Not directly — unless you count a lifelong appreciation for good packaging, honest produce, and anything that looks better after a decent rebrand.

My background has been in creative direction, brand strategy and visual communications, working across sectors from beverage and retail to luxury, marine, music and culture. So, while I haven’t come from the farmyard, I have spent over 20 years helping brands tell sharper stories, look more distinctive, and connect with the people they need to reach. Agriculture is full of those stories: heritage, craft, innovation, weather, risk, resilience, basically everything a creative brief dreams of, only with more mud.

Agriculture has something a lot of sectors spend fortunes trying to fake: authenticity.

The products are real, the people are real, and the stakes are real. My job is to take that substance and shape it into branding, campaigns, packaging or digital work that feels clear, memorable and commercially useful. I like the challenge of making something practical feel compelling without polishing all the truth out of it. A good agricultural brand shouldn’t look like it has wandered in from a lifestyle shoot, it should have clean boots, a strong handshake and a point of view.

What’s changed most is that agriculture now must communicate on more fronts than ever. It is no longer enough to simply be good at what you do; you have to explain it, prove it, package it, defend it and differentiate it. The industry is dealing with sustainability, technology, supply chains, changing consumer expectations and a public that often has strong opinions about farming despite being several generations removed from a field.

The future will be shaped by clarity. The brands and businesses that explain what they do plainly, confidently, and visually well will have the advantage. Whether it is regenerative farming, food security, animal welfare, automation or traceability, the winners will be the ones who can turn complexity into something people understand before they scroll past it.

I’d fix the gap between what agriculture actually does and what the wider public thinks it does.

There’s a huge communication problem there. Farming is technical, risky, innovative and essential, but it is often reduced to clichés either romantic fields and sunsets, or gloomy headlines. With one wave of the wand, I’d give the industry a clearer voice and a better visual language. Less “stock photo tractor at golden hour,” more intelligent storytelling that shows the skill, science, pressure, and pride behind the sector. Though I’d also accept a wand that sorts margins, weather and paperwork , I’m not completely impractical.

I’d be barley because it has the best brand extension strategy in agriculture.

It starts life quietly in a field, minds its own business, then with the right handling becomes beer, whisky, bread, breakfast, animal feed and occasionally someone’s entire personality. That is range. That is market penetration. That is a crop with a five-year plan.

It also suits my background: I’ve spent years turning raw ideas into polished identities, packaging, campaigns, and things people want to pick up especially in beverage and brand-led work. Barley understands that journey perfectly: humble origin, strong texture, excellent versatility, and, crucially, it looks very good once someone has put a label on it.

Also, I’d rather be a crop than livestock. I’m not sure I have the patience to be judged at market before breakfast.