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The Black Sheep – May 2006

- 16 June 2006
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24 May


Any homies in the farmhouse?


Mrs FWC has rustled up a Food Miles rap to help raise awareness of our Campaign. Obviously she’s looking to grow our press coverage over on the Westside.


Enjoy! 


The food on your plate – it looks so delicious
But don’t you find there’s something suspicious
How many miles has it travelled and for what reason
For you to eat food that is well out of season.


Was it necessary the distance it’s travelled
Think hard, the journey can be unravelled
Do we really need to use so much fuel
Just to serve food that looks so cool.


Stop – think what’s on your plates
A meal fit for a king, just to impress your mates
Come on now you know it makes sense
Just eat local food it costs far less pence.


Try to get the message across to your friends
Don’t make this planet a part of the past tense
Now is our chance to do what we can
To try to ensure the survival of man!







16 May


The natives are restless …


chicken stunt 2Farmers Weekly braved the streets of Sutton yesterday in an attempt to educate the locals as to the superior quality of local food.


Miss Deputy News got to act out a personal fantasy and gamely dressed as a chicken to help us stand out from all the Burberry caps and Adidas tracksuits.


Not since 1066 has the mighty Surrey town seen the like. A sea of yellow, we swept down the High Street converting Suttonians through the distribution of car stickers and local fruit juice.


In reality, the wave of pro-farmer, pro-local food propaganda was generally well received, although some of the public did seem to think we were promoting a new Fried Chicken take away.


food miles smallOur Food Miles campaign is now well underway with lots of TV and Radio interviews under our belts. If you haven’t already done so – check out the Food Miles minisite …












chicken stunt 1

The cast of Chicken Little – The Musical
pose for press shots


chicken stunt 3


Dave decided it was probably time
to give up the casual drinking






15 May


TVs everywhere…


TR: We’ve arrived in the office this morning to find two new televisions here. One is on the wall above Mr Fwi’s desk showing rolling news (at least, it will be until the World Cup starts) and the other one is a huge screen in the diary meeting room. That’s not – for those of you who are Big Brother fans – anything like the Diary Room, it’s where everyone meets on a Monday morning for our diary meeting, ie the lowdown on what’s going on this week in the world of farming. That reminds me, what time is Neighbours on at?




10 May


RE: What a weekend!


PS: Well, what a weekend it was! I have to say, I probably wasn’t quite as bright eyed as Mr Farmlife yesterday – who took great delight in coming over to my desk to find out how I was feeling. It was great to catch up with my fellow Oxon YFC members and many others I chatted to over the weekend. A fantastic time was had by all, helped by some sunny weather, the usual mix of daytime/ evening entertainment – and of course a few glasses of liquid refreshment! Now it’s time to catch up with the work I should have been doing…




 8 May


What a weekend!


TR: Two members of the Black Sheep flock were at the big Young Farmers get-together in Blackpool this weekend and a great time was had by all! I was back at my desk bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning (well, I was here anyway) but my fellow Black Sheep, Mr Fwi Arable Editor, is not due to return until tomorrow morning. I last saw him in a restaurant about 8pm on Saturday evening. If you spotted him after then, let us know…




 8 May


What a blogger!


david millibandIt appears that our new Defra minister is a fellow blog dog.


Miliband’s blog …


I think he’s got some distance to go before he reaches the giddy heights of The Sheep but hats off to him for having a go.


Got issues with him already? Then, as he says, join the debate!




8 May


Kings of the World


ppa logoFarmers Weekly has continued its recent trend of picking up awards, and this time it’s the big one.


Although not something the majority of the Flock have heard of the PPA (Periodical Publishing Association) Awards are the Oscars of the publishing world.


We were up for five separate categories this year: Publisher of the Year (The Boss), Editor of the Year (Mrs Farmers Weekly), Designer of the Year (Mr Art), Columnist of the Year (David Richardson) and Weekly Business and Professional Magazine of the year.



The short of it was that we won the big one – Magazine of the Year – which is just about the top accolade as you can get in the publishing world.


Here’s what the judges said:


Farmers Weekly was transformed in 2005 from a “brand hero in decline” into an “energetic market-leader with a big future”.


The revitalisation of Farmers Weekly, driven by a new publisher and editor, delivered readers new content, designs, contributors and a more positive tone, summed up in the new strapline – Working for your farming future.


The judges were impressed by the “radical overhaul of not just the design of the title but the entire thinking behind its approach to market.”


The commercial results were impressive – falling costs, revenue increases, market share increases and record profits. The title also expanded the Farmers Weekly brand with the launch of the Agricultural Industry Awards, delivering new revenue and promoting what is best in British farming.


The judges concluded: “By taking a more positive view of its readers’ lives, Farmers Weekly achieved fantastic commercial success on all the key measurements in a very challenging marketplace.”



All downhill from here I guess. Still there’s always Website of the Year to aim for next time.








ppa winners

Hislop was chuffed to land a job with the successful FW team



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