Jul 24, 2026 · 57 min · 15 segments
In this episode of Meet the Farmers: The Big Debate Ally and Sophie are joined by Ben Briggs to discuss politics, the new Burnham government, the Farming Roadmap and the response to the Farm…
Ally Hunter BlairHost
Ben BriggsGuest
Sophie GregoryHost
How about you, Ally? I can only imagine that it's pretty tough out there for you guys combining.
Six weeks ago we were looking at a, what I thought was a pretty good harvest.
Um, spring crops had, had had a bit of rain in June, and everything looked magnificent.
Actually, w- if we, I think we've probably got three days combining left, and then we'll be done.
We should basically just be starting our oilseed rape now, and we will be finished lo- I think actually we may even, we may even finish earlier, and people are referring it to, like, our version of '76.
Um, I've got a new worm in my sugar beet, which means I think by the end of this week I won't have a sugar beet harvest.
Um, I've had to go out with an insecticide, which I hate doing, to try and stop them.
But I, I've never seen, and, and in, in 50 years or however long dad's been doing this, he's never seen it before.
If I'm completely honest, I am at, I'm, I'm at the end of my tether with the whole lot.

How about you, Ally? I can only imagine that it's pretty tough out there for you guys combining.
Six weeks ago we were looking at a, what I thought was a pretty good harvest.
Um, spring crops had, had had a bit of rain in June, and everything looked magnificent.
Actually, w- if we, I think we've probably got three days combining left, and then we'll be done.
We should basically just be starting our oilseed rape now, and we will be finished lo- I think actually we may even, we may even finish earlier, and people are referring it to, like, our version of '76.
Um, I've got a new worm in my sugar beet, which means I think by the end of this week I won't have a sugar beet harvest.
Um, I've had to go out with an insecticide, which I hate doing, to try and stop them.
But I, I've never seen, and, and in, in 50 years or however long dad's been doing this, he's never seen it before.
If I'm completely honest, I am at, I'm, I'm at the end of my tether with the whole lot.
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