In this second part of the Dairy Diaries we travelled to New York State to chat to Tom McGrath at Family Farmstead Dairy. We would like to have had him round the table for part one but the time differences didn’t work and it turns out Dairy Farmers work really hard!!

The farm is nestled in the rolling hills of central New York, where Tom and his family currently milk 45 cows on their 158 acre farm. They both come from farming backgrounds and it has taught them to appreciate the land, animals and instilled good work ethics.

Along with their own farm, they also support six other small family farms in their region. All the farms are certified organic, and all cows are 100% grass-fed and have been tested to carry the A2/A2-casein protein gene.

In this episode of Six Inches of Soil, Tom McGrath, founder of Family Farmstead Dairy, discusses the journey of transforming a conventional dairy farm into a certified regenerative and organic operation. He highlights the importance of nutrient density in dairy products, the impact of pasteurization on milk quality, and the significance of A2 milk for consumer health. Tom shares insights into the challenges faced by small family farms in the dairy industry, the mission-driven approach of his business, and the importance of animal welfare and sustainable practices. He emphasizes the need for consumer education and the role of informed purchasing decisions in supporting regenerative agriculture.

Website: https://www.familyfarmsteaddairy.com/

Insta: @familyfarmsteaddairy

Certified with:

https://regenified.com/

https://organicfarmersassociation.org/

https://www.usda.gov/farming-and-ranching/organic-farming

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EPISODE 7 PART 1

UNCURDLED

This is the first time we have featured the dairy industry. We decided to start with two family farms in the UK, one producing for their local community and the other running a highly successful yoghurt business. They both have a deep connection to their soils and are caring for their land and communities.

James Robinson:

James farms at Strickley Farm, a 300-acre organic dairy farm that has been free from artificial fertilisers or pesticides for the past 16 years. James’ approach to supporting nature includes planting woodland, leaving areas of grassland ungrazed, maintaining sensitive hedgerow management and fencing off watercourses to improve water quality, so there is less silt and soil from his cattle on the banks. His farm’s hedgerows are seven miles long, some 20-22ft tall.

Website: https://www.strickleydairy.co.uk/

Instagram:

@jrfromstrickley

@nffnuk

L’in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-robinson-7a2816273/

Tim Mead:

Tim was born into a dairy-farming family in 1963. He lives with his wife Sarah on the original farm in the Yeo Valley on the edge of Blagdon Lake, Somerset. After qualifying as a chartered accountant in London, Tim joined the Yeo Valley business in 1987, Yeo Valley Organic is the UK’s largest organic brand and celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2024.The business is still family controlled, with 20% held by an employee benefit trust. In 2017 after 30 years as a yogurt maker, Tim turned his attention to the farming side of the business and is still learning…..

Website: https://www.yeovalley.co.uk/

Instagram:

@yeovalley

Sponsored by Fielden:

The discount code is SOIL10 and gives 10% off all whisky on fielden.com.

Six Inches of Soil film - find links here to watch it: https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/

Six Inches of Soil book: https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/book

Finally if you have enjoyed listening to this podcast please do rate it - many thanks!

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Episode 6 - Unearthed

Host, producer: Richard Tufton

Co-host, producer: Claire Mackenzie

Editor: Meg Chatham

In the episode we are finally bringing us all back down to earth

ANDY NEAL :

Andy is a Soil Microbiologist at Rothamsted Research. He is interested in understanding the feedback between plant primary productivity, soil structure and soil microbial metabolism

Twitter @microbass1

Research papers:

Andrew Neal on Google Scholar

ANDIE MARSH is a soil health specialist, science communicator, and founder of Rhizos LLC - a Soil Food Web certified lab. More than that, she is a human building relationship with land in a suburban context.

Website:

https://www.rhizos.science/

@soilissexy insta

Soil is Sexy is the newsletter Carefully crafted accounts of the wonders beneath our feet, plus insights from a woman building a career in soil health - that’s me, Andie!

RAY ARCHULETA - Ray’s mission is to teach a framework of ecological and spiritual renewal

Ray the soil Guy

Film: https://kissthegroundmovie.com/

KAREN JOHNSON is a professor in the Department of Engineering, University of Durham

She is all about rebuilding soils for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Resources/Papers:

Smart Soils Video:

Royal Society Rosalind Franklin lecture on soil health and the Embracing our wastes video. Xiao, K-Q, et al. (2023) Introducing the soil mineral carbon pump. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. You can also watch our animations about soil exploring the links between soil degradation and flooding +links between soil health (SDG15) and climate change (SDG13)

A nation that rebuilds its soils rebuilds itself - an engineer's perspective and watch our COP26 video https://vimeo.com/639855822

Sponsored by Fielden:

The discount code is SOIL10 and gives 10% off all whisky on fielden.com.

Six Inches of Soil film - find links here to watch it: https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/

Six Inches of Soil book: https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/book

Finally if you have enjoyed listening to this podcast please do rate it - many thanks!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host, producer: Richard Tufton

Co-host, producer: Claire Mackenzie

Editor: Meg Chatham

Episode 5 - Unbred - Heritage Grains - this episode takes us back to the arable fields, this time we are focussing on crops that are closely related to the first-ever cultivated grasses. Our guests are working with these varieties to bring them to our plates and glasses, “these fields full of life” benefit our soil, health, and the planet.

Guests:

Luke Jones, Impact Family Farms, Illinois

Luke and his family operate a diverse livestock and cropping operation in western Illinois. He now values diversity and bringing life back to the acres he manages along with making a profit.

https://www.facebook.com/share/12Mn7pBnpCS/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://understandingag.com/team/luke-jones/

Dave Smith, Fielden Whisky

Dave Smith is Fielden’s CEO. With over thirty years of experience, Dave has worked internationally with both mature and challenger brands.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-smith-69120513?originalSubdomain=uk

https://fielden.com/

Samuel Taylor, Longtable Pancakes

Samuel Taylor is the founder of Long Table Pancakes, a company dedicated to creating artisan pancake mixes that celebrate local and sustainably sourced ingredients.

http://linkedin.com/in/pancakesamuel

https://longtablepancakes.com/pages/about

Fred Price, Gothelney Farm, Somerset

Fred is a farmer reimagining his practices and place within our food system. He’s a passionate advocate for agroecology, working with UK Grain Lab and the South West Grain Network to reimagine our food system.

Instagram: @gotheleyfarmer @fieldbakery @swgrainnetwork @uk_grain_lab

Websites: https://www.gothelneyfarmer.co.uk/

https://www.fieldbakery.com/

https://www.ukgrainlab.com/

https://www.southwestgrainnetwork.co.uk/

Sponsored by Fielden:

https://fielden.com

The discount code is SOIL10 and gives 10% off all whisky on fielden.com.

Finally, if you have enjoyed listening to this podcast please rate it - many thanks!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EPISODE 4 PART 2

SHOW NOTES:

Host, producer: Richard Tufton

Co-host, producer: Claire Mackenzie

Editor: Meg Chatham

Unground Part 2 - World of Coffee, in Part 2 we meet Marcus McCombe who is the Director of Routes Coffee who aims to: 🌍 Building a Better Coffee Industry, One Roast and One Cup at a Time

Guest:

Marcus McCombe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-mccombe/

Director at Routes Coffee

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/routescoffee/

As the Director of Routes Coffee, they are committed to reshaping the way specialty coffee is sourced, roasted, and experienced. Their mission goes beyond exceptional coffee—they strive to regenerate coffee farms, nurture soil health, and enhance biodiversity, ensuring that every step in their supply chain contributes to sustainability and long-term prosperity for farmers.

Sponsored by Fielden:

https://fielden.com

Most grains in whisky are grown industrially, with chemicals: same grain, same height, same flavour. Not on our farms. We’re regenerating England’s fields with heritage grains, grown in clover (we never, ever use chemicals). It’s a more sustainable way of farming that’s better for the soil, the grain, and the wildlife. And it makes a whisky full of flavour.

The discount code is SOIL10 and gives 10% off all whisky on fielden.com

Six Inches of Soil The Documentary

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Host, producer: Richard Tufton

Co-host, producer: Claire Mackenzie

Editor: Meg Chatham

Unground - World of Coffee, in this episode we are diving into something many of us enjoy every day—coffee. But how often do we stop to think about where it comes from? What impact does coffee have on the soil, the farmers who grow it, and the ecosystems that sustain it?

Guests:

Gally Mayer of Buena Vida Specialty Coffee, who works directly with farmers to bring regenerative coffee to consumers.

Roberto Mata from Costa Rica, who is growing coffee regeneratively and can share what that looks like on the ground.

Heather Terry, founder of Good Sam, a company committed to transparent, regenerative supply chains.

Roberto Mata

https://www.caferobertomata.com/

https://www.instagram.com/laslajascafe/

Gally Mayer

https://buenavida.coffee/pages/our-story

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gally-mayer/

Heather Terry

https://goodsamfoods.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-k-terry-44b81828/

Sponsored by Fielden:

https://fielden.com

Most grains in whisky are grown industrially, with chemicals: same grain, same height, same flavour. Not on our farms. We’re regenerating England’s fields with heritage grains, grown in clover (we never, ever use chemicals). It’s a more sustainable way of farming that’s better for the soil, the grain and the wildlife. And it makes a whisky full of flavour.

The discount code is SOIL10 and gives 10% off all whisky on fielden.com.

Six Inches of Soil The Documentary

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is called: Uncultivated: Veggie Vibes! We are going to dig deep—literally—into the world of vegetables, soil, and flavour with incredible people who make it all happen. Joining us for this vibrant conversation are some truly inspiring global voices from across the vegetable supply chain

• Adrienne Gordon, representing UK Veg. https://sweetpeamarketgarden.co.uk/
• Farmer Lee Jones, from Chef’s Garden in Cleveland, Ohio. https://www.chefs-garden.com/about-the-farm/our-story/farmer-lee-jones
• Stephen Flynn, co-founder of the Happy Pear in Ireland—chef, author, and community leader. https://thehappypear.ie/
• Mark Schatzker, food journalist and author. https://www.markschatzker.com https://x.com/markschatzker?lang=en

Massive thanks to Tilly and Oscar Tufton and Apple Hammond for submitting questions.

For the intro/outro was:

Claire Mackenzie - @clai.remackenzie producer of Six Inches of Soil documentary & Podcast

Colin Ramsey www.dragonlightfilms.com @dragonlightfilms - director of Six Inches of Soil documentary

Richard Tufton, podcast host @rtufton

Editing by George Adey @ Dragon Light

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Intro:

Richard Tufton, podcast host, and Claire Mackenzie, producer.

@rtufton & @clai.remackenzie

Featuring:

Anna Jackson, star of the film Six Inches of Soil, farmer in N Lincs, UK: https://www.pinkpigfarm.co.uk/

@annaracheljackson

Tim Parton, farmer, consultant, and co-founder of Green Farm Collective, based in Staffordshire, UK:

http://timpartonfarming.com https://www.greenfarmcollective.com/ and look out for his book in 2025 via https://unbreaking.eco/

Rick Clark, Rick is a 5th generation farmer who resides in Warren County, Indiana https://www.farmgreen.land/

@farmgreen13

Bertie Matthews, miller running the family company, Matthews Cotswold Flour:

https://cotswoldflour.com/

@bertiematthewscf

Valerie Netherton, Director of Sustainability, Higher Purpose, Partnerships at Makers Mark

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