The conversation around agriculture has changed quite drastically in a short space of time.
Policies, consumer perception, funding, the environment - you name it, farmers probably have to deal with it.
At FarmED, a non-for-profit organisation based at Honeydale Farm in the Cotswolds, they work on the idea of bringing all these things and more together to simultaneously support and help farmers while educating the public.
Their mission? To inspire, educate and connect.
A working 107-acre mixed demonstration farm, there is also an onsite micro-dairy,the Dairyy at Honeydale run by first-generation farmer, Hallam Duckworth, and three eco-buildings that house an education and conference space and a farm-to-fork cafe.
The site was opened by King Charles in 2021, and runs a small flock of sheep, Fleckveih cows in the dairy and grows heritage wheat and rye.
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Kate Henderson is FarmED's agricultural lead and has been there for two years now.
Some might say it is where she was always meant to be, given the twist of fate that took her there.
"I wanted to be a farmer - both parents grew up on farms but did not inherit any land," Kate says.
"I went to Harper Adams university to study agriculture, worked on a dairy farm, travelled to New Zealand and then worked on a country estate.
"I read a news article about this farm that had set up not far from where I live, founded by Ian and Celene Wilkinson, who said they had been inspired by the book, The Farming Ladder, which was written in the 1940s. It is all about mixed farming and soil health - and just so happens to be written by my grandfather.
"I wanted an excuse to visit so I came and brought them a box of books.
"A few years later I ended up getting a job here.
"I love their way of thinking."
Kate is passionate about improving soil and showing how a small farm can be really productive and produce a lot of food per acre by putting in a mixed system.
The fact that that FarmED is also open to the public gives them a two-pronged approach. After all, as Kate says, if the general public are to buy British and trust farmers, they need to be given a reason. And this place can showcase that - their social media proves there is an interest, with nearly 20,000 followers on Instagram.
She says: "I get to talk to loads of people - farmers, researchers, policymakers, teachers, prison officers.
"You name it they come through the doors here and everyone comes from a different angle.
"Everyone comes here with different preconceptions based on individual experiences, and we act as a neutral space where people are free to express what they think and that gets some good discussions going."
Their most popular course is the introduction to agriculture course. This sees people from all walks of life attend.
"We get people from a wildlife background who perhaps do not know as much about the farming side, or people who have been working in agriculture for years and have never had the confidence to ask questions," says Kate.
Kate wants people to come along and firstly understand the history of farming; to understand why the landscape looks like it does and the fact ‘that farmers are not the villains.'
From being told that food production is paramount, particularly after events such as World War Two, to now being urged to produce in a way that encourages nature, the more that people understand how the industry has looked and how it has had to change and adapt is key.
It is an exciting place to be though, says Kate, one which she was deterred from in school.
She says: "When I was at school, I said I wanted to be a farmer and go to agricultural university, and my form tutor said: why do you need to go to university to learn how to chew a bit of straw?
"People did not think there was anything to it.
"We get a lot of students and interns here."
Fiona Mountain, who has worked with Ian, FarmED's founder, for a long time and has seen FarmED grow since its inception and their ideas become more mainstream.
She says: "When the education centre started it seemed like it was probably going to be a little bit niche, but with SFI and talk around farming's role in mitigating climate change, everyone is interested in what we are doing.
"That makes it an exciting place to be and FarmED has an awful lot to offer."
They were ahead of their time with their flood management scheme too.
They have got a natural flood management system on farm and were the first in the valley to do it.
David Cameron, the former Prime Minister came to see it the scheme was such a success it was later rolled out across the valley.
"It shows that farming plays so many roles - it used to be just food production and now there are lots of things that a farmer has to do," says Kate.
"Creating awareness in those who are not in farming, that farmers do not do things intentionally to adversely impact the environment - it is about making people realise it is not two opposing sides; everybody is working towards the same goal."
There is also the health aspect, and the role food produced in a natural, mixed system can play in society.
Last March FarmED held a course with Think Through Nutrition, all about how food affects brain health.
It looked at changing food in schools, prisons and hospitals and showcased that proper nutrition drastically improves behaviour and concentration.
"Connect these things altogether and the government could save significant amounts of money," says Kate.
They have recently released a new podcast which is themed ‘an introduction to' and targeted at people who have an interest but want to find out more about what farmers do.
They also want to highlight all of the possibilities on farm - as Fiona says, it is only ‘107 acres but on the farm, you see examples of all sorts of different things.'
Teams who run the Community Supported Agriculture kitchen garden, the micro-dairy, the apiary and the cafe are keen to welcome members of the public and those in the agricultural sector to start inspiring conversations around agroecology.
Their regular Friday Farm Walks are popular too.
Kate says: "You can get a big arable farmer and a rewilding advocate, and you think, oh no, how will this go? But by the end they are happily chatting away and have found common ground.
"Sometimes things come up and because I have always been in farming you think wow, I did not think people would wonder that.
"I often come back from a farm walk and say someone has asked me a question and it is something I had never really considered people might not be aware of.
FarmED aims to encourage education so that it gives farmers a reason to look at their business and ask questions, but also so that the public are given a reason to want to buy local British produce.
For Fiona, though, who also works as one of the farming countryside advisors for the BBC's popular series, The Archers, it is about sharing the story of farming.
She says: "I love people's stories and love people who are passionate about things - people here are really interested and engaged and they want to share those stories."
As for Kate, working at FarmED has, of course, allowed her to pursue her passion; to be able to share that the farming community and beyond is special.
"It is the realisation there is so much going on in the soil and how everything is so connected and seeing the farm as an ecosystem," Kate says.
"It is about getting people talking.
"Everyone meets at the beginning of a walk or a talk and you think there might be some strong opinions here, but they always end up sitting around and discussing."
