Arable crops specialist Lucy de la Pasture has joined fellow Members of the Guild Angus McKirdy and Tom Allen-Stevens at Crop Production Magazine (CPM) as technical editor.
She is working alongside current editor Tom and is responsible for CPM’s technical articles and the new roots section of the magazine.
“Potatoes and sugar beet are technically challenging to grow well,” notes Lucy. “I’m looking forward to digging into the detail to bring CPM readers information that may challenge their thinking, as well as help their decision making.
“CPM offers scope to properly cover some of the important challenges facing growers, while always presenting a balanced view of opinions,” she adds. “As a technical journalist, this is an aspect of the magazine that is, to me, worth its weight in gold.”
Based in Ludlow, Shropshire, Lucy worked as an agronomist in south Herefordshire in the 1990s, with a special interest in potato and vegetable crops. While still crop walking, she worked as a freelance technical writer for Crops magazine and fell in love with writing.
More recently, Lucy has worked with agricultural PR agency, Pinstone Communications and retains strong links with them, especially where her technical knowledge can assist the team.
“Lucy is an experienced technical journalist with a proven track record, so the technical and roots pages couldn’t be in better hands,” says Tom Allen-Stevens. “She also has a highly engaging writing style and a keen understanding of what makes a story interesting.”
CPM publisher Angus McKirdy (left) said: “The magazine continues to go from strength to strength and Lucy’s appointment as technical editor bears testament to that. Her previous experience as a BASIS-qualified agronomist makes her ideally suited to the role, and I’ve no doubt her joining the magazine will enhance CPM’s already strong reputation as the UK’s leading arable technical journal.”
Having a dedicated technical editor is a new move for CPM, which from the February 2016 edition has a clearly identified technical section fronting the magazine, with machinery coverage also gaining added prominence.
Arable features are now contained in their own dedicated section, while the new roots section will deliver essential technical and machinery features on sugar beet and potatoes.
A comprehensive directory of farming and other rural magazines, newspaper supplements and websites published in Britain is available in the Guild’s Farming Media Centre.
