Full Circle Growing Jo & Charles Mear

Today we're looking at one of the world's oldest sectors: Farming.  Specifically how it's updating itself for the 21st Century.

We spoke to Jo and Charles Mear, egg farmers from Full Circle Growing, who have been farming for over 2 decades and recently launched the UK's first AI-powered Insect mini-farm.

Farming is inherently entrepreneurial and in this episode you'll hear terms that wouldn't be out of place at any UK startup: product-market fit, concerns on marketing, adapting to shifting consumer trends, thinking how to retain shelf space in supermarkets and more.

The future of agriculture is tech - and there are so many examples of British entrepreneurship and innovation happening right across this sector.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with the National Farmers Union, which represents over 50,000 farmers across the UK.  I'm speaking at their annual conference and will have another episode from there in a few weeks about how British farmers are continuing to innovate. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Their routes into the world of work.

• What running the UK’s first AI-powered insect mini-farm actually looks like.

• What they thought when the opportunity for an AI-powered farm presented itself.

• What sort of sounds a chicken can make (really!).

• The challenges of running an AI farm.

• Impact on the quality of the livestock as a result.

• Why aren’t more farmers using it yet?

• How can listeners support British farmers?

• Farms becoming more self-reliant.

• Farming during the pandemic.

• Impact of Clarkson's farm in terms of people appreciating farming more.

• Working as a husband and wife team.

• The future of British farming.

• The role of the NFU.