Kite Consulting

Becki Reay

Kite Consulting provide business services to the entire food supply chain, from farmer to retailer and are widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading dairy consultancy companies.

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305 episodes
Updated Friday

Episodes305

Newest first

Mar 3, 2023 · 42 min
Gold Cup Winners - The Logan Family
Firstly, before his milk market report, Chris takes some time to say a few words following the sudden passing of Ian Potter this week, recognising a giant within the dairy industry who will be sadly missed. On a more positive note, Ben is joined this week by the winner of the 2022 NMR / RABDF Gold Cup, Alistair Logan of the Logan Family in Ayrshire, as well as David Keiley, Senior Consultant with Kite to discuss the winning business. Alistair talks us through the business and the key areas the
Feb 23, 2023 · 44 min
The impact of Cyclone Gabrielle & a dairy update from NZ
After our usual milk market report from Chris, Will and Ben are joined by James Allen, CEO of Agfirst in New Zealand and Edward Lott, Kite Director to discuss the current dairy outlook in NZ. James outlines the devastating consequences of Cyclone Gabrielle on the north island of the country and the impact on horticulture and dairy farming in these areas. James and Edward discuss more broadly this dairy season and the challenges NZ farmers are facing including what is driving increased costs for
Feb 17, 2023 · 42 min
Strengthening the 'Digital Dairy Chain' in Cumbria and South West Scotland
After Chris’ milk market report, this week Will and Ben are joined by Stuart Martin, Programme Director of Digital Dairy Chain and David Keiley, Senior Consultant at Kite to discuss the new £21 million project, led by Scotland’s Rural College. Stuart and David talk us through how the key focus areas of the project including research, innovation & business growth will help to transform and strengthen the dairy supply chain in Cumbria and South West Scotland. They outline how the collaborative app
Feb 9, 2023 · 31 min
The Dutch Government's Sustainability Policy
After a much-needed positive report from Chris this week, Ben is joined by Wilco Brouwer de Koning, a Dutch dairy farmer and board member of the LTO Dairy Committee and John Allen, Director at Kite to reflect on the sustainability debate currently facing Dutch dairy farmers. Wilco and John talk us through the sustainability priorities in the Netherlands and targets being set by the Dutch Government, specifically in relation to nitrogen and biodiversity and the government allocation of funds to b
Feb 3, 2023 · 38 min
EP140: DairyTech Cost of Production and the Importance of Cash Break Even Milk Price
EP140 – DairyTech Cost of Production and the importance of Cash Break Even Milk Price Joining Ben Eagle this week on the podcast is Devon Dairy Farmer Cath Ratcliffe and Kite Director Edward Lott. Chris’ milk market report bucks the trend of recent weeks with glimmers of positivity following some shifts in market sentiment and trading and Cath and Ed continue a positive outlook, albeit discussing some of the cost of production challenges. Cath shares her thoughts on the importance of monitorin
Jan 27, 2023 · 46 min
Wyke Farms - Cheese price challenges
After a milk market update from Chris Walkland, Will and Ben are joined by Rich Clothier, Managing Director at Wyke Farms and John Allen from Kite. They discuss the Wyke cheese business and the challenges and opportunities for cheesemakers this year in particular, the challenge of managing profitability and cash on a long maturation product when market demand and value of the product is falling. On a more positive note, they discuss Wyke’s export successes and their sustainability agenda along
Jan 20, 2023 · 40 min
Semex announce new genomic test to index for methane
We couldn’t discuss anything other than Semex conference this week so after Chris’ milk market report, Will and Ben are joined by Drew Sloan, Vice President in Corporate Development at Semex and Rose Jackson, Senior Consultant and Head of Genetics in Kite to do just this. Rose and Drew discuss the power of genetics to improve the environmental credential of the industry, even more so with the announcement from Semex regarding development of their genomic test to identify methane output, leading
Jan 13, 2023 · 47 min
The importance of being proactive & maintaining personal resilience
Chris’ report is enough to make you feel blue without this coming ‘Blue Monday’, so this week Ben is joined by Marcus Doig, Consultant at Kite, Sam Rex, Senior Project Coordinator at Kite and Martin Hoddinott, a Somerset farmer to speak about a different type of resilience; the importance of looking after our physical and mental wellbeing. Sam and Marcus discuss mental & physical health concerns potentially facing those in the farming industry as well as some of the organisations & sources of su
Jan 4, 2023 · 41 min
The New Muller Milk Contract
We are heading into 2023 with a bang and a slightly earlier than usual podcast this week when host Ben Eagle welcomes Richard Collins; Head of Agriculture at Muller Milk & Ingredients alongside John Allen and Chris Walkland to discuss changes to Muller suppliers milk contracts. They discuss the thinking behind the change and how it has been designed to stabilise the liquid milk and ingredient price volatility along with what this will mean for both Muller direct and aligned farmers and the pote
Dec 22, 2022 · 38 min
Morrisons Farmer Christmas and Muller Contract Pricing Announcement
In our final podcast of 2022, Chris’ milk market report includes his thoughts on Mullers milk contract pricing announcement this morning, then Will and Ben are joined by Sophie Throup, Head of Agriculture, Fisheries and Sustainable Sourcing at Morrisons and David Keiley, Kite Senior Consultant at Kite to talk about the Morrisons “Farmer Christmas” advert. Sophie explains why they decided to showcase farmers in their advert again this year and discusses with David how it relates to Morrisons wid
Dec 16, 2022 · 39 min
How Arla’s sustainability incentive has been received by farmers & retailers
Will and Ben are joined this week by Paul Savage, UK Agriculture Director for Arla, Becki Leach, Senior Consultant for Kite and of course Chris Walkland for his milk market report. Paul outlines how Arla’s sustainability incentive has been received by farmers and retailers so far, the key focus areas on farm and how they are going to deliver the sustainability objectives. He discusses with Becki how programmes such as R500 can help deliver these changes and how this aligns with retailer prioriti
Dec 9, 2022 · 40 min
The multiple opportunities for US dairy
This week after the milk market update from Chris, Will and Ben are joined by Lucas Fuess, Director of Dairy Market Intelligence at Highground Dairy and John Allen from Kite for an update on the US dairy situation. Lucas outlines what their current milk output looks like as well as the milk price, input prices and market outlook. He discusses with John the limited constraints and multiple opportunities presented for US dairy, including export opportunities and on-going investment in processing c
Dec 2, 2022 · 35 min
Secure milk price & Kite's next chapter as part of the AB Agri Network
Even Chris Walkland’s Milk Market report couldn’t dampen the excitement as Kite’s very own J-Edward duo, John Allen and Edward Lott share the news and more details about Kite's next chapter following the acquisition by AB Agri. Plus, they discuss the most recently updated COP figures including break even milk price, as well as the history of the COP model and why there is a need to move from break even milk price to a secure milk price. They emphasise that to avoid supply issues seen in other s
Nov 25, 2022 · 33 min
Opportunities for the next generation of #TeamDairy
After a milk market report from Chris Walkland, Will and Ben are joined this week by two of the newest members to join the Kite team; Marcus Doig and Maimie Sloan. They share their thoughts on the future of dairy, the outlook and opportunities they see for the next generation and the advice they would give to those looking to pursue a career in agriculture. They go on to discuss their respective farming backgrounds, route into dairy (and the Kite team) and what motivates them
Nov 18, 2022 · 41 min
Dairy Discussions & Climate Commitments at COP27
EP130: Dairy Discussions & Climate Commitments at COP27 On this week’s episode, Chris Walkland is on hand to provide a milk market update and host Ben Eagle is joined by Sarah Simpson; Director at Simpson Farms Ltd and Brian Lyndsay; Sustainability Lead at Global Dairy Platform. They discussed the level of Agricultural representation at COP27, the dairy discussions taking place at the event and the climate commitments made along with the sometimes misaligned policy at local level. They also d
Nov 11, 2022 · 51 min
Does the AHDB strategy deliver for farmers?
After the usual milk market report from Chris Walkland, Will Evans and Ben Eagle are joined by Will Jackson, Divisional Director for Engagement and Strategy at the AHDB and Ed Towers, dairy farmer from Brades Farm to discuss the future direction of ADHB. After a period of reflection and consultation with levy payers, Will outlines the main changes that have come about, the ‘3 pillars’ they will be focusing on in the future, as well as the areas they will look to scale back or streamline. Ed outl
Nov 4, 2022 · 47 min
Ukraine, Russia & Milk Markets
After quite a downbeat milk market report from Chris Walkland, Becki has brought out the big guns to discuss the activity in the Black Sea region this week. With Russia suspending its agreement to allow the Ukraine to export grain, following accusations of a Ukraine drone attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet, only to then reverse the decision, resulting in clear implications for grain exports. Erik Elgersma, founder and director of Strategic Analysis Services BV and James Bolesworth, Founder an
Oct 28, 2022 · 41 min
Australia update - milk output down and declining
Firstly, a few glimmers of optimism in amongst another fairly downbeat milk market report from Chris Walkland. Ben is then joined this week by Steve Spencer, Director of food industry consultancy FreshAgenda (Australia) and John Allen, a Managing Partner at Kite for an update from Down Under. Steve summarises Australia’s milk year and dairy output, highlighting a 4% year-on-year decline which is predicted to continue further in their dairy sector, sighting labour and attitude to risk as key con
Oct 20, 2022 · 38 min
Welsh NVZs Update
Chris Walkland unfortunately doesn’t have much positive news in his milk market report this week on the Kite podcast but happily there is much more positivity amongst this week’s guests; NFU Cymru President; Aled Jones and Kite Managing Partner; Neil Blackburn. They both join Will Evans this week to discuss the recent announcement on the amendment of the Welsh NVZ regulations which see a delay in the implementation date, a commitment to explore alternative technological solutions and will allow
Oct 14, 2022 · 37 min
The New Arla Sustainability Incentive
This week Will and Ben are joined by Arthur Fearnall, Arla Board member (one of his many titles) and Ainsley Baker, Kite Partner to discuss Arla’s new sustainability incentive, as well as Chris Walkland for our usual market report. Arthur outlines Arla’s wider sustainability commitments, how they have been working towards these and how the sustainability incentive fits in. He describes the different areas that they are focusing on within the points system of the incentive and what it involves fo