We tell stories, more good stories than bad, but the bad ones by their very nature seem to grow legs – in the bloody media.
Media also reports bad builders, teachers, doctors, lawyers, truck drivers and so on. As it should.
But we love telling the good stories more, especially in this new publication.
Come on New Zealand farmers, it’s time to stop being defensive in an attempt to get everyone to understand us and how misunderstood we are.
We should instead invest more energy into owning our own NZ farming story.
Ta-daa …. introducing On-Farm Story.
If you do nothing else today, please watch the latest On-Farm Story video. You’ll find it on our Farmers Weekly website, on You Tube or in your social media feed.
When you’ve watched this week’s one go back and watch the previous three.
They’re only two minutes but they tell the story of farmers, farming families and the caring way we farm.
On-Farm Story is told by genuinely passionate farmers. The videos are short, of the highest quality and they’re guaranteed to inform, inspire and entertain you.
Our team at GlobalHQ (Farmers Weekly and Dairy Farmer) are committed to helping you tell your story by producing a new On-Farm Story every week in video and in print in Farmers Weekly and every month in the Dairy Farmer. They will become a resource for the whole industry to share and to use on websites, in presentations, at field days and more.
There will still be those farmers who have to be held to account every now and then but we all know the number of good stories in farming far outweigh the bad.
We’ll do our bit by publishing and filming stories about the passionate people who are proud to call themselves farmers and who deserve to have their story told. You can help us share them.
Please enjoy your journey through this first issue of the all new Dairy Farmer.
We’ve invested in the format (a gloss magazine) and in the distribution (free to every letterbox on every dairy farm) and we’ll continue to invest in quality editorial that you will find worth reading.
Please feel free to fire any feedback our way.
Dean and Cushla Williamson
Dean and Cushla Williamson are Feilding publishers who recently established GlobalHQ and bought Farmers Weekly and Dairy Farmer. GlobalHQ donates 1% of advertising revenue to the Rural Support Trust. Thanks to our Farmers Weekly and Dairy Farmer advertisers this week: $880. Need help now? You can talk to someone who understands the pressures of farming by phoning your local Rural Support Trust on 0800 787 254.
