Modern and vintage farm tractors and machinery are the specialist subjects of two new members of the Guild.
As deputy machinery editor on Farmers Weekly, Emily Padfield reports on the latest mechanisation technologies used for field and yard work.
“It’s my dream job,” she says. “As well as supplying copy for print, I have a blog, a Twitter account and promote video content to provide a multimedia experience for readers and users.”
Having gained a BSc (Hons) in Agriculture from the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester in 2004. Emily spent a year as a parliamentary stagiaire in the European Parliament in Brussels for the National Farmers Union.
On her return to the UK, she studied a Postgraduate Diploma in International Rural Development at the RAC before joining Farmers Weekly in 2006 as a livestock reporter. During this 18-month appointment she was seconded to the News desk to help cover the 2007 foot-and-mouth outbreak.
“I then moved to Warwickshire to work for the NFU once again, this time as deputy editor of publications at the Stoneleigh headquarters but a little under a year in, the deputy machinery editor’s job at Farmers Weekly became available and I’ve been in this post since September 2008.”
Vintage farm machinery is the main interest of Peter Small, who is based in north east Fife, Scotland where he has been involved in agriculture all his life.
“I’ve been farming, contracting and now have moved into journalism, which came about through my expertise in agricultural history, especially machinery, which has been a passion of mine since childhood,” he says.
“I’ve studied the history of farming, especially in Scotland, as a hobby for years and now can put this to professional use in feature and news articles for specialist vintage titles, as well as local papers and farming magazines.”
He also works as press officer to help promote the annual Scottish ploughing championships and qualifying events for overseas competitions to trade and public alike, and his knowledge and his collection of artifacts has led to a number of related activities. These include providing commentary at agricultural shows and vintage rallies, as well as some DVDs, and working as an adviser on historic/drama productions on both the large and small screen over the last 20 years.
“Now I have gone full time with my hobby in a period when much more interest is being shown by the public in their food, farming and land use heritage,” says Peter. “There’s huge interest in the preservation of old vehicles and machinery.
