I am a journalist, published author, broadcaster and television producer. I’m also an educator and trainer and experienced public speaker. But what’s had the greatest influence on my life and work is being a farmer’s daughter from the Welsh Borders. Everything else comes from that.

I’ve spent most of my career making television and radio programmes about farming and rural life, like Countryfile on BBC One and Farming Today on BBC Radio 4. I even did a spell in Ambridge as Agricultural Advisor on The Archers.

Things took an unexpected turn after my Nuffield Farming Scholarship in 2018 when I quit my comfortable staff job at the BBC to set up a non-profit called Just Farmers. I had travelled the world studying the coverage of agriculture in the mainstream media and discovered a deep disconnect between the rural farming community I come from, and the urban media industry I work in. It made me determined to build some bridges and help farmers feel more confident about sharing their stories in public.

Just Farmers Community Interest Company provides fully funded Media Education training to people working in agriculture and land-based industries while connecting journalists and programme makers with independent case studies who can speak from authentic personal experience, without agenda or party line.

My mission to improve the national conversation about farming and rural life inspired my book ‘Divide: The Relationship Crisis Between Town and Country’.