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The Tools at Hand with Harrison Gardner Podcast
The Young Irish Farmer Revolutionising Farming | Sophie Bell

The Young Irish Farmer Revolutionising Farming | Sophie Bell

The Tools at Hand with Harrison Gardner vor 1 Woche

0:00

1:16:07

What does the future of farming in Ireland look like?

Sophie Bell is a young farmer from County Cavan who took on the
running of her family farm at just 17, while finishing her
Leaving Cert.

Today, she’s balancing farming with a career in social media,
speaking about agriculture across Ireland and Europe, and
rethinking what it means to build a sustainable life from the
land.

We talk about the pressure on farmers to have a second income,
why farming can feel more like a culture than a career, and the
barriers facing the next generation.

Sophie also shares what she learned from researching the impact
of bovine TB on farmers, what it's like being a young woman in a
traditionally male-dominated industry, and how social media has
opened doors she never expected.

And then we get into what she's changing on the farm — moving
away from commodity pricing and towards a model where she has
more control over what the farm earns, how it operates, and where
it goes next.

A conversation about farming, money, gender, social media, and
what happens when you stop accepting that things have to be done
the way they've always been done.

Support the podcast on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/cw/HarrisonGardner

CONNECT WITH ME

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_harrisongardner

Website: https://www.harrisongardner.net/

Bookstore: https://www.harrisongardner.net/bookstore-1

Pre-order my new book HEAT-SHELTER-WATER-FOOD

https://www.harrisongardner.net/heat-shelter-water-food

Follow Sophie:

https://www.instagram.com/sophie_bell__?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&stkn=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

00:00 – Teaser

00:55 – Introduction

02:47 – Sophie’s 56-Acre Farm in County Cavan

05:25 – Why Do Farmers Need a Second Income?

07:50 – The Next Generation of Farmers

10:10 – Passing the Farm to the Next Generation

13:15 – Who Gets Taught to Be a Farmer?

18:35 – Is Farming a Career or a Culture?

23:25 – How Social Media Changed Sophie’s Farm

26:35 – The Hidden Cost of Bovine TB

33:10 – “I Thought I Wasn’t Allowed to Be a Farmer”

35:47 – Taking Over the Farm at 17

38:42 – Being Taken Seriously as a Young Woman

45:37 – Advice for Young Women in Farming

48:08 – Why Farming Needs More Alternative Ideas

56:30 – Sophie’s Work With the EU and UN

01:03:19 – A Different Way to Make Farming Pay

01:06:10 – For the First Time, the Farm Isn’t Struggling

01:08:35 – The Future of Wool in Ireland

01:12:30 – Taking Back Control

01:14:10 – What Sustainable Farming Should Look Like

01:15:11 – Outro

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