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• The mega WI

  “You youngsters like things big,” the old dear in the back of the taxi said to me yesterday morning, sucking in her cheeks. “We prefer small things – small businesses, small farms. “Whole villages will be ripped up to make... Posted Jun 09 2011, 09:17 PM by NufSaid Select Tags... SaveCancel Filed under: Agriculture, Communication, farming, farm, Food, ag, WI, mega farm, factory farm, womens institute, large-scale farming [Edit Tags]

• Doing porridge for a farm photo

  When I was on holiday in Florida a couple of years ago, I managed to convince my friends to pull our hire car over so I could stop off to take some photos of an orange grove. Not being farmer-types, they had a bit of a whinge about the delay. They couldn’t... Posted Mar 09 2011, 04:43 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Weird, America, United States, Politics, farm, Food, ag, photography, law, Florida, farm access, photos, prison [Edit Tags]

• The funny side of farming

  I managed to hold it together until the stereo started blaring out “Where’s your sausage gone?” to the tune of ‘Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep’. It was at that point – stood outside Downing Street in front of a 16ft, shiny... Posted Mar 04 2011, 09:21 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Farmers, Agriculture, London, farming, Weird, Celebrities, farm, Food, Government, pigs, BPEX, giant sausage, sausage, pig [Edit Tags]

• Sausage signings

  Tomorrow I’m going to be spending seven hours in central London with a load of pig farmers, an ex-Atomic Kitten, an ice-skating Gladiator, a 15ft sausage and a load of marker pens. I am a serious journalist… I am a serious journalist…... Posted Mar 02 2011, 05:39 PM by NufSaid Filed under: London, farming, Weird, Celebrities, Food [Edit Tags]

• A possible hairy situation for the NFU

  Dear oh dear. I can’t image the NFU team are a bunch of happy bunnies at the moment. Having given DEFRA secretary Caroline Spelman a telling off this week for not taking farming seriously enough, this morning it’s emerged government plans for a badger... Posted Feb 18 2011, 08:33 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, NFU, Gwyn Jones, Peter Kendall, Politics, Food, badger cull, badgers, DEFRA, Caroline Spelman, ag, bovine TB, National Farmers Uniona [Edit Tags]

• The day I met a proper journalist

  Had I not chosen a career path which had taken me down a bizarre route into a niche avenue of journalism, I would have like to have become a proper writer on a national newspaper. Like John Pilger, perhaps. Or Jay Rayner. Y’know, Jay Rayner. The... Posted Feb 16 2011, 08:48 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, Organic, farming, Celebrities, Food, Television, journalism, TV, Jay Rayner, knorr, marco pierre white [Edit Tags]

• The DEFRA love-in turns sour

  After the glamour of the Soil Association conference in Manchester last week, this week I’m at the NEC in Birmingham for the National Farmers Union’s annual meeting. With no general election on the immediate horizon, union president Peter... Posted Feb 15 2011, 06:24 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, Conference, farming, NFU, Peter Kendall, nfu conference, Politics, farm, Food, Government, food production, DEFRA, Caroline Spelman, ag, Food 2030, Hilary Benn [Edit Tags]

• Chewy and viscous

  I promise to blog about the Soil Association conference properly at some point (I’ll be putting my ranting hat on – be warned), but in the meantime I thought I’d share this with you. One of the rather nice perks of going to the SA conference... Posted Feb 14 2011, 05:55 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Farmers Weekly, Soil Association, Organic, Food, chocolate, green and blacks, baking, cakes, recipe [Edit Tags]

• “It’s starting to blow a bit”

  If I was living in Queensland I’d be starting to wonder who I’d annoyed. After much of the southern part of the state was declared a disaster zone earlier last month thanks to some of the worst flooding ever seen, northern Queensland is now... Posted Feb 02 2011, 08:39 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Travel, Food, Australia, weather, Marty, bananas, barramundi, Queensland, Flooding, Innisfail, Cyclone Yasi, Anna Bligh [Edit Tags]

• Water, water everywhere

  Some more flood photos, this time from a friend of a friend’s farm near Rockhampton, another of the areas to have taken a battering this week: Note the pig on the shed roof on this one: Most of the flood waters have receded now and the clean-up... Posted Jan 15 2011, 11:06 PM by NufSaid Filed under: farming, Food, Australia, Queensland, floods, Flooding, queensland floods, rockhampton [Edit Tags]

• I’ve had a go at describing what the floods are like over in Queensland, but this email I received today from past Nuffield scholar Ronald Thompson gives a better impression of what farmers are going through over in the worst-hit areas. Ronald farms... Posted Jan 14 2011, 11:38 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Food, Australia, Queensland, floods, Flooding, queensland floods [Edit Tags]

• Spuds at Spud’s

  I’ve come to the conclusion I’ll have to start wearing platform shoes if I spend any more time on farms. I understand the need for giant cars when you’re driving across bumpy and muddy terrain, but does the clutch on four-wheel drive... Posted Jan 13 2011, 04:17 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Travel, Food, Australia, australian agriculture, planting, potatoes, western potatoes [Edit Tags]

• Floody hell

  I’ve mentioned the rain and floods several times over the past few weeks and months, but things have started to get scary over here in Australia. This is Toowoomba, where I drove through in December: Over the past couple of days, Toowoomba has received... Posted Jan 12 2011, 01:02 PM by NufSaid Filed under: farming, Travel, Food, Australia, rain, Queensland, Brisbane, toowoomba, floods, Flooding [Edit Tags]

• I scream, you scream…

  I spent today hanging out with two fat cows. I’m not being rude – that’s the name of Kate (Ed’s wife) and her friend’s ice cream company, and this morning I pretended to assist in whipping up a batch of mint-choc-chip. I’ve... Posted Jan 10 2011, 10:31 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, milk, Food, Australia, icecream, regional food, ice cream, regional branding, two fat cows [Edit Tags]

• A load of abalone

  Every year when me and my sister were little we would go up the road to my grandparent’s for Christmas day. Aside from my grandad’s amazing stuffing (I still regret not ever finding out the recipe), chocolate eclairs and fancily-cut tomatoes... Posted Dec 19 2010, 11:18 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Food, Australia, kangaroo island, abalone [Edit Tags]

• Blending in with the greenery on Kangaroo Island

  I’ve been experimenting with a new look today. Nice, eh? Obviously, this is Grotbags and not me. As if I’d wear a hat like that. I’m referring more to the green skin. It’s a good look, and one I managed to achieve pretty well thanks... Posted Dec 18 2010, 10:40 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Travel, Food, Australia, Government, fishing, ferry, fisherman, seasick, grotbags, Kangeroo Island, china, cray fish [Edit Tags]

• Getting stuck into bee-keeping

  I don’t know whether all guests get this treatment or whether it was just reserved for me, but I was greeted today by a Nuffield chum armed with a roll of duct tape and a pair of rubber gloves. It’s not as weird as it sounds. Or not quite... Posted Dec 16 2010, 10:57 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Nuffield, Travel, Food, Australia, bees, Tintinara, apiarist, Apiary [Edit Tags]

• Wet harvest woes continue

  Once again I haven’t had internet connection for several days, so it hasn’t been until today that I’ve managed to catch up on emails and what’s been happening with my Nuffield chums who’ve been having the harvest from hell... Posted Dec 15 2010, 12:33 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, harvest, Food, Australia, Countryside, rain, australian agriculture, flood, Wagga Wagga [Edit Tags]

• A cheesy disappointment

  Driving through this part of Victoria I’ve seen a lot of cattle country, with fields alternating largely between Angus and Holstein herds (or beef and dairy cows, for the non-farmers amongst you). Like a lot of the state I’ve seen already... Posted Dec 14 2010, 01:02 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, cows, Travel, dairy, Food, Australia, cheese, branding, australian agriculture, regionality, regional produce [Edit Tags]

• Mining for sheep

  I’ve been pretty amazed by some of the scenery on the doorstep of my Nuffield chum’s farms, and none more so than at the final stop of my little road trip around NSW and Victoria. Rowan lives on the edge of a place called Taralgon, about 90... Posted Dec 09 2010, 09:58 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Travel, Australians, Food, Australia, sheep, Rowan, Taralgon, wheat, Loy Yang power station [Edit Tags]

• Mad dogs and Englishmen…

  …climb Mount Oberon in the midday sun. And then hang about at the top of it until it chucks it down with rain and they have to sprint 3.5km back to their car. I left Graeme and Gill’s this morning with the intention of stopping off at nearby... Posted Dec 08 2010, 01:16 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, harvest, Food, Australia, weather, rain, crops, floioding, Wilsons prom [Edit Tags]

• I spent five hours yesterday feeling like I was living the Christmas story of Mary and Joseph’s quest to find somewhere to stay. I thought I was going to have to make like Baby Jebus and crash in a stable, but luckily I managed to find the last... Posted Dec 07 2010, 01:53 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, cows, milk, dairy, Food, Australia, fish creek [Edit Tags]

• “You’d have to be an idiot not to be able to follow this map.”

  Luckily, Albury is lovely this time of year. I’ve left Dave, Heidi and Isaac’s and headed south-west (after a slight detour and a planned visit to a former gold-mining town now famed for its wine) to Barooga to visit another Nuffield chum... Posted Dec 03 2010, 02:19 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, farm, Food, Australia, ag, australian agriculture, tomatoes, Brad, salination, irrigation, Barooga [Edit Tags]

• Rain stops play

  I’ve been looking froward to this seciton of my trip for weeks – visiting my Nuffield chums. First stop is Dave Gooden, about two hours west of Wagga Wagga. Dave farms 9000 acres with his wife Heidi, his brothers and their wives and his Dad... Posted Dec 01 2010, 03:55 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Travel, Food, Australia [Edit Tags]

• Resc-ewe mission

  It may have kicked off slowly for some (it’s such a hassle when your blood sugar levels drop and give the symptoms of a hangover, innit?), but today I had a whirlwind education on the world of Australian sheep production. I’d gone along to... Posted Nov 24 2010, 12:46 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, Communication, farming, Food, Australia, sheep, MLA, EBLEX, Meat and LIvestock Australia [Edit Tags]