As friends who met through Nottinghamshire YFC, Tom Ware and Michael Wilkinson have worked together to launch and develop Just Talk Agri.
It started off as a simple idea focused on encouraging farmers to talk more and to reach out when they needed help. The motivation to kick start conversations came about after one of Tom’s friends took their own life. Help was out there, and he wanted more people be aware of the support available, should they ever need it.
With over 20,000 followers across Just Talk Agri profiles on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, the pair are using their platforms to share stories from farmers who have faced difficult times and overcome them.
“While we’ve featured some famous faces such as Charlie Ireland from Clarkson’s Farm, we usually focus on friends, local farmers and people I come across on my travels,” explained Tom about the videos featured on Just Talk Agri.
“I think it can be powerful to hear from like-minded farmers. It’s nice to see a more heartfelt message from someone who isn’t well-known.”
The videos are either supplied by the farmer or in some cases Tom goes out to film someone, providing prompts to help direct the message.
“We ask them to include what their message would be and how they have coped if they have struggled? We also ask them to share the advice they’d give to someone who might be struggling as well.”
The videos have caught the attention of the British Farming Awards, where Tom has been shortlisted for a content creator award. This follows on from Michael previously winning NFYFC’s Young Farmer of the Year Award for his work on Just Talk Agri.
But it’s not about the accolades. For Tom it’s about saving lives.
“We get quite a few messages from people who say: ‘thank you, I have reached out.’
“I recently had a message from someone who said they’d never, until now, needed to reach out but after watching the videos they asked if I knew a number they could call for help.
“I put the person in touch with FCN and they later messaged back to say a weight had been lifted off their shoulders because they can talk to someone now.”
It’s this feedback that drives Tom on with his work on Just Talk Agri.
“It’s nice to see the feedback from farmers and see that we’re having an impact,” said Tom. “I get a few people who will say a video has only got a few views but, in my eyes, if it’s helped one person then I’m happy.”
