May 2, 2018
Tonight I'm delighted to be travelling down to Wimborne in Dorset, in the south West of England, to talk to sheep farmer Jemma Harding @meandeweblog
We talk about the perception of sheep farming as cool at the moment, and how the reality can be very different, before hearing about her early life growing up on the family farm and how her initial love of sheep developed.
We discuss her time at University studying photography, and how she combined it with farming, before hearing about how a night out at an MTV party in Birmingham led ultimately to a job offer and an eventual role interviewing musicians and celebrities around the World.
We then hear in depth about the accident that happened to her in 2008, when she was knocked off her bike by a lorry in central London, and the horrendous injuries she sustained. She tells us about the operations she went through, and how through sheer determination she was out of hospital in just 5 weeks, and how her collie puppy and horse helped her through the long nights suffering with PTSD.
We hear about how she left London life and went back to the family business, before her Father's diagnosis with stage 4 cancer, and death just 9 months later. We discuss the difficulties she faced afterwards, dealing with it emotionally, but also with the farm, and how she had to learn to do many of the day to day things from scratch.
We also discuss the issues she's had with dog attacks in her flock, and how it seems to be a growing problem in the UK, before moving on to talk about where she's at now, and how despite it all, she has no regrets.
All this and much, much more.
Jemma's story is one of courage in the face of huge adversity, and sheer determination to succeed, and it was an absolute privilege to talk to her tonight.
Check it out folks..
This episode is kindly sponsored by NFU Cymru. For more info please visit www.nfu-cymru.org or visit www.rockandrollfarming.com
Rock & Roll Farming is proud to work in partnership with Farmer's Guardian. For all the latest news and features across the Ag industry please visit www.fginsight.com