

I almost made it to paper. I made it to tin first time round, which is 10. So I'm at paper with my current.

Wife, my last wife with my first husband. I'm at. It's going to be bronze or salt.

How many years is that?

Eight. It'll be eight on Thursday because I was a child bride, of course.

Hi, I'm Hannah Clarke.

I'm Charlotte Forkes-Rees and welcome to The AG Show.

Now, supposedly it's the start of autumn, according to Charlotte, and meteorologically speaking, this means fresh bursts of our Loveland week. Make it lamb and let's eat Balance.

Campaigns have begun and millions of TV viewers across the country are eagerly anticipating the next series of the Great British Bake off to begin.

If only we could shoehorn all of this into one episode.

Food programs is something that the public seem to absolutely love.

And I think that people cooking their own food at home with raw, fresh ingredients is something that can support an understanding of food and where it comes from in British produce.

That's Mike Wilkins, a sheep farmer and former Bake off contestant who's on board with HDB to promote some recipe ideas for cooking lamb.

We'll be finding out about Mike's passion for farming and how he believes shows like Bake off can be used to promote the work of farmers.

A reminder, new episodes of the Ag show drop Wednesdays at midday, available wherever you get your podcasts.

And as always, we've got audio and video versions available for every show. Just hit that subscribe button to make sure you don't miss an episode and.

Do get in touch. We absolutely love hearing from you.

Comment on any of our social posts or email agshowdb.org.uk let's get things started then, with this week's big interview.

Mike Wilkins is a fourth generation farmer working alongside his parents and sister on the family farm who happens to have starred on the Great British Bake Off a couple of years ago.

Phil and I recently caught up with Mike and we began by asking him about the setup on the family farm and of course how he got on to Bake Off.

Like you say, I'm a fourth generation farmer here in Wiltshire. My mum, my dad, my sister, my brother in law all work full time on the farm, very much family aff. We are predominantly arable.

So yeah, so that keeps us all super busy. And in terms of Bake Off, I've always been the most enormous fan of the show. I love baking. I've baked since I was tiny.

We always used to make birthday cakes. You know, we never would have a store bought birthday cake, my mum would always insist on that.

And then my sister and I kind of took over doing that, really fell in love with baking and cooking. And all of my friends had always said to me, you know, oh, you should apply for Bake off because you love baking.

You always turn up with a, you know, half a cake in a biscuit tin and say, you know, try this. And I always find baking is such a, I'm not very good at like breaking the ice in awkward social situations, like new situations with new people.

And I always find if you take a cake along with you, then suddenly, immediately everyone's your friend.

And also it fits so tightly with, with farming because baking, of all the things that you can cook and do at home, baking is actually a great one that connects so directly with raw, almost raw produce, direct from farm eggs, butter, flour, you know, oil, all of these things, sugar. And so the two kind of go hand in hand really beautifully.

And so I applied to Bake off mainly because I was asked if I was going to make out my wedding cake for my wedding because I'd made a few wedding cakes for friends and my husband said, no, absolutely, definitely not. You got far too much to do because we were doing everything else wedding ourselves as well.

And I sort of tongue in cheek said, well, if I went On Bake Off, I'd have to make the cake. Cause everyone would expect it. So he sort of rolled his eyes and said, yeah, fine. So I was like, right, challenge accepted.

So I applied and literally just thinking of it, I would not get on. And then that's the story I tell people as to why I wasn't making the cake.

And then the sort of, you know, it kept rolling and suddenly I was actually in an NFU meeting with our county advisor at home on the farm when I got the call to say, we would like you in the tent. And yeah, I think about 16,000 people applied the year I got on. And there's no way that I'm in the top 12 best bakers out of those people.

I'm very much like a rustic home baker. But what they loved was the story of the farm and the produce that I used. And everything I used in the tent was British produced.

Loads of it was from our own farm or from friends farms or from NFU member farms.

And I was really worked closely with the food tech for sourcing of all the ingredients I used in the tent and discussed that loads with Paul and Prue, which they really adored. So, yeah, the two sort of things just really came together. And yeah, it was just the biggest whirlwind of my entire life.

I bet. So did you make your wedding cake in the end?

Yeah, yeah, I did. Five tiers was the biggest cake I've. I had ever made to Showstopper. Yeah, absolutely. Like crazy show stuff.

But I used some of the recipes that I had written for the tent. It was amazing. I was sort of decorating it on the morning of the wedding, which was, yeah, slightly stressful, but it went really well.

Although actually all of the bakers from our series came to our wedding and they all bought puddings as sort of wedding gifts. So I was thinking, oh, you know, the cake will feed everyone. But we had two eight foot trestle tables laden with pudding, which was just phenomenal.

And it all, it all went, it all got eaten. So it was magical.

The calibre of baking there. It's rude not to clear the whole table.

It was so Good. Yeah. All 12 of us in a tent with baked goods. Again, it was giving me really stressful flashbacks.

Just going back to the point around your story with Bake off, because I think that's a really interesting point to sort of touch on. Programmes like Bake off pull in massive audiences, possibly those that may not know too much or think about where their food comes.

How do you think these programmes could be doing more to promote British farming and food.

Well, I was really surprised. I've watched Bake off my whole life, ever since the first series.

So I was aware, having watched it, that there'd never been a farmer on the show before, which always surprised me, because, you know, you'd go into any farmhouse kitchen across the country, and at least one person in that farmhouse will love baking, and there'll be something, you know, freshly baked goods every week. So the two are so closely linked, and I was really surprised they'd never showcased that before.

I think food programs and food sort of television and recipes on. On TV programs is something that the public seem to absolutely love and has really continued to grow in popularity more and more.

And I think that people cooking their own food at home with raw, fresh ingredients is something that can only, like, natively, just help support an understanding of food and where it comes from in British produce.

I think that sometimes maybe the direct seasonality and local side of raw ingredient sourcing could be better kind of covered in some of the TV shows that people watch.

But I think just as a starting point to get people interested in wanting to make their own food and buy less highly processed food and so on is a great place to start. And if people are interested in cooking, they're kind of innately interested in food.

And it's just a brilliant way to keep starting the conversation, which is where I think organizations like HCB and NFU and farmers directly come in to, like, capture that interest that the public have and that is kind of sparked in cooking and just start really being a loud voice in the conversation saying, if you're cooking at home, think about the ingredients that you're using and where they come from. So I think the door's kind of open and we just need to really be shouting through it to get people to listen.

And that would be sort of some key messages that you'd put out on your own social channels because you've got quite a large following.

Yeah, definitely. I think, you know, people, that's all thanks to Bake Off. And people said during Bake off, you know, what do you want to do afterwards?

And I said, well, I'm just a farmer, farmer. And I want to keep being a farmer.

But if anyone happens to want to listen to what I'm doing on the farm and I can talk about that, then that's something I'm really passionate about doing. We are in the process at the moment of opening a farm shop and kitchen on our family farm at home.

And that, again, is all kind of ties into wanting to promote where people's food comes from and buying local, buying direct from farms and buying seasoning and all of these things. And hopefully talking about that through my social channels will help raise the profile.

Continue to raise the profile of farming and farm produce and I think just dispelling some myths and I think you just have to be quite open about the trials and the ups and the downs of being on farms and when things go well and when things don't go so well and what's practical and what's not practical and people just, I don't know, people seem really interested and I get just random, you know, day to day things on the farm that I post on my Instagram which feel quite native to any of us farmers and people are fascinated by and want to know more and they ask really interesting questions and it's really heartening, I think, how much interest there is out there. And I'd rather that people like me, but it's certainly not just me, just anyone who is a farmer who wants to have a voice and start talking.

I think there's a want of information out there and if farmers aren't filling it, then you know, other places are going to fill it and maybe not give the messaging that we want. So I think it's kind of our duty really to talk about what we do in a really frank, open way and fill that void with some good information.

And Mike, you are now using your role as an influencer to support Loveland Week. Do you want to tell us a little bit about how you are getting involved in this campaign?

Yeah, definitely.

So I've engaged with and known about Loveland Week in the past and these kinds of campaigns that the AHDB run I think are brilliant ways of just really getting people's attention on thinking about lamb. And at this time of year, it's really lovely that we can start thinking about like, you know, big family roasts and so on going into the autumn.

So when you guys got in touch and said you want to do something, I have written a recipe for a slow roasted lamb shoulder, which is my personal favorite. Oh, it's so good.

And it's so easy as well because it's literally just sort of chuck everything in a big pan and leave it in the oven for eight hours so you just can't go wrong.

But it all, it falls apart and the lamb is so delicious and so succulent and people just think, wow, you must have slaved over this, making it absolutely amazing. And it's not at all. It's so easy to make.

So, yes, I pulled this recipe together on the kind of thing that I would do at home, which hopefully people, they can watch the video I've made about it on how to follow it, and then I've written a full recipe as well that people will be able to save and hopefully recreate it at home with some really delicious lamb. Lamb, British lamb.

And why do you think, as a, as a farmer, why do you think these sorts of campaigns are really important?

Big brands, food brands and companies are constantly bombarding everyone with messaging and information about what you should eat tonight and what food to eat.

And I think we as an industry need to again, be part of that conversation a bit more and really help influence people's decisions on what they want to cook this weekend.

And if an organization like HDB is not doing that, it's hard, hard as an individual farmer on a farm by farm basis to have a big national campaign that can compete with the likes of McDonald's or these big companies who've got all this marketing spend, or all the supermarkets who are just pushing to whichever kind of area they want to go that's most profitable for them.

And I think being able to have this kind of campaign that can build a little bit of momentum behind it and just make people think, you know, I really hope that people will watch my video and watch the other content that comes during Love Lamb Week and they won't have been planning to cook a roast lamb that weekend. Or maybe they've got family coming over later in the month and they're thinking, you know, what should I make for that big dinner I'm doing?

And hopefully there'll be people that watch this content and think, oh, I'll do that lamb dish if that's something that people wouldn't otherwise have done. And it's that sort of soft pushing and nudging of people to think about and contemplate lamb and British lamb.

And I think that's the other thing as well, is the whole kind of Love Lamb Week angle of really pushing that British side of it and the sourcing of where you're getting your meat from. Again, it just really kind of helps make it forefront in people's minds.

So the next time they walk into a supermarket and they've had all these other advertisements floating around their heads, but hopefully for a lot of people, the thing at the forefront of their mind will be like, oh, I'll go over to the lamb section, because that feels like a really good thing to have.

This week, and we must mention as well that at the same time Love Lamb Week is running, we've also got the let's Eat Balance campaign. Is that something that resonates, resonates with you as a, as a farmer?

Yeah, definitely.

I, I think the whole optics around let's Eat Balanced is a really lovely kind of way to raise the profile of, of food and, and British food, because it's quite easy, especially, you know, I, with my NFU hat on. We have this all the time because there's all the different kind of sectors within farming.

And you know, you say farming or farmers and you just think of this sort of blanket market conglomerate of all being the same.

And actually any farming business is so different, whether you're a pig farmer, a beef farmer or a dairy producer or a horticultural farmer or a fruit farmer, all of these things look completely different.

And the way to cohesively come together and talk about food in general in a way that links the public's kind of viewpoint with farming and food is really difficult. And I think everyone's sort of in their own sort of silo, doing their own thing.

And something like let's Eat Balanced is so broad and it really encompasses everything that we produce in the UK in a way that really emphasizes healthy diets as well, because meat and sugar and things get a really bad rap in the media sometimes about being unhealthy choices. And actually, in a lot of situations that's really not the case. They really are a core part of a healthy, balanced diet.

But raising that awareness of how to consume meat in a balanced and healthy way is really important.

And that's again part of the messaging of why I think it's our duty as farmers and organizations like the HDB to put that messaging across, of trying to push against the meat is bad narrative and fill that conversation with some information about how to eat meat in a sustainable, healthy, balanced way.

You seem like a pretty positive person, Mike, but it's been quite a tough time at the moment for, for farmers. So does it also kind of give people something a bit more upbeat to focus on?

Yeah, definitely. I think farming is a funny game. I mean, we all keep doing it and there are so many days when you just think, why? Why are we doing this?

Because it's really hard, it's really tough and there's so many things working against us. But I do like to try and stay optimistic. I do think that we have. It's just the most phenomenal industry to work in.

And I feel so privileged on so Many days when I'm on the farm and the actual work that I get to do is so, so enriching and. And I just adore it.

But it is easy, especially within farming circles, I think, to talk a lot about when things are going badly and just kind of spread that you just sort of set a tone, don't you, of everything's really bad and everyone's feeling quite bad and sometimes completely valid because of, you know, the environment in which we're working in at the moment, politically and, you know, internationally, all of these things. And then you can often, I think that can kind of feed into the thought process that that's kind of what everyone feels about us as well.

And there's so much. There's always news in the press about farming. And I.

We were talking earlier that the NFU commissions some independent research every year, and for the last, I think, three years, farmers have come second only to nurses as the most respected career or industry in the whole of the uk, which I just think is phenomen, that we have so much kind of respect and adoration in that way.

But I don't necessarily think that farmers always feel that at the farm gate and at home because social media and the Internet and news reels, you know, often want to peddle negative stories rather than the positive things that are going on.

So this type of campaign and messaging is such a brilliant way to try and take hold of that narrative a bit and just push some positivity out there and some upbeat messaging that I think farm can get behind and feel that their industry is supporting them as well.

You know, I think lots of people look on organizations like the HDB as, you know, your kind of representative of our whole industry and, you know, it's sort of the job to champion it. And if campaigns like this weren't run, then you would. I don't know how else HDB would be able to really be a positive champion in the industry.

And I think this is just a really lovely way of doing it, gets the messaging to the public because farmers know all of these things that these campaigns are talking about. But it's never a bad thing for farmers to be reminded of them and reminded that the public are hearing this as well.

And we'll have more from Mike a little later in the show.

And once you've finished with this episode, do go over to our website to check out more of the Love Lamb Week Make It Lamb campaign, which is a collaboration between ahdb, qms, HCC and lmc. And if you want some more Acronyms because we do love them on the show.

You'll be delighted to know it's supported by the nsa, nfu, nfus, UFU and Red Tractor.

You're listening to the Ag Show. Don't forget our inbox is always open and we want to hear from you - [email protected] is the email address you need.

We've been talking a lot about Love Lamb Week, Make It Lamb already on this show, but we are also behind a number of of other campaigns.

At the NSA Sheep event in Malvern over the summer, I caught up with Donna Neary, HDB's senior marketing manager for beef and lamb, to understand how what I do as an analyst for the retail and Consumer Insights team feeds into their work. So, Donna, we have just come off the stand at nsa. I was talking from that consumer point of view.

You were talking from how you then use the insight that I'm producing into those marketing campaigns. So from my point of view, consumers have got a lot to think about. It's all about how can you manage your budget?

How can you make sure that the meals that you're having fit in with the time that you've got, that they meet the health needs that you've got and that you enjoy them? It's a lot to think about, isn't it? How do you then find it? Is translating that into our marketing campaigns.

Yeah. So hdb, we're very lucky. We've got one of the best insight teams names I've ever worked in, in my career.

Not saying that because you're just beside me, Charlotte. And so it's really important for us because, A, we want to make sure that our campaigns resonate with consumers.

Otherwise, you know, what's the point?

So we've got two campaigns live for British lamb at the moment and one is let's Eat Balance, which taps into the nutrition insight that you guys talked about today here at the NSA event. And that's all about. About promoting lamb as a high quality source of protein and nutrient dense.

And then we have simply beef and lamb, which leans into the insight from your team around lamb being really important for that occasion, for the dine at home, the treat, treating. So we're all about that. For simply Beef and Lamb, it's all about taste and enjoyment.

Yeah. Because we want to enjoy what we're eating. Otherwise there's no point in having it, is it?

We'd all just be eating lettuce and going, oh, but it's, you know, how can we make more of that, isn't it? And that's when these campaigns can work really well.

We already see that we get seasonal uplifts, Christmas and Easter, but actually it can be year round too, can't it? So when is it we have our campaigns out?

So we've got let's Eat Balance runs. They both run all year round. But let's Eat Balance has two really hero moments, one in September and one in January.

We've also for Simply, it's like a. And always on social media activity. And we've got Love Lamb Week coming up on the 1st and 7th September.

And there's a real appeal for everyone to get involved in that. There's going to be free resources available from the HDB website for farmers, butchers, independent retailers. Get involved on social.

Just show your support. At the very least, just follow Simply Beef and Lamb or AHDB and like and share our content for Loveland Week and get behind British Lamb.

And of course, it was an absolute highlight being there with Donna, being on a panel. But I have to say, one of my favourite things of the day was this ginormous ice cream that I got. Big old Mr. Whippy.

Of course it had the 99 in it, but it did set me back six great British pounds. So, yeah, the 1 did me. I wasn't gonna buy for anyone else, I have to say.

Is this the same event you got propositioned by an elder gentleman?

Yeah, it was all gay, wasn't it? He didn't offer to buy my ice cream though. So, yeah, turned him down.

Let's hear more now from Mike Wilkins, former Bake off contestant and farmer, who's thrown his weight behind the Love Lamb Week Make It Lamb campaign.

I was with fellow presenter Phil Maden and making her ag show producer debut, Jess Lennon, when I caught up with him recently, Mike told the three of us that he feels like consumer perceptions of farming have changed over time.

I think people, the public, to use a. You know, I never know quite what that means because I'm the public as well.

But, you know, society, I think, has become more aware, especially over the last couple of years, of food and where it comes from because of shortages from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. And I think food security and availability has become more immediately an issue for people that's been really visible.

And I also think conversations around the environment and diet and processed food and all of these sorts of things have become really hot topics of conversation over the last few years in a way that maybe I don't think they were 10 or 15 years ago.

And I think it's brilliant and I think it's a testament to our industry and the organizations within it that we have really been a central part of that conversation and been able to help that narrative build around how farmers and farming can be a positive contributor to all of these big scary issues. And I think that's really helped to feed into why we are seen, you know, really positively.

And that's why I always think it's important to keep that positive attitude as farmers.

Because if the only narrative that the public start hearing is how farmers just complain all the time and everything's terrible, I think we'll lose some of that empathy and support and adoration from the wider public. Because actually it's really difficult for everyone at the moment.

And I know it's really hard for farmers specifically, but actually there's an awful lot of people up and down the country. There's nurses who can't afford to feed their children and there's teachers who can't afford to pay their mortgage. It's really difficult.

And I think we all have to kind of pull together and empathize with each other. And the fact that even through all that farmers are still seeing been in such high regard, I, I think is really, really brilliant.

I, I think, I think definitely the Clarkson effect has impacted that. I think the number of my non farming friends, you know, I've worked in out of the industry for many years as much as I have inside it.

So I've got lots of friends who know nothing about farming whatsoever and they are so much more aware of our industry and what we do on a level of more intricate detail than they were before or Clarkson. And so many people have watched it who aren't in any way engaged in agriculture.

So I think that's definitely helped as well and helped to spark more of an interest. I mean, just look at the, you know, Hawkstone Choir winning Britain's Got Talent.

I cried when that happened because yes, they're super talented and you know, they're all lovely people and they deserve to win on that merit. But actually, you know, it's a really tough competition that amazing people audition for and do well in.

And so much of why they won is because of the love and adoration that the public, I think had for them as people and for their story and for farming. And I just found that whole process absolute, pure magic and such a visceral expression of the public's love and respect for farming and farmers.

And again, I don't think that would have happened 10, 15 years. I don't think they would have won back then in the same way, with the same kind of national conversation around how great are these farmers?

So we've had Hawkstone Choir, we've had you on the Bake Off. What's next for a farmer to go and take part in any reality TV show you can recommend? Someone applies for farmer.

Will did Love Island a few years ago and he's done wonderful, brilliant things. He's such a lovely guy. And Cameron was on Big Brother a couple of years ago and had a really emotional, poignant moment.

I think he came runner up and they had a conversation around what he'd do with the winnings if he won and was talking about the family farm tax, which I think really resonated with viewers. So I don't think there's any one thing.

I just think it's incredible that farmers are getting a platform on all of these different shows and national platforms. Countryphile, actually on the BBC is really pulling its weight a lot better in the last couple of years.

I think they're being a really good advocate for our industry. Now. Channel 5 seem to commission a farming documentary or series every other week, which is just wonderful.

There's so many different programs about farming and family farming life. And so I just think as many different avenues that we can get our voice heard and get out there the better, really.

I would always be a passionate advocate for the Archers. I absolutely adore it. It's brilliant. And I've actually been recognized more for appearing on the Archers podcast than I have Bake Off.

I think, really, certainly in the last year, immediately after Bake off, it was a bit more. It was crazy going out and people coming up about Bake Off.

But the thing that has endured is I keep going on the Archers podcast to talk about it and people absolutely love it and people who I would never expect come up to me and ask about it.

And the amount of people I then have conversations with about direct drills and herbal lays and cropping rotations, and all of their knowledge is built from the arches. And I just find that fascinating that there's such a surprisingly mainstream piece of media that's really engaging people direct with farming.

So I don't think it's one thing because the media landscape is so fractured now. Your social media feed looks completely different to mine and same with every single member of the public out there. So I think you can't any longer.

I think, yes, Britain's Got Talent's a great example of a Saturday night. You know, every family sit down together, watch A TV show.

But even that is sort of less completely national narrative than it would have been 10, 20 years ago. Everyone's in their little silos on social media. I think the industry is doing really well in that we're kind of all over the place.

We're kind of popping up in all of the places that you wouldn't necessarily expect and that's the way that you're to going. Going to engage with and cut across the broadest spectrum of society. I think so just more of what we're doing. I don't know.

I can't wait to hear of the next.

Every time like an NFU member is going on like a TV show or doing something, there's always sort of surreptitious messages going around going, you need to keep your eye out on such and such. One of the first people I told about Bake off was Minette Batters and I wasn't allowed to tell anyone at all.

My immediate family knew and that was it.

But Minette Batters and Mel Squires, who used to be the south rep, who are both just incredible people who do so much for our industry and they help me with a lot of the food recipe ingredient sourcing for the show. So I phoned them and told them all about it and they were so excited.

And I know they sort of started like eyeing people in a few HQs, saying, not going to say much, but just keep an eye on Bake off this year. So I can't wait to hear the next time that something like that starts coming down the corridors for another big.

You've obviously kind of spoken about Bake off and Britain's Got Talent, but if there are any farmers that maybe don't feel confident to apply and put themselves out on a national TV program, what are the kind of maybe smaller steps that they could do to kind of start telling their story, whether that be on social media or as we were speaking about earlier, standing outside of the.

Swindon designer outlet and talking to the public that way.

What kind of easy steps could people make to start that conversation?

Yeah, definitely.

I would say to anyone, you know, we've all got cameras in our pockets pretty much whatever age you are, if you're, if you're on the farm with a phone, it's really easy to just snap some beautiful photographs of, you know, what's going on also not so beautiful photographs as the reality sometimes is, and pop those up on social media and you'll be really surprised at the amount of people that will engage with that and be interested by that we see our day to day life as quite mundane half the time because it's our day to day what we're sort of used to doing, you know, daily grind. But actually a lot of what we spend most of our time doing every day on the farm is absolutely fascinating to so many people.

So you don't have to be an influencer to use that questionable word to influence people or to, you know, to share your story. But if you don't feel comfortable putting things on social media, which I do totally understand, then do things more locally.

You know, write an article for your local parish magazine about what you're up to on your farm. I think that's such a lovely way to engage with people on a hyper local basis.

The NFU have got Farmers for Schools, which is a training program that they do where you learn how to deliver a curriculum linked lesson about farming. So presentation. I've done the training. It's really easy. It's everything that you know as a farmer already.

They'll match you up with schools in your local area and you can go in with a fellow farmer from your area as well and deliver information to a class of students about farming. And they're just absolutely brilliant. And you get the best questions ever coming back from students.

And you can do that, you know, you don't have to chat about it or put it on social media, you can just do that for your local primary school. Then if you go on their website, they've got loads of information that you can send your primary school.

It's all free, it's all paid for and it's just a free resource for schools that you can engage with.

Um, so yeah, I think there's, I think just talking about it, I just think having, you know, if you're down the pub and talk about what your, what you've been up to, if they've got hawkson cider on the bar or you know, another local cider to you, you know, ask conversation about, oh, you know, did you know that's those apples are grown just down the road or whatever it is. I just think there's so much that you can do on a small networking level. Just talk about farming.

That is really, we're in such a privileged position that we do this thing that touches every single person every single day and that just means everyone, well, everyone does have an interest, whether it's a vested interest but you know, everyone needs to know about food and what they're going to eat every day.

I have to say this, this show has just made me hungry. Talking about all the things that you can make love Lamb wig, Bake off, pumpkin spice lattes, ice cream, Go for lunch. Yeah, ice cream.

Don't get the ice cream.

And if any of you are obviously hungry for more information about the Love Lamb Week Make It Lamb campaign, then look at the show notes or go to the AHDB website for more. And also email us. Get in touch with what you want to hear from us on future shows, what you think about the show. It's agshowhdb.orguk.

So, yeah, email us. You've reached episode 43 of the Ag show and you've had a new character unlocked with our Jess making appearance.

If you want to hear new voices coming on the show, let us know and we'll be sure to unlock new characters for you.