October 2008 - Posts
Well, it's over and hopefully a good time was had by all attending the Farmers Weekly Awards 2008 last night.
It was quite a party for the 42 finalists in 15 sponsored categories. We had more farmers and more guests than ever with almost 1200 people in the Great Room, Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London. The overall Farmer of the Year was the outstanding winner of the Young Farmer category - beef and arable producer Adrian Ivory from Meigle in Perthshire. There were tears of joy, disappointment for some and lots of laughter.
This year's entertainment included an aerial artist- she did amazing things on a ribbon dangling from the ceiling and it made your eyes water! The high spot was an eccentric musician Rainer Hersch and his orchestra who picked Gillian Van Der Meer, John Geldard and Vic Bunby out from the crowd to conduct the music with hilarious results. The finale was suitably British with petite opera singer Annette Wardell doing a rousing rendition of Land and Hope and Glory with full belt audience participation.
Olympics commentator Clare Balding did a fabulous job as the self deprecating presenter and was widely praised for holding it all together. . RASE President John Torode and pig producer and TV star Jimmy Doherty also gave us wonderful support. Jimmy seemed a bit stunned to be awarded NFU Farming Champion of the Year for reaching millions of viewers with his popular Farming Heroes series. And John, who is proving to be an excellent ambassador for the industry, presented the overall farmer of the year prize.
The only person missing was Secretary of State HiIary Benn whose office told us on the day of the event that he could no longer make it. I thought he'd missed a big opportunity by not attending. The Awards would have given him a great snapshot of the positive work happening on farms and he could have used it to build a few bridges.
We were thrilled by the way it all went and relieved that a year's worth of planning and team effort came to a successful conclusion. The Awards are now in their fourth year and have taken on a life of their own. They started with just a few categories and sponsors and 450 guests. Someone asked me last night why we started all this four years ago. Well, where do you start?
Firstly, we believe it's vital FW does its bit to promote and celebrate farming excellence and to spread best practice. The Awards are a fun and easy way of encouraging farmers to learn from each other and share their knowledge and expertise. The winner of each category is a judge the following year and therefore you are judged by your peers.
They also enable us to offer our customers (readers, web users, advertisers, sponsors) something interactive and different. Industry suppliers use the Awards like this to align themselves with the best farmers in the UK and get their marketing messages across in a dynamic way.
The FW brand benefits enormously from the positive exposure and PR. You can't put a price on it but I believe it earns us loyalty. And finally but very improtantly for any business, we run the Awards to make money.
If you could not join us but want to see what all the fuss is about.... take a look at....
Read more about Farmers Weekly's 2008 Farmer of the Year
How will the recession impact on farming?
We've had some discussions in the office this week about this and are picking up quite a bit of conflicting information. On the one hand, there is talk from the retailers of consumers trading down. One farmer told us that one major store group claimed it could sell mountains of mince and cheaper cuts of meat but premium legs of lamb and joints of beef were harder to shift.
On the other hand, reseaarch by the Institute of Grocery Distribution claims that shoppers may be economising but they are not compromising on their values. They have evidence that more people are buying local food, Fairtrade products or lines that promise high animal welfare standards. Smart shoppers are putting more effort into maintaining the quality of what they eat. This must be good news for farmers.
Certainly, while food shopping last weekend I didn't notice any big customer rejection of expensive joints of meat. Although I did spot a couple of comments from men telling their wives they thought the meat on display was too pricey but isn't that the norm? I'm not convinced that is just about attitudes to the looming recession.
Anyway, the FW team willl be watching this closely and collecting examples of how the downturn is impacting on farmers. We are currently working on a story about the attitude of the banks at the moment and concern that Barclays has put up overdraft rates without much prior warning.
Our Management Matters farmer Martin Howlett was one of those affected. His overdraft margin was increased by 0.5% to 2.75% over base. Others have seen increases of 1-1.5%. Martin was rightly concerned because of the impersonal way Barclays wrote to him. They sent an unnamed letter and did not discuss it beforehand. It's always the little guys that get hit the hardest........
How about a party for 1200 people? That's what we have planned this time next week as we get ready for the 2008 Farmers Weekly Awards celebrations on Monday, October 27. This year's gala evening includes more farmer finalists, more sponsors and more guests than ever before in the Great Room, Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London. If you're joining us, then you won't be disappointed. Tickets and tables are now all sold out.
Our Awards are now in their fourth year and have certainly taken on a life of their own. It must be the biggest celebration of agriculture the industry has seen in years and we're determined to make it memorable. We have 42 farmers shortlisted for the category prizes from all corners of the UK and our theme this year is No Ordinary People. It sums up the pride we feel for our finalists, their families and the industry. In an uncertian world, these farmers have shown remarkable resiliance and success. They stand out from the crowd.
There's a formal side to the evening where we honour the winners but also a fun side too. The sense of anticipation in the build up to the Awards is very exciting as we try to keep secret the name of the winners. We've got a number of celebrities coming along and the Secretary of State Hilary Benn has promised to try to get there, although he may be late as he travels back from a meeting in Luxembourg. A different approach has been taken with the entertainment and cabaret this year, simply to add more variety and keep everyone on their toes. A live band will keep people dancing until the early hours and boy do those farmers like to move!
The FW team are very busy organising the evening - table plans, menus, production - and worrying about pre and post event coverage. Full details of all the finalists will be available on www.fwi.co,uk early evening next Monday and the winners announced after 11pm. Evidence of the party to end all parties will be available on the site first thing Tuesday (Oct 28) providing we are not too hungover.
If you are attending and taking photographs, please share them with others on www.fwispace.co.uk.
No doubt there will be some stories to tell the morning after so watch this space......
Fwi user Kerry has written in to pay tribute to Chrissie Lawrence, the deputy livestock editor within the Farmers Weekly Group, who is leaving us in a couple of weeks. Kerry, your comments about Chrissie being an "inspiration and breath of fresh air" are spot on and she will be greatly missed.
Chrissie has helped lead significant change in our livestock coverage in the magazine and online. She has pioneered the Taking Stock blog, led a fresh approach in stock and sales coverage, brought new business to the group and has made a signficiant contribution to the development of the Farmers Weekly Awards. In fact, as I write Chrissie is busy sorting out the table plan for the big event of the year, which is no mean feat as we have 1200 guests ready to join us in the Great Room, Grosvenor House on Monday, 27th October. And let's face it, who you are sitting next to on the night can make or break your evening!
I'm hopeful that Chrissie will still be part of the FW team in a freelance capacity. She has a super new job as the brand manager for the AA - no not what you were thinking......... for the Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society based in Perth. This is a part time role but pretty exciting as the job is about expanding the identity of the Aberdeen Angus brand globally. Chrissie is perfect for this project because she's been such a fantastic champion for the Farmers Weekly brand in so many ways in recent years and has a good understanding and overview of the beef market. .
We know we will miss her expertise and enthusiasm but are expecting to lure Chrissie back on occasions to take on certain assignments for us in the future. In the meantime, we all wish her the very best in her career. A new deputy livestock editor will be appointed shortly.
Kerry's tribute to Chrissie has got me thinking about other inspiring women in agriculture. I can think of quite a few like the peer Baroness Hazel Byford, the chairman of Oxford Farming Conference Teresa Wickham and Kent farmer Caroline Alexander. Which females stand out from the crowd for you and why?
So the straight talking Brummie Lord Rooker has stepped down from his post as junior DEFRA minister in Gordon Brown's latest reshuffle. While his departure is over shadowed by the Prime Minister's more audacious move to bring Peter Mandelson back to the Cabinet, for farming Jeff Rooker's departure is a big deal.
He is that rare breed - a plain speaking Government man who says it as it is and who has listened and supported the industry well. Often described as "a farmer's friend", Jeff has been prettty vociferous in farming's favour on the major issues, most memorably for action over bovine TB. He was prepared to get out on farms and understand the real issues on the ground and he pushed hard up the line to influence Benn's thinking.
Jeff had a lot of experience with the farming brief because he also served as a junior minister for the old MAFF from 1997-99 where he presided over the BSE fallout. The word on the block in recent times was that he became a frustrated man, particularly disappointed by Hilary Benn's procrastination on key decisions.
He's not the only one. DEFRA's indecision on farming matters and its lack of a coherent policy on food and agriculture is causing widespread concern. We'll need new advocates within Parliament now if the message is going to sink in.
It is difficult to know at this stage whether the introduction of the new Energy and Climate Change Department will help or hinder things. One could argue that the split of these twin issues from DEFRA allows for greater focus on them and lightens the load for a beleaguered department that was struggling to cope with such a wide ranging brief. Perhaps now DEFRA will be better organised and able to concentrate on mainstream production matters. They've got no excuses now not to get on with it.
In principle, Farmers Weekly supports the need to give energy and climate change greater resource but, like the Country Land and Business Association, we expect the crucial role lfarmers play in creating renewable energy options and mitigating the effects of climate change will not be overlooked now the issues are split between departments.
Finally, Jeff Rooker you will be greatly missed in farming but maybe we can find a way of keeping you involved in some shape or form in the future? The industry needs strong champions and to lose one of his calibre is a great pity.