NSA Next Generation - Communicating with confidence
Date: 14th February 2024
Time: 10am
Location: Harper Adams University College, Newport, Shropshire, TF10 8NB
NSA Next Generation is excited to invite young sheep farmers for a new exciting event at the inspiring location of Harper Adams University on Wednesday 14th February.
Every day farmers are increasingly sharing their daily farming lives, whether via social media, with community events or through the wider farming and mainstream press. But with this comes pressure to deliver up to date, accurate information in a manner that is accessible to the chosen audience.
The interactive day will include small, immersive workshops as well as wider industry presentations and discussions on communicating effectively, sharing farming news and information within your networks and the wider public to the benefit of the sector. An experience that can help you communicate with confidence and inspire you to share positively the work of the UK sheep sector.
NSA is excited to have attracted several well known industry influencers and experienced farming media experts to deliver the day.
To book your free place at this informative event please register with enquiries@nationalsheep.org.uk
Meet some of our speakers.....
Abi Kay 
Abi Kay has won several awards for her journalism, including the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Young Leaders accolade and the Bob Davies Memorial Award for raising the profile of Welsh farming. She has a strong background in politics, working for a rural MP in Westminster and as a lobbyist for NFU, prior to joining the Farmers Guardian team and then being appoint Farmers Weekly Deputy Editor in 2023. Abi is an expert communicator and will lead an interesting discussion at this event.
Rebecca Wilson
Rebecca is the fifth generation on the family's arable and sheep farm in North Yorkshire. She studied for a BA in Human, Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge and an MSc in Rural Estate 
Management at the Royal Agricultural University.
Rebecca pursued roles as a rural surveyor and project manager before returning to the farm. She shows her daily life on Instagram, having built a following of over 38k. Her social media focusses on portraying the realities of farming, believing that authenticity and a real story is key to engaging with the public. Through social media, farmers have the power to tell their own story.
She has featured on National mainstream media such as BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and regional television and radio channels, highlighting some of the challenges which farmers face such as mental health but also shining a light on things such as the seasonalities of farming
She is co-host of the Becca & Lizzie podcast which aims to bridge the gap between farmer and consumer. She has also worked with organisations such as AHDB, NFU, LAA and NSA to help connect farmers with resources across the wider industry. She is a member of the committee for the NSA Northern Region.
Rosie Bloor
Rosie runs 300 ewes extensively across the Mendip Hills and Somerset Levels in 
South West England. Rosie knows first hand the value and importance of sharing positive farming messages via social media having already established a following on social media with stories from her life shepherding their flock and selling some produce directly to the consumer.
Alongside husband James, and baby daughter Annabelle, Rosie leads operations on farm with their commercial flock of Lleyn, Texel and recently added Exlana ewes.
At the end of 2023 Rosie was announced as the new face of the Love Lamb campaign and since then hs been building the campaigns following.
Rosie’s farm also sells a small percentage of lambs direct to customers through meat boxes, another reason why Rosie applied for the role of Love Lamb Ambassador and that she considers effective communication vital for the success of their business.
Karl Franklin
Karl Franklin, also known as 'The Pretend Farmer', has drawn in thousands of 
followers on Instagram by sharing his journey into the agricultural industry. Having come from a non-farming background, previously working as a chef, he knows the struggles of being a new entrant all too well.
He is now his running his own successful farming sheep business, having built up a solid customer base for his produce. And, of course, he is making a name for himself on social media; his popular online profile has led to him talking on prime time TV programmes like Good Morning Britain, all with an aim to promote British farming.
Anna Jones
Just Farmers was set up in 2018 by freelance journalist and broadcaster Anna Jones. A farmer’s daughter from the Welsh Borders, Anna works as a Producer/Director and occasional presenter on rural affairs television and radio programmes including BBC One's Countryfile, Radio 4's Farming Today, On Your Farm, Costing 
the Earth and The Archers. She is currently working as a Producer on the upcoming Channel 4 series Matt Baker's Farm of a Lifetime. Anna has reported on agricultural issues for BBC News and the World Service and has written for The Guardian, Countryfile Magazine, Farmers Guardian and Farmers Weekly. Her first book 'Divide: The relationship crisis between town and country' was published by Kyle Books in 2022.
The idea for Just Farmers was sparked by Anna's research for a Nuffield Farming Scholarship in 2016/17, which looked at the coverage of agriculture in news and current affairs around the world. She discovered a deep disconnect between farming communities and the mainstream, predominantly urban media - driven mostly by a lack of trust and transparency. Anna wants to give farmers the skills and confidence to step forward and share their stories, while helping colleagues in the media build more contacts in rural areas.
