Just Farmers is a Community Interest Company that enables farmers to use their voice, for positive change in UK farming

 

• We offer fully-funded Media Education workshops to individual farmers and growers with the aim of building confidence and communication skills at the grassroots of British agriculture. (See more about how this works on our FAQs page)

• And we build connections between farmers and the media; helping journalists and programme makers find independent farmer case studies and industry commentators to talk to. (See more about how this works on our FAQs page)

The long-term impact we want to see at Just Farmers is a more open and constructive relationship between farmers and the general public, via print, broadcast, online and social media, based on the contacts and professional relationships that we help to build.

Just Farmers is a unique and pioneering communications project that works. There is nothing else like it. We are non-political and we do not lobby or speak on behalf of the wider industry.

 

Why is there a need for us?

Farming is one of the most misunderstood jobs in modern society. To some, it seems an idyllic way of life. To others, it looks cruel and destructive.

The problem is that the public perception of an entire industry is often worlds away from the everyday reality on individual farms. This is because:

1. Many farmers see journalists as a threat, believing there is an anti-farming agenda working against them.
2. It’s not always easy for journalists to find good talkers without a wider agenda, and negotiating access on to farms can be tricky.

We believe that by bridging the divide between the agricultural industry and urban media, we can give the consumer a greater understanding of where their food comes from, as well as the challenges that we all face around food security.

 

Our impact so far...

So far, we have 108 farmers in our network, who represent a diverse mix across UK agriculture. Between them, they have had more than 1000 regional, national and international media appearances and some are now major influencers on social media.

Through our work we are bridging the disconnect between the most overlooked cultural division in modern society; the divide between town and country.

 

- Our team - 

Anna Jones, Founder

Just Farmers was set up in 2018 by freelance journalist and broadcaster Anna Jones. A farmer’s daughter from the Welsh Borders, Anna works as a Producer/Director and occasional presenter on rural affairs television and radio programmes including BBC One's Countryfile, Radio 4's Farming Today, On Your Farm, Costing the Earth and The Archers. She is currently working as a Producer on the upcoming Channel 4 series Matt Baker's Farm of a Lifetime. Anna has reported on agricultural issues for BBC News and the World Service and has written for The Guardian, Countryfile Magazine, Farmers Guardian and Farmers Weekly. Her first book 'Divide: The Relationship Crisis Between Town and Country' was published by Kyle Books in 2022.

The idea for Just Farmers was sparked by Anna's research for a Nuffield Farming Scholarship in 2016/17, which looked at the coverage of agriculture in news and current affairs around the world. She discovered a deep disconnect between farming communities and the mainstream, predominantly urban media - driven mostly by a lack of trust and transparency. Anna wants to give farmers the skills and confidence to step forward and share their stories, while helping colleagues in the media build more contacts in rural areas.

As well as delivering the workshops, Anna runs the Introduction to Radio session in workshop two.

 

Emily Davies, Managing Editor

As a farmer's daughter, Emily's first experience with the media came at the age of three, when she and her family were filmed by ITV for an educational programme about farming. Catching the media bug early, Emily's career began in television drama at the age of 21 as a runner on BBC's Life on Mars. She then worked as Production Secretary on CBBC's Summerhill before taking a more permanent role as Script Coordinator for BBC's Holby City. Feeling the need to do something more creative within the industry, Emily began working for ITV Central, where she retrained as a journalist, eventually becoming News Editor for ITV Central Tonight. She then spent a number of years working as Digital Editor for ITV News, Good Morning Britain, Lorraine and This Morning.

Enjoying the fast pace and creativity of digital media, Emily stepped away from journalism and into marketing, managing the social media channels for ITV, ITV2, ITV4 and ITVBe and has since worked with a variety of brands including BT TV, Guide Dogs, adidas, Aviva, Barratt Homes and Maersk as a digital marketing specialist.

Returning to her farming roots, Emily began working for Just Farmers in October 2021 as Project Editor, and in July 2023 became Just Farmers' first ever Managing Editor. Emily believes that the way that we communicate plays a vital role in shaping our perceptions, attitudes and understanding and that when we master the art of communication, we can make a positive impact on the world around us, which is something she champions as a Mental Health First Aider. As well as helping to deliver the workshops, Emily runs a session on social media in workshop two.

 

- Our Media Educators - 

Alex Price - Filming on your Smartphone and Content Creation

Alex is a seasoned Broadcast Producer/Director and Camera Operator with over 20 years in the television industry. He has worked with major broadcasters such as BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Channel 5, and Discovery Channel, contributing to popular programs like Countryfile, Gardener's World, Big Brother, The One Show, and Doctor Who: Comic Relief Special. Recently, he worked on the award-winning Channel 4 series George Clarke's Amazing Spaces.

As the founder of Down to Earth Media, Alex leads a digital coaching and filmmaking company that inspires and unlocks creative potential through digital storytelling and confidence-building. The company offers tailored workshops and comprehensive filmmaking services, with a focus on Sustainability, Community, Agriculture, and Nutrition.

Alex is also key member of the Just Farmers initiative and has been there from the very start, teaching farmers to create and edit videos on their smartphones for social media. He believes that with the right guidance and a few insider tricks, everyone can produce compelling films using their phones, telling their own stories authentically.

 

Clare Hargreaves - Taking the Fear Out of Writing

Clare may not have been born on a farm, but she's never happier than when wearing her wellies. Her career as a journalist and linguist has taken her all over the world, including stints as a correspondent for Reuters in Paris, writing a book on the cocaine trade in South America, making a documentary about General Franco for BBC1, and researching Jonathan Dimbleby's biography of the Prince of Wales.

Over the past two decades she has focused on British food and farming while writing for BBC Countryfile Magazine, The Telegraph, the i, BBC Good Food, Olive, and National Trust magazine. She's covered a range of subjects from lambing to watercress farming, and over the past few years has examined the issue of food security by setting herself the challenge of eating just British food. During lockdown she studied horticulture while living on a farm in Devon, where she now lives full-time.

Clare's Just Farmers workshops aim to take the fear out of writing, whether that's websites, newsletters, blogs, articles or leaflets. Sharing tricks of the trade learned over several decades of writing professionally, she shows farmers how to tell their stories compellingly and in a language that's accessible to a wide audience.  

 

Peter Taylor - How TV is Made

Peter has an extensive and varied career that combines TV production, teaching, and farming - a great fit for Just Farmers!

Over his career in TV, Peter worked on various programmes including Countryfile, Coast, and The One Show. His TV career began as a Researcher for BBC News and Current Affairs, working on show such as Panorama, before he moved to work for Countryfile, where his love and passion for the countryside and rural life really set in. He soon moved up to being a TV director and producer, where he would write, shoot and edit films, working with presenters and contributors all over the country. He loved the challenge of simplifying stories and making even complex films accessible and enjoyable. 

Peter also has a great interest in helping and teaching others. He is a qualifed teacher and really enjoys showing others how the intricacies of TV work. Not only that, he has recently decided to move with his family to Derbyshire, where he plans to keep livestock, grow flowers and live well on the family's small farm. Peter loves helping others learn, and really embraces the idea of promoting the whole farming community through the idea of Just Farmers. 

 

Ben Eagle - Introduction to Podcasting

As a farmer's son, Ben has had a lifelong love of the outdoors and his career has spanned farming, conservation and the media. Ben studied environmental history at the University of Bristol and volunteered for Avon Wildlife Trust and Bristol City Council before joining Essex Wildlife Trust on their education team, as well as working on his family farm for a number of years. He also holds a post graduate diploma in agriculture from the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester. 

In 2016 Ben started one of the first farming podcasts in the UK - Meet the Farmers - and has since produced more than 600 podcast episodes for various rural brands and organisations, he now runs RuralPod Media, the only podcast production company to specialise in the rural sector. Ben joined the Just Farmers Media Educator team in 2022, delivering podcast workshops to farmers who are challenged to produce their own podcast; taking farmers through every step involved in making a podcast, showing them how to create content that is both engaging and informative.