Born on a farm in Lancashire. Went to school in Clitheroe, then to Nottingham University (BSc and Phd). Three years in the USA - two years Cornell University, one year Mayo Clinic.
Lecturer in animal nutrition at Leeds University from 1974 to 1990.
Currently farms in Fife with his wife and two of his sons, other son is a crop chemist based in Switzerland. Newly married daughter teaches pilates.
Author of "Lie of the Land", published in 2004
