Latest / Drone As The Future / Kaleb Cooper Modern Technology and Young Farmers: Q&A at Cereals 2026 on Diddly Squat Farms | Episode 7
Transcript
- Kaleb Cooper (00:00) We need a farmer three times a day. Farming's changing, like you say with drones and of all the AI stuff. You see it all coming in and of course the average age of a farmer's like sixty five. They're not gonna wanna change. 'Cause it'll happen one day. You just gotta have that one thing in your head and that's dreams don't work unless you do. So yeah. Mark Masterton (00:15) Quick note before we get into this one, this episode inverts. Our normal style for something completely different. We explore the world of farming way more than we usually do, and there's a good reason for that. Our sponsors, Drone as a Service, flew us out to England to host a chat with one of the biggest stars in the young farmer space, Mr. Caleb Cooper. Now, if that name doesn't ring a bell, he's the farm manager who went from working quietly behind the scenes to becoming a genuine household name to Prime Video's hit show, Clarkson's Farm. And he's since turned that into sold-out live tours, best-selling books, and a small army of people who Who now have very strong opinions about combine harvesters. Drones are changing a lot about how farms like his operate, so it felt like exactly the right conversation to have. So without further ado, here's that chat. Drone as the future is made in partnership with Drone as a Service. Make your survey, mapping, or inspections safer, faster, and more efficient with the help of our team. Elevate what's possible with droneasaservice.com. Hello, everybody. Good afternoon. Thanks for coming. I'm Mark Masterton. I'm host of the Drone as the Future podcast. we talk about everything drones and we talk to all sorts of experts. but this is our first time diving into farming. Craig sat next to me, Craig Thackerberry is a Irish agritech professional with over twenty years of experience in the dairy sector. and now he's bridging the gap between traditional farming and precision drone technology with drone as a service. I know you're all waiting for us to get to the main event, but just a second. next up we've got Jack Saunders. He's a fifth generation dairy and beef and arable farmer in Oxfordshire, farming just over seven hundred and twenty hectares. He and his father run a farm that's been in their family for over ninety eight years, so a big anniversary coming up soon. And their focus has been on organic for forty four years now, which is a massive core belief of theirs. he's also heavily involved in the Young Farmers Club and stands as Oxfordshire County Chairman. Of that at the moment. Last but not least, you might recognise him. he's fresh from filming his very own TV show in Australia. Chippy's very own diddly squat farm manager and Clarkson's farm breakout star. Mr Caleb Cooper. speaker-2 (02:40) Thank you everybody. Kaleb Cooper (02:43) No, I liked that intro. That's a good intro that, wasn't it? Let's just tell Jeremy that a few times, can we? Mark Masterton (02:49) I wanted to before we get into the thicker things, I did want to say congratulations on child number three as well. More hands on the farm. Kaleb Cooper (02:56) Yeah, no, I'm I'm an easy carving bull. And and the other half's a Frisian, she melts like a trooper. No, yeah, yeah, baby number three, I mean he's he's he's nearly ten months now. I've got three kids, they're just feral farm kids. I mean like Oscar who's five is tract obsessed. Where Willow's three today actually. And she doesn't really care to be honest actually. She knows she'll do twenty minutes and then go, Right, I'm done. And I respect that. Mark Masterton (02:58) Ha ha. Kaleb Cooper (03:25) And and then little Ashton, who's ten months old, so he just literally sits in the corner smiling. third baby syndrome, isn't it? Mark Masterton (03:32) Yeah, exactly. are we all caught up on Clarkson's Farm? Episode three and four? Kaleb Cooper (03:37) I think no I think no, one, two, three, four's out, and I think five and six are out today. Mark Masterton (03:42) well. I didn't have time this morning, but the ones that I did see saw you and Jeremy go to the Netherlands to check out lots of autonomous farming, which is quite neatly tied into a first question, which is How do you think modern technology changes day to day life for young farmers? What specific areas do you think it could make the biggest difference? Kaleb Cooper (04:03) Now, I think a lot of people expect me to say that is terrible. And I do think that. But at the same time I think actually in terms of how it's gonna change the young farmers, it's gonna be in a really special way, I think. Because let's face it, if you go and learn about farming in school, of course it'd be great if it's taught in school, but I think we should do that. But more importantly, if you're gonna learn about learn about farming, you have to pick what you want to actually learn about and actually want to do when you're older. Now the good thing about farming is this you can go out there and milk cows twice a day. And enjoy that and that's one of your jobs. Or you can go out there and go, I'm gonna be a nutritionist for cows, or you can go out there and go, sh I wanna be a mechanic, or go out there and be one megonomist. There's so many different types of farming that you can actually do and have a career in. And of course, tech is coming a long way now. And I think it's gonna see a lot more of that. Therefore, we need these students to come through actually are very much IT driven, but again, want to work in farming. Now I'm not very good on computers, I don't even own a computer to be honest with you. And I don't I'm not very good on phone and emails. I don't actually have an email. And well I do, but I just don't look at it. But you know, and I think it's gonna change it in a in a in a special way, I think, actually. And I think a lot more of these kids are gonna have to be more hands on and actually go open an app. I mean German on app is terrible. Do you know what I mean? But actually the younger generation on apps are really good. So therefore a lot more of these youth these these students and these young farmers are gonna have to get on their phones, open the app and maybe move their fence, for example, like we've got over here with the goats, you know, with their electric collars to move their fence. It's easy. Mark Masterton (05:31) Jack, you're kind of in touch with younger farmers as well. Are you seeing them adopt tech in a bigger way these days? Yeah, I'd I'd bounce on the same sort of idea as Caleb, to be fair. I think it's it's really clear seeing the amount of tech that's coming out there now. looking an area I'm specifically interested in is down the unfortunately not so much the drone route, but the more the robot weeders. I think that could be a real game changer in in the industry. And for me that's something that the younger generation, as we know, are a lot better on tech than the old generation. So they it's s sort of thing they could really grasp and run with. So yeah, I think there's a lot of promising stuff happening out there that suit suit that generation. There's there was a lot of tech that we saw in that episode three, I think it was, of this season of Clarkson's Farm. There was the floating cheese factory. And then there was also drones that were spreading fertilizer on the fields, but they They do a lot more than that in terms of farming, don't they, Craig? Yeah, I suppose that's kind of the whole area drones of services in now. We've we have a a service that we can bring the technology side of it easily to farmers. So we here today at Serials we'll see there's a lot of new technology. there's plenty of drone providers. We actually have the service that makes it very easy for farmers to utilize it. so we can have the the the the drones, the pilots, all the the various types of licenses and requirements needed there and actually get the what we're working with now at the minute is the data that we can capture from these drones. And to bring it back to the young farmer side, there's so many decisions needed to be made on farm now, whether it's agronomy decisions, decisions for environmental schemes, that type of thing, it's getting all that data together, being able to utilize it in a way that's actually not just stuck back in the drawer after the draw the drone does the does the flight. And we're we're creating these prescription rate maps that f farmers they know all about and they've heard about them, but probably wasn't as easy to access beforehand. So with the drone the drones service system now, it's just getting this this technology that's out there and is very available for people, just that the ease of access for it is is our kind of area that we we we we focus on. Now you you've been on this farm for many years, Caleb. looking back over the many years is what's been the most rewarding moment for you working here? Kaleb Cooper (08:01) I mean I've been here for ten years now, believe it or not. the most rewarding part of it was when Jeremy wasn't here farming with me. I mean that's unfair. I mean he's getting better, he's getting better, but I mean the most rewarding part for me actually is this. And an average farm this day and age, there's only two people on it normally. And that is the farmer and maybe the farmer's wife, for example, and maybe the kids, but they're always at school. And I feel very lucky. Mark Masterton (08:09) Ha ha ha. Kaleb Cooper (08:28) To be able to on this farm here, Deadly Squat, and have Yeser K, myself and Jeremy, as well as Charlie, Gerald, Lisa, and all of a sudden we've got this whole film crew following us around and they're part of the team. So therefore I don't just let spend all my time on my own on this farm. I have the whole twenty film crew, for example, plus Jeremy, Charlie, Lisa and and so on. So I feel very lucky. And it I mean, as a reward to me, it is it's it's an amazing place to work and I get on with everybody and I love everybody and and they're all my bike best friends. I probably see them more than I do my own kids to be honest, weirdly. But you know, it it's a great place to work and of course I feel very honoured to have cereals here 'cause normally I get a little bit nervous when it's up in Lincolnshire and go that's a long way from home. You know, and I know I've been to Australia now and I did get a few nosebleeds, but it you know, it was more the fact that actually i it's on my doorstep and I can actually have my contracting stand here, for example. Which I've grown in from a young age and and it it's great. It's a great place to be. Mark Masterton (09:25) Still a bit of jet lag coming back from Australia? 'Cause you were just into the time zone in Holland the other day and that was a bit tough in the car. Kaleb Cooper (09:31) Well, after being in Holland I didn't I didn't I wouldn't say I wouldn't I wouldn't didn't understand jet lag. I didn't believe in it. I thought it was all a myth, it's all in your head. Anyway, I went over to Australia and I landed and I was like, This is fine, why does everyone saying they got jet lag? I'm like I'm raring to go, let me get on that combine. Coming back, holy fuck. I couldn't think, I couldn't speak, I was mumbling my words. Taylor, my other half was like, Are you okay? And I was like, I don't know. I had jet lag for two weeks. It was awful. What's that about? Mark Masterton (10:03) god. Looking after three kids as well. I mean jet lags. Kaleb Cooper (10:08) I mean I'm very honor I'm very lucky to have Taylor because I mean like honestly, I mean I did I did six weeks over in Australia filming for Amazon and I feel again I feel very honoured to to be able to do that because when Series One of Clarkson's Farm came out I gained a million followers in the day that it released and I sat there and I was like right okay I've got all these emails of doing certain things and I was a little bit like what do I do? you know anyway I went and sat with Jeremy and I said, What do I do? I've got a million followers, I'm getting asked asked to do this, I'll have to do that and he said to me, he said two things he Caleb you Two options here. And he said this you go for the longevity in TV. You go out there, you make the right decisions, don't say yes to everything. Or and and then eventually have a long career, have your own TV show, for example. Or you go out there, you take all the money possible, say yes to all the brand deals, say yes to everything, take every freebie possible. And I never ever take a freebie. Anyway, I sat there and I went, Well, what what am I doing? He went, No, no, don't think of it now, tell me tomorrow. Next day come round, I didn't sleep that night thinking. And I went back the next day and he said, What do you think then? I said, I'm gonna go for the longevity and hopefully one day I'll have my own T V show on Amazon. And he said, I knew I'd choose the right person to work alongside me on this show. And I can never forget his smile when he said that. And of course, that was six years ago. Six years later, we're filming Clarkson Farm Series Six right now, but on all the seasons of course. I've got four books out. I've do I've got a bursary, which I've got a big announcement later on happening. And more importantly, Amazon turned to me and went, We wanna give you your own T V show and I went, Really? And they Yeah. I went, You know what? I wanna go to Australia And that's where it would come from. And all of a sudden I filmed my own T V show for Amazon, which is gonna be hopefully on a later on this year. So it I feel very honoured and I'm very lucky and I'm very thankful for everyone that's actually given me this opportunity. So thank you everybody for coming today. Mark Masterton (12:00) It it sounds like you got a lot on your plate, on top of all the farming and everything else, and you've been very open about talking about mental health in farming and how that affects young farmers, particularly young people. why is that something that you feel so strongly about and how is your experience shaped around that? Kaleb Cooper (12:17) Can't I don't really talk about my own experience but and I think it's really important to talk. I think I I mean as a contractor I probably visit fifty, sixty farms a year, maybe even more, I don't know, you know, but every time I sit on that farm, every single person's different and I think I see that farm in a different way that no one else does. And I think my job as a contractor now, I've now realised. My job as a contractor is to distress the farmer. And that's a hard thing to do. But just say yes to everything. If they want the most impossible job doing, you just say yes to it. And that's what I do, I think. And that is what my job is as a contractor, go out there and make sure there's no stress on that farmer's head. And as doing that, talk about the stress. You know, I talk there to the farmer and speak to him. A lot of my customers are here today and it's awesome. You know, and I just sat there and talk and talk and talk. And of course, as I sit there and realise that actually, we just gotta keep talking. So it's really important to ring your friend up, ring your neighbour and go, What percentage are you today? And they're gonna go, What do you mean? What my my lamin percentage is? Well, you you go, No, no. What percentage are you today? And if they say they're fifty percent, ask why they're not a hundred. And just talk. You know, and I know a lot of people don't like talking about this stuff, but it's really important. It's really important. And I think I don't think I've ever suffered with mental health. I'm very lucky and I'm very positive and thought and positive minded, but I do spend sixteen hours or eighteen hours in a tractor some days and my mind goes from different places to different places. My song choice is probably My playlist is a very weird one. For example, I'll go very romantic in the morning, like Love Story from Taylor Swift or something, for example. And all of a sudden I'll go to then for example, maybe Life is a Highway, yeah, a little bit of motivational stuff going. And then I go into Akon and I'll be smacking that and I just go, What what's going on? you know? You know, it's a it's a it's a it's a journey in my tractor, that's for sure. Mark Masterton (13:58) I did see you at Akon the other day, was that good? Kaleb Cooper (14:00) yeah, Akon was very good. I did go to a I I was the only person in the concert in Birmingham wearing a shuffle and a checkered shirt and some dealer boots. Everybody else was in tracksuit bottoms. Mark Masterton (14:11) Did you get a selfie with Kaleb Cooper (14:13) Weirdly not. I sat with everybody else before anyone said anything, I sat with everybody else, had a great time and and left quite quickly. Mark Masterton (14:22) Jack, as chairman of the Young Farmers, what's your experience with mental health these days and farmers? Are they talking more? I I think they are. There's certainly a lot more support developing in the in and around the agricultural industry. it's it has with s especially with the way that dare say the government have been lately. the the way yeah, the government support lately has been somewhat slightly lacking. and that along with the pressures that we all know farmers have had over the last ten, fifteen years, it doesn't seem to be looking to be getting any easier. there is definitely an improvement in people talking out there and it's great it's great to see. there's definitely more room for improvement even still. but yeah, in the in the young farmers industry, so many people are talking more and and I think what people are realising is when they If someone is having a bad day and they do open up and ring a mate and speak to someone, they're also potentially stro it gets everyone talking. And I think I think that's definitely something that's been realised around the industry. That it's you're not al you really aren't alone. and that yeah, that's that I think that goes a long way to to supporting people. Problem shared is a problem halved. Yeah. Greg, you've worked in dairy for over twenty years on farms. what's it been like for you dealing with all that? Yeah, I suppose it's d plenty time in the parlor was great. You had milk the cows, it's a very simple part of it. Twice a day, used to look forward to it. but I suppose it's the the pressure of making so many decisions, whether it's on that was dairy farming, there was decisions every day to be made, whether it's grazing plans, animal health, thinking further down the line of weather and kind of different pressures that are coming on to you. The on farm stuff was part of it. I suppose it was some of the the off farm pressures too, kind of environmental schemes, paperwork. If you kept up to date with it, it would have been fine, but it was always left to the last minute and a bit more added pressure there for the the last the the push, I suppose all right. and I kinda to bring it back to some of our our own drones of service stuff, Caleb even mentioned de stressing. so We kinda h we're looking to help farmers to make decisions that little bit easier for them. So whether it is just doing working with their ergonomist, good n on a cereal crop, getting out and doing a multispectral crop health analysis, it covers all the field. When you have a sit down with your ergonomist to make your own decisions, you have all the information in front of you. that's again my own situation was having the information in front of you, made not having it, I suppose would have been the made things trickier on those daily decisions. so Even the s little things like that that the the drone services can actually help de stress, as c as Cable said there. Caleb said, it's takes one little more decision halved, kinda using that data, but then hopefully working with a professional then as well with your own trusted agronomist or someone like that that makes all those day to day decisions that little bit easier. so and speaking to farmers back in Ireland more so I suppose that it's It's kind of just having the the extra data and it's not the data that you you collect and looked at and shove in the in the in the drawer. It's actually taking out and using it and making the best use of it. Caleb, what do you think are the biggest challenges young farmers are facing right now and how can the industry better support them, do you think? Kaleb Cooper (18:04) I think the biggest challenges a f a young farmer's probably facing isn't is sitting there going, Is there a future in farming? And I think that's what they all sit there going, Is there actually a future? And I And if anyone says that to me and asks me, Caleb, is there a future in farming? I'm gonna say yes, of course there is 'cause let's face it, we need a farmer three times a day We need to eat breakfast, lunch or dinner. You know what I mean? So therefore there's gonna actually be a job there. You just gotta one, pick what you want to do and try and change it. And I think actually change is coming more. I think This day and age is changing. The farming's changing. Like you say with drones and of all the AI stuff. You see it all coming in. And of course, the average age of a farmer's like sixty five, they're not gonna wanna change. I mean I still spread f I still spread for for farmers that go, just put that muck heap on that field. And I'm going, Why don't we weigh it out nicely and spread it nicely across your field? They go, No, no, why would you do that? Put that on that and let me know when you're done. You know? And that's what they do, but of course that's that's the way they've stuck in their way. You know, they've been farming They've been farming that they've watched their grant farm, they've watched their dad farm, and then or their mum and their dad, you know, and then and then all of a sudden they go, that's the way we must do it. But actually, this day and a change is coming. I young farmers have got to sit there and go, change is coming. Maybe that's the biggest challenge they've got. Actually going, I'm not gonna follow my dad or my mum. I'm actually gonna do my own thing and have a go at this. I've got a great friend who took the farm on. He's here today. His name's Joan, and he he's basically he lives in Wales, and he's a great friend of mine, and he took the farm on from his mum and dad, and they had cows and sheep. That's all it they now he could have kept farming cows and sheep and maybe just maybe just breaking into the green on the on the bank, for example. But he went out there and went, you what, I'm gonna invest a million pound into a chicken shed and he put thirty-two thousand chickens in this shed and now he's supplying eggs and it's paid off for him. But of course he works very hard for that. And all of a sudden it the reward pays off and sometimes you're gonna make a decision and you might fail. But it's never ever failing. Never fail at anything. What it is is a learning curve. For example, when I was fourteen years old I bought twenty five goldfish. Had the idea of going knock on a farmer's door and see if my goldfish can clean their water troughs. Guess what happened? A heron coming and ate all. Do you know what I mean? It's not it's not it's not failing. I learn. Don't do it. Don't buy goldfish. They just die. Or a bird comes and eats So it's you it's i that's probably the biggest, you know, things they fear they they face in this day and age. Mark Masterton (20:25) same to you, Jack, as well. I mean, you've been working on your your dad's farm as well, now your farm as well. Have have you had a bit of pushback from dad on these new techniques, bringing them in? How does that work for you? I I wouldn't actually say I have to be fair to him. He's he's been very progressive. he's ba he's backed a lot of what we've done. There's there's a lot more I want to do, but I've got to be a bit realistic and do little bits at a time. I think certainly for the younger people, there is so much like Caleb says, so much changing that the younger people can jump on the bandwagon of and farming they can't look at the farming light as what it was twenty years ago because it's so different looking forward now. And they if they can jump on that and run with that, like Caleb said, they're never gonna fail. Farming will always be here in some sort of a light. Just Embrace what they can, take on what they yeah, get involved as they can and and and run with it. Totally. Drone as the future is made in partnership with drone as a service. Make your survey, mapping, or inspections safer, faster, and more efficient with the help of our team. Elevate what's possible with drone as a service.com. Craig, have you found people to be to be quite open to adopting new techniques over in Ireland where you are based? Yeah, I suppose we've been lucky enough. the people we've been talking to, and we would attended a couple of events like this as well, and we always we get people of all ages coming up and speaking to us. I suppose the the in depth conversations we have are with both older farmers that they they kind of would say, yeah, that's that's the future. They kind of see that that's the way things are going, I suppose the way they say it. So we kinda have a conversation about how easy it is, the what they can do for them. That's what the the younger the younger farmer we speak to then, they kind of might have a a more inept kind of knowledge of what's the the technology itself. So we can talk through all that. But yeah, no, it's it's definitely been picked up a bit more by younger farmers and even speaking to farmers, we are finding that there's a lot more of the younger generation are starting to take over farms that are they kind of see the the the toil, the the hardship that probably what's been done for years on the farm, doing little things, whether it's on a the grass measurement side, kind of utilizing the the data that you collect up to make the decisions easier. So what might have been a a grazing plan to go where paddock one today, paddock two to where they're actually out measuring and seeing where the the best place it is is is for the cows to go. but it's all comes back to that that farm's a tough job that financially it's a tough job. So these kind of better efficiencies and things that we can help with as well, but in general the the better efficiencies needed on these farms is kind of forcing the the next generation to utilise the technology that is there and and kind of y it's now it's it's easier to use. Kaleb Cooper (23:31) I'm surprised the Irish farmers are moving forward and getting drones, isn't that saying? Is it no smoke, no poke or something like that? They love an old an old John Deere and a slap it into the gear, you know what I Double clutch and everything, you know? Mark Masterton (23:46) Caleb, have you got yeah, I mean you tried the goldfish, it didn't work, but you kept persisting and you've got pretty far I'd say. but would you have a piece of advice for a young farmer out there who's come to today's talk about getting into farming and what would be your your biggest piece of advice for them? Kaleb Cooper (24:04) Yeah, I've got I probably got a couple in terms of if you're setting up your own business, a young farm, but more importantly, maybe trying to get into the industry. So any kids out there that that may be trying to get into the industry and I'll do this. Now, the way I got my first job was simply by going knocking on a farmer's door. I knocked on fifteen doors. On the sixteenth door, they gave me a job. He paid me a pound an hour. I worked the weekend and there's sixteen hours. On the end of the Sunday, I went, Can I have my money please? He gave me a twenty pound note. I went, my god, I've made it. Then he turned to me and went, Can I have my four pound change, please? And I went, okay, and that's what I got. So in terms of what I would say to this is do that exact thing. Now I know for a young farmer, you're gonna knock on that door, and every single farmer, and if you're a farmer here, I know you're what you're gonna say. If a young farmer knocks on your door and say, Can I have a job, you're gonna say no. Because the straight away you worry about how you're gonna pay that person. And then all of a sudden you worry about health and safety and having enough time to actually teach that young student, for example. But actually, if you keep go out there as a young farmer, just after volunteer, the farmer will go okay. And at the end of the week, they're honest people. I've not met a dishonest farmer. Well I have. I just don't go back there. You'll know the which one's a witch. But more importantly, at the end of that week, that farmer will give you maybe some eggs, maybe some milk, maybe a little bit of money if you're really lucky. And therefore that's your way in, just volunteering. And I think if you're gonna set up a business in in this in this day and age, I started with chickens, three chickens, my thirteenth birthday. I'd probably do this. Maybe try and buy a lawnmower and just go to Mowbibles Lawns. But more importantly, if it's the winter months, I would get a bucket. I'd get a shovel, I'll go to the council bin, you know, the salt bin. I would fill my bucket up, I would walk round your local town and throw salt on people's drives, knock on the door, before they don't even ask them to do it. Don't ask them, because then I'll say no. If you do the job, then you go and get the money. Do you know what I mean? That's what I would do, and that's what that's what I would do. That's what maybe that's what I do now. But anyway, but you know, go and nick go and take some salt. No nick it. Take some salt from the council. And just simply go and salt people's drives and all of a sudden that little bit of twenty pound, ten pound, five pound, no matter what it is, put it under your mattress. Save up for something bigger, but don't go too big too quickly. I started with a case international thirteen ninety-four. Now I started small to get myself to eight tractors now to where I am now, you know? Don't go and get a finance plan. Don't get stuck in this little hole where you want a big tractor and a new tractor because it's all amazing. Get something with a little manual lever. Get something that you could potentially fix yourself if you can't afford someone else to fix it for you. And start small to get big. It'll happen one day. You just gotta have that one thing in your head and that's dreams don't work unless you do. So yeah. Mark Masterton (26:37) I'd like to open out some questions to the audience they might have for Caleb or anybody here as well. But also Jack, do you have any advice for young farmers out there? I again, Caleb is very good at this. He's He's done it a few times. He has. yeah Like like he said, I think get get involved. I think with my my young farmers head on, get involved with the Elopa Young Farmers Clubs. You get surrounded by like minded people. you get into those rural communities and you get to know farmers that might potentially open a door for you. and by by doing that that gives you a way in. And like Halo said, don't try and run before you can walk. Give yourself time, learn everything, whether it's an part of the agricultural industry you're interested in or not, because there's a lot of correlations between. And understand as much as you can. So that when you go to make that step to go off on your own or go into a full time job, it's not a shot in the dark. It's it's something it's an educated decision and that's then something that you're able to thrive on and drive and push forward and something you really believe in and know a lot about. And Craig, same one to you. How did you first get into farming and what would you say to someone trying to get into it today? Yeah, I suppose I was very lucky it would have growing up on a dairy farm, so it was always dairy farm and I kinda wanted to go do and the farming lifestyle was very appealing to me. would have done a lot of education, so would have done four years of university, like science degree, went on a bit further and was working in a research center for a couple of years. So I suppose my bit of advice would be just be technically efficient at your own your own industry, whether that's grassland for the cows or an arable It's just be as informed as you can that the day to day stuff, if you can do your own technical stuff yourself very effectively and you know what you're doing, it just makes the whole job that bit bit easier. so having the right information to hand, having the the knowledge yourself, and goes back to maybe kinda asking for help, just n working with the right people that you don't have to have all that pressure on your own shoulders. so whether it's your advisors or ergonomists or Whatever is gonna lighten the load for yourself, so be technically silent yourselves, but don't be afraid to ask for help. just a quick one before I pass it out to the audience to ask their questions. I've heard that you might be in a a big commercial coming up this summer, ahead of the World Cup fixtures. something to do with beer, I'm not sure. You you might be front and centre. It's just rumors that I've heard. Yeah, there's my my burning question is whether it's coming home. Kaleb Cooper (29:23) I think it's gonna come home, isn't it? But more importantly, I did do I have done a commercial, my first ever commercial where I did my own stunts. Now of course on Clarkson's Farm I all my own stunts, haven't got a stunt double, surprise, surprise. But no we filmed me and Jeremy filmed a a a commercial for Hawkstone which is actually being shown before the England and Croatia game, I think. So on the seventeenth, and it's a good one. I can't say too much, but it's a good one. I I do do a stunt in it. Had a stunt training. You're gonna laugh when it comes out. Mark Masterton (29:55) yeah, like to open it out to the to the audience. I'm not sure if it's gonna be a roaming mic situation. What we'll do quickly is we'll just say a big thank you and round of applause to Mark, Craig, Caleb and Jack. And another big thank you to Drone as a service, our sponsors for this session. And last but not least, Mitchelmore's solicitors for sponsoring the whole of the Young Farmers programme today. Do we have any questions? Yes. Chris Baker from Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. After your disaster with Andy Cato, was it in series two? What are your personal feelings on minimum tillage and regenerative agriculture? Especially as you've just come back from Australia, where in Western Australia planning ploughing is banned. Thank you. Kaleb Cooper (31:01) the question. I didn't go to Western Australia when I was there, but I went to the east side and everything. But my thought is probably this. I mean, is there a part for it? Yeah, I think there is. But I want to say one thing and that is this. You can't farm without an arsehole. Do you know what I And I quite like the fact, you know, we've got a l we've got this field we've got two fields there still, this this day in region, you know. Andy's still looking after them. So they're currently being grazed by sheep at the moment. I think they're in like a rest period. I just want I I get a bit confused to be honest, because of what actually goes on, you know, but Andy's probably the best person to talk to about that. But my thought is this, I you know, I like the aspect of it, I do. I think again, when I said about earlier about farmers that might change. And I know I'm only young, I'm twenty seven years old and I'm not from a farming background, I know that. I haven't had a dad to look up to to follow, for example. But more importantly, one mum. But more importantly, I think I'm stuck in my ways maybe. I don't know. You know what I mean? So and I think in the show you see that actually I'm probably maybe playing the part of I wouldn't say it's a played part, but I'm maybe the farmer in a way, not wanting to change to actually do regen, if that makes sense. And in terms of plowing, I think every now and then we must drop a plow in the ground. I quite like plowing. But of course that's my personal opinion. You know, I think every five years the fact it's like a factory reset, you know, that's actually drop a plow and reset the whole thing, you know? And I know there's a lot more of this storing carbon into the soil and stuff like that, you know. And, you know, who knows where that's gonna go, but I can't believe anyone's gonna be paid to store carbon 'cause if I was a farmer and I had my own farm and that was gonna happen, I'd go, right, plow everything, release all that carbon and then I can start charging people to start storing the carbon in my soil because I know I've plowed everything, there's no carbon there. You know, and I love the fact that his point across that when he goes out there to the hedge and he digs under the hedge and you've got this much topsoil, 'cause of course you've actually fed that topsoil with maybe, for example, leaves and so on. I love that. I a s I I love that. I mean I spread ninety thousand tons of muck a year. You know, I spread a lot of shit. Do you know what I mean? So therefore I I I think that's really important actually to get that in there and and enough people look up in the air these days and go, That's that's getting damaged, but no one actually goes, What's down here? Let's have a look at the soil. You know, I think we speak the same way but in a maybe a different way, if that makes sense. Mark Masterton (33:04) I think just following on from that as well, Andy Cato's actually my neighbour. so I I see quite a lot of what he does and what he's done for whatever since he and ever since he moved over to Collymore Farm in n in Oxfordshire. And I I do thoroughly believe in what he does. He actually runs a quite a similar ish sort of farming system to us, although we we aren't down the regen route, we're still down the fully organic route. And Talking of the min till and the ploughing, I think there's room for both. It's not a case of one or the other. You can have the plough in a rotation, just like you can have the crops that Andy grows in a rotation. I wouldn't necessarily go all down one route or all down the other. I think you keep your options open and keep and keep a nice circular rotation for everything to work as one. Okay, perfect. Thank you very much. Now I've got a question from Young Hattie. speaker-2 (34:07) Caleb, do you think girls make good chat to drivers? Mark Masterton (34:11) Ha ha ha. Kaleb Cooper (34:12) One hundred percent. Actually a thousand percent. You're probably a better one than me already. Wanna come and drive my tractors? Pound an hour? Meant to say no, Caleb, I want ten pounds. Mark Masterton (34:29) Twenty Kaleb Cooper (34:30) Mm-hmm. speaker-3 (34:32) Woo! Kaleb Cooper (34:36) Very good. Mark Masterton (34:39) Perfect, thank you very much. hi, I'm Will, I'm a farmer from Doncaster. It's also Jeremy's hometown. question for you is what does farming look like in ten years time? Kaleb Cooper (34:49) That's a massive question that is. I mean shit. what does farming look like in ten years' time? I s again, I think we're all gonna still be here. Do you know what I mean? I think we'll all be out there trying to poo put you know, provide so much food that we can on a cheap scale again, you know? At the moment, I mean, you know, the beef price has dropped off, the wheat price is terrible, and of course the government obviously sit there, beef, for example, got to seven pounds a kilo, you know? Where I think that may be a little bit too expensive to the average family. It's like a delicacy like lamb. So therefore, of course, the government step in and go, no, we're gonna start importing Australian beef. Now, if any Australians are here, I'm not against it. I just think we should start eating more of our own, you know, and actually pay the farmers correctly. So, you know, I I I I honestly don't know. I mean that's a massive question, and I I've never been stumped on a question. But again, all I know is that we're still gonna be, and I think a lot more farms will be more regen, a lot more farms will be more organic for the beneficial to have actually maybe have little bit of a premium. And a lot more farmers will be stuck in their way and going, I'm gonna farm the traditional way and maybe drop that plough in the ground but you know what? We're all a massive team. No matter which way we're farming, and therefore we've all got to stand together and be together like we always do. Mark Masterton (35:58) Thank you. I I think I'd like I'd certainly expect to see a lot more of the robotics, whether it be the drones or the the the the robotic topic is so vast and so open ended. Farming could look very different in twenty, thirty years time. How quickly it'll take come into place I don't quite know whether we'll see it change massively in ten years. but there'll certainly be a lot more opportunities out there. But also very different opportunities to what we see today. Yeah, I'd like to add to that as well. That it's probably going to go slightly more in the environmental direction. what we'd like to see though is that if people are farming in environmentally friendly way that farmers actually get paid for that. so that if farmers can prove that they are doing things sustainably, far whether it's regen or anything, but they actually get paid for that. we're lucky enough we just started to work with some farmers now. We're actually mapping the amount of carbon on the farm so that people actually know what is on the farm. So that's above ground carbon that the the end the end user of the cereal grain, they're going to need to be able to prove that their grain is sustainable so that when they're selling their point or whatever is Hawk saw maybe that the grain that they're used is proven and you can verify that that is actually sustainably done. So that's gonna need kinda the technology I suppose is gonna be big part of it. But suppose the just proof and hopefully the farmers will actually be get get a benefit for it for all for all the work they are doing currently and the way they will continue to. Perfect. Thank you very much. Now Lauren's got a question. Jack, if you could have one person from Clarkson's farm work on your farm, who would it be? And Caleb, if you could replace Cherime with someone from the farm, who would it be? Not be not being horrible to Caleb, but I'd love to see Gerald. Kaleb Cooper (38:03) If I can replace Jeremy with for anyone in terms of on the farm now, I'll be Charlie. Cheerful Charlie. I mean I get on with Charlie very well and he's and he's very knowledgeable. He just smiles less and less each day. But he's you know, he's he's a bearer of bad news, of course he is, yeah, I d I I do love Gerald. I mean everyone everyone on the farm is a great it's a great team. Mark Masterton (38:24) Gerald has quickly become a legend. Kaleb Cooper (38:28) Gerald was already a legend. Mark Masterton (38:30) Woo G Dog. speaker-2 (38:32) Agreed. I'm from Hopshire County Council and we let small holdings and obviously we're in the young farmers' So just wondered what your view was on the importance of county small holdings for young farmers. Kaleb Cooper (38:45) I mean that is that is a really good question and I'd love to actually go out there and say you know, a lot of young farmers say to me, Look, I've not got a farm to inherit and what do I do? I can't afford one. I always say actually go out there and get an allotment. But actually they can start with the allotment and hopefully get a small holding. Now of course they're not gonna be as big as a farm and they may have to go and work elsewhere to obviously provide a family provide for their family, for example, or their self. But more importantly, I think that's a massive step into the industry. And actually you've just given me a massive idea in terms of that question right there. And actually, why don't we push that? What an amazing idea. Why don't we go out there and offer these these these small holdings to young farmers that want to go? Now of course let's say for example 50% of them might actually not get on with it and might not like it. Good. At least they know that they don't like it, for example, or they're struggling in certain ways and they can go and ask a help or come to cereals or any show to actually find out they do like it. What an amazing idea that is, and maybe actually go out to there. We should do like a I don't know, won't we do that? Why don't we actually go out there and do that? Get like fifty small holdings, go out there to young farmers and go, right, we've got fifty small holdings, let's have a let's say let's see if you can make it go, but it not'll happen. The capital will go, You can't live there. Can we change that? But I think that's an amazing idea, 'cause of course, let's face it, it gives them that opportunity to go and grow their own potatoes, for example, or grow their own pigs or chickens, or have a few cows. You know, it'll be like a little homestead. That's my dream. If I can retire onto ten acres and litch just provide my own food. What a dream that is. But you've given me an amazing idea. I'd love to talk to you after if you're around, that'd be amazing. I've had like a light bulb moment in my head. my god. Mark Masterton (40:24) Perfect. Thank you very much. And then we've got one ki final question from Beatrice. speaker-2 (40:28) How hard would it be, do you think, to change the way she farmed from the previous generation? Kaleb Cooper (40:37) i incredibly hard. But at the same time, I think it's doable. I think again that young that old generational farmers stuck in their old way of doing their own way. They get in the tractor at eight o'clock in the morning. They may go and plough for four hours. They go back, they have a little bit of a kip and then a bit of lunch. They stay asleep for a bit too long, then they work all night because they stay to sleep for a bit too long. If you're a farmer, there's a few in I can see 'cause we're at a farming show, I can see that's what you do. But I think, you know, again, as a young person coming in, you have these amazing ideas and other people are doing it. But as a parent, you go know for a damn fact in the farm, they I'm not doing that. You just gotta go out there and have a great business mind. And I think it's easier to say sorry than to ask. That's one thing I've learned. Do you know what I mean? You go out there and make if someone says don't plough this field, if you plough it and it works, and then you get a bollock in for doing it, just say sorry. It's much easier. But I think you can eventually change that that that older generational farmer to actually go, Let's try new things. I think that's you know it's doable. It is doable. If not, buy a beer. Mark Masterton (41:38) Yeah, I think I think a lot of the older generation can also and not mean to offend anyone in the room, can also be quite stubborn and they are like we were saying, they are kind of stuck in their ways. They don't they're not that keen to adapt to change. So how you approach that I think is really important and don't go in there sort of bull in the china shop and try and turn everything round in a year, sort of thing. Implant a a bit of knowledge and and let them sort of think about it and then try and and then try and expand on that and have the confidence to do so. And not everything you try will work out. We I think everyone here has done done done stuff that doesn't work out like like Caleb's goldfish. This has been the Drone as the Future Podcast. Today's episode has been produced by Ryan Witten, coordinated by Samantha Holomay, filmed by John Rawlinson, and features original intro music by Josh Santos. Thank you very much for tuning in, and if you'd like to follow along our journey, fly over to that subscribe button wherever you're listening so you can be updated to hear what flies ahead.