Arable editor Julian Gairdner (above) will take up a new role from 2 October as Online editor for the Farmers Weekly Group.

The appointment demonstrates the commitment Farmers Weekly Group will be making to ensure FWi is the best site for agricultural news, information and business tools – the UK’s leading source of agricultural and lifestyle content on the web, FW editor Jane King said.

“This is a significant step in the evolution of our business. Over the next couple of years we will be devoting a lot more effort to building our online offering and looking at smart ways to link the web and our paper products.”

Mr Gairdner, who led this summer’s hugely successful Food Miles Campaign, will relinquish his arable responsibilities on Farmers Weekly and Crops magazine.

“I’m delighted to be taking this role on,” he said. “It’s an exciting challenge. Online media are becoming central to farming businesses and I believe we’ve reached a turning point where our core readership is starting to rely increasingly on the web for sources of information.”

“I hope all FWi’s users will come to see the site as the best way to interact with the whole farming community.”