nufsaid

How farming can butter up journalists

NufSaid — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:36:44 GMT

The past few weeks have been very quiet in Farmers Weekly Towers. At one point, there were so few people in the office that I was worried I’d got confused and accidentally come to work on a Sunday. The supply of serious news always tail off during...(read more)

Making a statement

NufSaid — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 21:48:05 GMT

So my efforts to resurrect my blogging career failed miserably. I have an excuse though – I’ve been busy buying my first house. I’ve decided this is the one and only time I’m going to do such a thing. Not only have I found it incredibly...(read more)

A-maize-ing

NufSaid — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:51:38 GMT

Today, I discovered that I like flying in helicopters over farmland. Sometimes my job’s pretty good. Read More......(read more)

The mega WI

NufSaid — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:17:03 GMT

“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...(read more)

An attempt at resuming normal service

NufSaid — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:00:48 GMT

Avid fans will notice I’ve haven’t been hangin’ around here much lately. I’ve been lacking a bit in the creative-writing inspiration front so I thought it was best to steer clear until my writer’s block disappeared. I’ve...(read more)

Naked ambition

NufSaid — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:25:06 GMT

I have an confession to make. If you were at the Farmers Club lunch in London yesterday listening to me speak, in my head you were starkers. Yep, that’s right – completely nakey. Even the tablecloth didn’t spare your blushes. Imagining...(read more)

Toilet break

NufSaid — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:45:03 GMT

I only ever come to Brussels for work-related stuff, so tonight I decided to see a bit of the city and leg it around the touristy spots before the sun went down. It turns out the place is titchy, and unless I managed to miss a massive chunk of the city...(read more)

The language of the CAP

NufSaid — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:21:27 GMT

I can’t remember any German when I need it, but every time I come to French-speaking Brussels it seems to be the only language that leaves my mouth. Having got off the Eurostar I couldn’t even seem to remember how to ask where the taxi rank was in English...(read more)

Mercosaur sighting #2

NufSaid — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 09:52:40 GMT

I wonder if the artist who drew the illustration for page 20 of this week’s issue of Farmers Weekly had seen my Mercosaur picture. Coincidence? Read More......(read more)

Doing porridge for a farm photo

NufSaid — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:43:22 GMT

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...(read more)

The EU reporter’s job is safe in my hands…

NufSaid — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 21:32:04 GMT

Today I had to write a story about Mercosur. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered it’s actually a group of South American countries who want a trade agreement with the European Union and not what I thought it was…. Read More......(read more)

The funny side of farming

NufSaid — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:21:25 GMT

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...(read more)

Sausage signings

NufSaid — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:39:37 GMT

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…...(read more)

A possible hairy situation for the NFU

NufSaid — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 20:33:53 GMT

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...(read more)

The day I met a proper journalist

NufSaid — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:48:36 GMT

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...(read more)

The DEFRA love-in turns sour

NufSaid — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:24:23 GMT

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...(read more)

Chewy and viscous

NufSaid — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:55:34 GMT

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...(read more)

Orange you glad I’m the one covering this conference….

NufSaid — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 16:27:05 GMT

I’ve come up to Manchester for the Soil Association’s annual conference. I thought, having spent the last few months in hot countries, that I have a decent sun-tan compared to most people. I hadn’t counted on some of the lovely ladies...(read more)

“It’s starting to blow a bit”

NufSaid — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:39:22 GMT

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...(read more)

Settling back in

NufSaid — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 16:02:28 GMT

I’ve avoided blogging for a week or so, partly to give you a rest and partly because I didn’t trust myself not to just whinge about the fact that England is BLOODY FREEZING. In just 24 hours on a plane I lost 35 degrees. Seriously, I don’t...(read more)

The cast (and a thank you)

NufSaid — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:05:08 GMT

I’ve gone on about how great it’s been to visit my Nuffield friends, but special mention has to be made to the families who’ve not only put up with a random English girl turning up on their doorstep, but made me feel incredibly welcome...(read more)

The end is nigh

NufSaid — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 11:43:10 GMT

So this is it. After three countries, 101 days, 41 different towns and cities, seven changes in time zone and more than 100 blog posts, I’m on my way home. I’ve met some amazing people along the way, visited incredible farms and businesses...(read more)

NufSaid — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 06:12:38 GMT

A water slide: Climbing in rock pools: And a beach-side barbeque special guest (even if the locals did insist on spoling his presence with all the ‘vermin’ nonsense): Not a bad way to spend a lazy January afternoon, eh? Read More......(read more)

Jelly bum

NufSaid — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 03:33:21 GMT

When it comes to the sea, I’m a massive girly wimp. Whichever ocean I’m in I freak out about the thought that – regardless of distance – somewhere in the water there are sharks. And jelly fish. And those hideous scary anglers with...(read more)

Water, water everywhere

NufSaid — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 23:06:34 GMT

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...(read more)