Crackling and the autumn statement

I have just been watching the Chancellor's autumn statement and there does seem to be support on offer for small and medium sized businesses. The messages about broadband and mobile phone coverage even seem to be getting through. And yet, is this going to be enough for rural enterprise? Only yesterday, the farmer from whom I buy pork emailed to say that their recent delivery for my freezer will be the last as they are winding up the business. It does seem sad that all their years of hard work, raising Gloucester old spot and Oxford sandy and black pigs to high welfare standards, resulting in top quality meat, result in a situation where they cannot make a decent living. I don't suppose today's proposals are going to make them change their minds. We may never taste decent crackling again.

Relu makes an impact

Yesterday's confrence at The Sage seemed to pass in rather an exciting blur. So many researchers and stakeholders took the trouble to tell me what a good day they were having, and how brilliant Relu has been. Having so much going on: the debates, discussion workshops, interactive activities from the projects, and the awards, gave it a real buzz. The films added a fantastic dimension to the event. We had two great winners in the Relu Awards: Sustainable Uplands, learning to manage future change for impact and Understanding environmental knowledge controversies for methodology. My only regret was that two such good projects: Comparative merits of consuming vegetables produced locally and overseas and Catchment management for protection of water resources had to lose. But we have four excellent films that the projects can use to promote their research in the future. And ALL the great impacts and innovative methodology from the programme is now available in two new briefing papers: "Changing Landscapes" published by Relu and "Innovation in Interdisciplinary Methods: the Relu Experience" published by the Data Support Service.

Who should run the countryside? Find out tomorrow!

We are all packed and ready to take everything down to The Sage for our conference "Who should run the countryside?" which kicks off at 9.30 tomorrow morning. This afternoon the Newcastle University porters are whisking boxes of conference delegate packs - each in a Relu printed eco-friendly hessian bag - down to Gateshead Quayside. Those coveted Relu Awards are carefully shrouded in bubblewrap and will be revealed at the ceremony tomorrow afternoon when Sir Howard Newby presents them to the winners. Chairs and speakers are lined up for the debates and discussions and at this moment the various props needed by the projects for their interactive activities will be starting to arrive at the stage door. Ben, The Sage's endlessly reassuring technician has the films and we have our back up copies just in case. There have been a couple of crises - including one unfortunate panellist with a broken leg - but another heroic stakeholder has stepped in to help. The Relu programme is fortunate in having so many willing friends. And that makes me feel that tomorrow will be a good day.

Bringing rural controversies - and song - to Tyneside

We can't promise that "Who should run the countryside" will be ALL singing,ALL dancing but there really will be some singing - and where could be more appropriate than The Sage, Gateshead? I understand that acoustically it is among the top 10 venues in the world and it is a stunning building, apparently created from silver panels that roll upwards from the riverside. So it seems an appropriate place to hear the Sustainable Uplands project singing about the future of our hills. Other highlights could be more sharply pointed, I think, particularly when debates such as "21st century land ownership: a responsibility or a privilege?" and "Food security v environmental responsibility: which should take precedence?" get underway. Some stakeholders have already remarked on the provocative nature of the conference's title and, of course, that isn't accidental. We want to stimulate people to think about the countryside and to contribute their views. We want to bring some rural controversy to Tyneside, and to make this a really engaging day.

The Sage is the place to be on 16 November

It seems as though five minutes ago Relu's "Who should run the countryside" was months away but suddenly we have barely two weeks to go. No need to panic though, or so I keep telling myself. Bookings are high, and we are still taking some last minute applications, the debate and workshop speakers are all organised and briefed, the Relu projects are poised to wow the delegates with their interactive activities, our film makers at Xube have the films in hand and we aim to try them out on the big screen the week before the premier to make sure all the technical stuff is ok. The Relu Awards themselves are safely in my office but I'm keeping those under wraps for now. Suffice it to say that they are amazing.

Stars in our eyes

As autumn creeps in, and Halloween masks appear in shop windows, our conference seems scarily close. Assistant Director Jeremy Phillipson and I have spent this morning with the crew from Xube who are making films to show at The Sage on 16 November. They have been meeting up with the teams shortlisted in the Relu Awards and filming the projects, the teams and their stakeholders. Delegates will be able to view the results as part of the conference programme, and vote for the overall winners. It's our version of the "X Factor" so we are taking it very seriously. From what I have seen, the footage looks great and I think it will be hard to choose between the entries. But we have also commissioned a 10 minute film which will include brief vignettes of the finalists, and an overview of Relu's achievements. This will feature comments from some high profile stakeholders to the Relu programme, and from the team at the Director's Office. Jeremy agonised a bit about whether this was an occasion which demanded the wearing of a tie, and I thought that there might be a make-up lady to run on at intervals with a powder puff, but, apart from some fiddling about to reduce the reflection from our spectacles, nobody seemed very bothered about how we looked. Which is probably just as well. I'm not sure Jeremy and I can compete with Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole.

No more caveat emptor!

Hitting both Farmers' Weekly and Farmers' Guardian last Friday with a story from Relu researchers (http://www.relu.ac.uk/news/Press%20Releases/Livestock%20disease%20final.docx) does feel like a small triumph. Graham Medley and his interdisciplinary team from Warwick University have been investigating endemic disease in livestock - those conditions that don't usually make headlines but do affect farmers' profits and animal welfare. They conclude that making more information available to livestock buyers about risks in the herd from which they are buying could be an important means of reducing disease. Obviously the price would reduce for animals from a herd with a poor disease record, which could provide the incentive needed for farmers to get to grips with the problems. It will be interesting to see whether this stimulates some debate among the readers of the farming press.