April 8, 2025 • 7 mins
This UK farming influencer and 5th-generation arable/sheep farmer from North Yorkshire makes her debut on The Country.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today we're crossing homospheres for a bit of a farming
catch up. I'm thrilled to be joined by one of
the UK's rising stars in the angriy influencer world, Rebecca Wilson.
She's a farmer, a passionate advocate for rural life, and
she's built up a mess of following by sharing the real,
raw and often hilarious side of life on the land,
from sheep dogs to sila. She's putting British farming on
(00:23):
the map in the digital world. Rebecca, Welcome to the show.
Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well, thank you so much for having me in and
what's a welcome really? And I guess the social media
side of farming is is something which is I guess
just building a real amount of traction in the UK
but across the world probably as people get more and
more interested in farming and where their food comes from.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Now, you've just been named in the prestigious list of
the most influential young people under thirty in the UK,
alongside the likes of Caleb Hooper from Clarkson's Farm, who
I absolutely adore as well. How does it happen for
a fifth generation arable shaped farmer from North Yorkshire.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Well, it's a good question. I don't actually know the
answer because when I was first contacted was it was
completely out of the blue. But as I said, I
it's I think it's all about farming getting a place
on the map in mainstream media in a way that
perhaps we haven't seen, you know, in you know ten
years ago or twenty years ago, and social media and
(01:33):
programs like Clarkson's Farmer are making should we say farming,
I don't want to say making farming sexy, but I
think that's what's happening. And I'm so proud to be
part of an industry where and it's the same for
farmers across the world. We're striving, you know, in animal welfare,
we're striving to be as sustainable as possible. I mean,
(01:55):
we're definitely up against it, you know, in the financial
element and making our business is profitable. But people want
to know where their food comes from, and to hear
it from the horse's mouth, to hear it from the
people who are on the ground actually looking after those animals,
actually sitting on tractors and looking after crops. I think
it's brilliant and yeah, I'm so proud to be a
(02:16):
part of it.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Now you've actually got quite a rural Pew degree and
you have done a lot of work and university space
in this. Just actually go back and steep and tell
us a bit about your background.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So you might it's what kind of varied and it's
probably not that well trodden for people who perhaps have
a farm in the family. Because I was very much
encouraged to go away and do something different, perhaps learn
something beyond the farming industry. And well I'm twenty nine now,
so going back to when you're making the decisions of university,
you know, it's over ten years ago and I actually
(02:54):
went off to the University of Cambridge and I studied
for my undergraduate in human social and political sciences, so
completely unrelated to farming. But I think looking back, that
was almost the first exposure for me to people who
really haven't grown up in the countryside at all, and
(03:14):
you know, interesting in conversations but actually people were interested
in farming to some extent, but nowhere near now. You know,
the conversations now have been sparked so much by what
people see line you know, Instagram and other platforms. But
I did decide that I wanted to go back into
something agricultural after that undergraduates, so I did study for
(03:36):
a masters at the Royal Agricultural University and that was
in land management, and that got me back, I guess,
to probably where I was always going to go to
end up. I did a job as a rural surveyor,
I did a job as a project manager in the
poultry sector, and then due to actually family illness, I
came back to the farm full time four years ago.
(03:59):
And I mean it's a bit cliche to say, but
I've never really looked back and I'm so grateful to
be doing the job I'm doing now.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Obviously, there's been a lot of talk coming out of
the UK around the Labor Government's inheritance text as a
fifth generation on the family farm, you know, what is
the implication for you? Where do you stand on the meta?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Gosh, well, it's been it's been such a turbulent time
and I know that across well, across the world in general,
it's quite a scary time with conflicts, you know, that
geopolitical landscape. But to bring it back home when the
inheritance tax changes were first announced, and of course if
people don't know farming property got a relief. We were
(04:43):
exempt from inheritance tax, which that was basically our succession planning.
The fact that we could pass farmland down to the
next generation almost protected the farm and insulated us when
actually we haven't been that profitable. There hasn't been that
cash in the business to pay you know, bills of
well for us on the farm at home, we'd be
looking at a million pounds inheritance tax bill, which is
(05:07):
just eyewatering to think that that's on your shoulders. So
when all the news came out, I mean, we've had
all the motions across the industry, devastation, anger, frustration, and
I've been pretty vocal about it, both on my social media,
but also any opportunity that I've had, perhaps to speak
to mainstream media, on the news, on the telly, I've
also taken those opportunities. I think farmers are worried because
(05:30):
it feels like an anti farming agenda. In general, it
feels like the government is not prioritizing food production. And
for me, you know, food security is national security. It's
a phrase which has been used before, but I think
also for farmers and generational farmers and family farmers but
you know, even new entrants and first generation farmers, it
(05:54):
feels like we could lose that connection to a landscape
which is based on producing food. It's based on the
habitats we create alongside food, and if we lose that,
we really do lose that. For Reverend, there's been many promises,
promise is broken by the government, and I think farmers
need stability like any business, we need stability to have
(06:16):
confidence for the future.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Yeah. Yeah, I can't believe or begin to imagine what
you're going through over there, Ribecca. I could talk to
you all day, but unfortunately we're only a one hour
radio show before I let you go, and I'm hoping
Jamie McKay will check to you regulately so we can
get to know more about your farming operation and your
place in the influencer world in the UK. Just finally
(06:39):
New Zealand coming over here to visit, coming over here
to farm. Is it on your back at list at all?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Oh? Do you know what? I absolutely wish I'd done
it after university, and any of your listeners who are farming,
they know how hard it is to get that time away.
I'd absolutely love to go, and my fiance has just
been using the military. He was over for a few
months in well Burnham and he had an absolutely amazing
time and he'd call me and say I've seen this
(07:08):
bit of kit in the fields or I've been to
this place. So he's made me even more keen to
visit and I'd absolutely love to. I've just got to
sweet talk my parents for a bit of time off. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yeah, always the hardest part of farming. I was really lucky.
I managed to spend a carving in Ireland and then
a season in Wales and absolutely loved it. But again
it was just when we were starting out at farming careers,
so that was the only time really to be able
to do that. Rebecca Wilson, UK farmer and influencer, really
(07:39):
appreciate your time making your debut on the country. As
I was saying, I love chatting to you and I
hope we get to ched again soon.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Thank you so much.
Today we're crossing homospheres for a bit of a farming
catch up. I'm thrilled to be joined by one of
the UK's rising stars in the angriy influencer world, Rebecca Wilson.
She's a farmer, a passionate advocate for rural life, and
she's built up a mess of following by sharing the real,
raw and often hilarious side of life on the land,
from sheep dogs to sila. She's putting British farming on
(00:23):
the map in the digital world. Rebecca, Welcome to the show.
Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well, thank you so much for having me in and
what's a welcome really? And I guess the social media
side of farming is is something which is I guess
just building a real amount of traction in the UK
but across the world probably as people get more and
more interested in farming and where their food comes from.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Now, you've just been named in the prestigious list of
the most influential young people under thirty in the UK,
alongside the likes of Caleb Hooper from Clarkson's Farm, who
I absolutely adore as well. How does it happen for
a fifth generation arable shaped farmer from North Yorkshire.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Well, it's a good question. I don't actually know the
answer because when I was first contacted was it was
completely out of the blue. But as I said, I
it's I think it's all about farming getting a place
on the map in mainstream media in a way that
perhaps we haven't seen, you know, in you know ten
years ago or twenty years ago, and social media and
(01:33):
programs like Clarkson's Farmer are making should we say farming,
I don't want to say making farming sexy, but I
think that's what's happening. And I'm so proud to be
part of an industry where and it's the same for
farmers across the world. We're striving, you know, in animal welfare,
we're striving to be as sustainable as possible. I mean,
(01:55):
we're definitely up against it, you know, in the financial
element and making our business is profitable. But people want
to know where their food comes from, and to hear
it from the horse's mouth, to hear it from the
people who are on the ground actually looking after those animals,
actually sitting on tractors and looking after crops. I think
it's brilliant and yeah, I'm so proud to be a
(02:16):
part of it.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Now you've actually got quite a rural Pew degree and
you have done a lot of work and university space
in this. Just actually go back and steep and tell
us a bit about your background.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So you might it's what kind of varied and it's
probably not that well trodden for people who perhaps have
a farm in the family. Because I was very much
encouraged to go away and do something different, perhaps learn
something beyond the farming industry. And well I'm twenty nine now,
so going back to when you're making the decisions of university,
you know, it's over ten years ago and I actually
(02:54):
went off to the University of Cambridge and I studied
for my undergraduate in human social and political sciences, so
completely unrelated to farming. But I think looking back, that
was almost the first exposure for me to people who
really haven't grown up in the countryside at all, and
(03:14):
you know, interesting in conversations but actually people were interested
in farming to some extent, but nowhere near now. You know,
the conversations now have been sparked so much by what
people see line you know, Instagram and other platforms. But
I did decide that I wanted to go back into
something agricultural after that undergraduates, so I did study for
(03:36):
a masters at the Royal Agricultural University and that was
in land management, and that got me back, I guess,
to probably where I was always going to go to
end up. I did a job as a rural surveyor,
I did a job as a project manager in the
poultry sector, and then due to actually family illness, I
came back to the farm full time four years ago.
(03:59):
And I mean it's a bit cliche to say, but
I've never really looked back and I'm so grateful to
be doing the job I'm doing now.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Obviously, there's been a lot of talk coming out of
the UK around the Labor Government's inheritance text as a
fifth generation on the family farm, you know, what is
the implication for you? Where do you stand on the meta?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Gosh, well, it's been it's been such a turbulent time
and I know that across well, across the world in general,
it's quite a scary time with conflicts, you know, that
geopolitical landscape. But to bring it back home when the
inheritance tax changes were first announced, and of course if
people don't know farming property got a relief. We were
(04:43):
exempt from inheritance tax, which that was basically our succession planning.
The fact that we could pass farmland down to the
next generation almost protected the farm and insulated us when
actually we haven't been that profitable. There hasn't been that
cash in the business to pay you know, bills of
well for us on the farm at home, we'd be
looking at a million pounds inheritance tax bill, which is
(05:07):
just eyewatering to think that that's on your shoulders. So
when all the news came out, I mean, we've had
all the motions across the industry, devastation, anger, frustration, and
I've been pretty vocal about it, both on my social media,
but also any opportunity that I've had, perhaps to speak
to mainstream media, on the news, on the telly, I've
also taken those opportunities. I think farmers are worried because
(05:30):
it feels like an anti farming agenda. In general, it
feels like the government is not prioritizing food production. And
for me, you know, food security is national security. It's
a phrase which has been used before, but I think
also for farmers and generational farmers and family farmers but
you know, even new entrants and first generation farmers, it
(05:54):
feels like we could lose that connection to a landscape
which is based on producing food. It's based on the
habitats we create alongside food, and if we lose that,
we really do lose that. For Reverend, there's been many promises,
promise is broken by the government, and I think farmers
need stability like any business, we need stability to have
(06:16):
confidence for the future.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Yeah. Yeah, I can't believe or begin to imagine what
you're going through over there, Ribecca. I could talk to
you all day, but unfortunately we're only a one hour
radio show before I let you go, and I'm hoping
Jamie McKay will check to you regulately so we can
get to know more about your farming operation and your
place in the influencer world in the UK. Just finally
(06:39):
New Zealand coming over here to visit, coming over here
to farm. Is it on your back at list at all?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Oh? Do you know what? I absolutely wish I'd done
it after university, and any of your listeners who are farming,
they know how hard it is to get that time away.
I'd absolutely love to go, and my fiance has just
been using the military. He was over for a few
months in well Burnham and he had an absolutely amazing
time and he'd call me and say I've seen this
(07:08):
bit of kit in the fields or I've been to
this place. So he's made me even more keen to
visit and I'd absolutely love to. I've just got to
sweet talk my parents for a bit of time off. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yeah, always the hardest part of farming. I was really lucky.
I managed to spend a carving in Ireland and then
a season in Wales and absolutely loved it. But again
it was just when we were starting out at farming careers,
so that was the only time really to be able
to do that. Rebecca Wilson, UK farmer and influencer, really
(07:39):
appreciate your time making your debut on the country. As
I was saying, I love chatting to you and I
hope we get to ched again soon.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Thank you so much.
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