Members of a Cheshire farming family who were finalists for a national award in 2024 have become the latest guests to feature in a popular new podcast series.
Dennis and Rachael Hughes, along with their children Andrew Rutter and Emma Jones, run Clayhanger Hall Farm, based between Crewe and Haslington, which has been owned by their family since 1923.
They have now become the third family in the UK to feature on Talking Crop, a new podcast launched by Goodyear Farm Tires to celebrate farming families across the UK.
Emma said: “We were honoured to feature on the Talking Crop podcast. We all feel privileged to be in the roles we are, so any podcast series which promotes the work that farming families do should be supported and celebrated.
“The farm has a lot of family history and, while Andrew and I took some time away to pursue other opportunities, we were delighted when we had chance to come back home and continue the family tradition alongside our parents in 2018.
“We hope our story is interesting and offers an insight into the unique challenges of being a farming family and we are hugely grateful for Goodyear Farm Tires for selecting us as one of their guests for the first series.”
The Hughes contingent were finalists in the Family Farming Business of the Year category at the British Farming Awards last year.
Their dairy operations see them have a milking herd of more than 300 cows with a focus on maximising herd size and improving milk production.
The Hughes family prioritises cattle genetics and the quality of their stock, working closely with local farmers for contract rearing of replacements.
Dennis and Rachael officially took the farm on in 2002 with Andrew and Emma returning ‘home’ with their own families, including a combined four daughters from their respective marriages, 16 years later.
Andrew spent the interim period working for Genus ABS, cattle genetic specialists, as its European Breeding Programme Manager while, amongst other roles, Emma worked as a dairy advisor for the National Farmers Union and set up Tesco Dairy Sustainable Group.
The Talking Crop podcast is available on all major podcast platforms.