THE FARMING community and the industry that reports on it, have been stunned by the death of Joe Watson, the farming editor of The Press and Journal, at the age of 43.

Without doubt one of the hardest working journalists in the business, Joe was the recipient of many awards, not the least of which was when he won the Stuart Seaton Award for the best regional newspaper coverage of agriculture.

But it will not just be awards that Joe will be remembered for. His sometimes abrasive style and inquisitive nature managed to winkle out news stories, even when the corporate barriers went up and the PR machine went into full retraction mode - that was his trademark and something he revelled in. It sometimes did not endear him to those in the firing line!

Born and brought up in Turriff, he first entered the newspaper industry as a cub reporter at the age of 18 on the Turriff Advertiser, moving on to gain experience with The Press and Journal, followed by The Dundee Courier, before becoming editor of the weekly Mearns Leader, in Stonehaven.

In 1996, he was appointed farming editor at The P and J and in this he found his forte. He devoted long working days in pursuit of his craft and it wasn't just the hot news stories that interested Joe, but also the people of the farming industry.

To that end, he travelled extensively both in Scotland and England, and also abroad, to widen his knowledge and reporting skills. As an executive member of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists, Joe was instrumental in bringing the IFAJ's annual congress to Scotland for the first time in 40 years, this year.

This will be held in September and centred in Aberdeen. He was a key organiser and was looking forward to telling a world farming audience what Aberdeenshire had to offer.

But he was ever a champion of the produce of the North-east, regularly offering a critique to his many followers on facebook on produce that he bought for home consumption or ate in restaurants.

His work schedule was a gruelling one and one, many suspect, that impacted on his health. He regularly put in miles and hours that, had he been a long distance lorry driver, would have seen him banned from the road. It was often a gargantuan effort, especially when he was not in the best of health.

He was proud of his section of the paper, which, under his guardianship, had massively increased in size and scope - with most of it written by Joe himself. It was typical of him that when budgets became tight, Joe just worked harder and, in recent years, he had also become somewhat of an accomplished photographer, submitting excellent pictures to go along with his stories for The P and J.

Outwith his contribution to his newspaper, Joe was also heavily involved with his local show, Turriff, and also the 'Taste of Grampian' food event. As a former Young Farmer himself - where he excelled in speechmaking - he was a champion of the Young Farmer's movement and of a coherent new entrants' policy into farming, via Holyrood.

Socially, he was excellent company and BD (before diabetes) had a huge appetite for fine dining and good company. One memorable quote from an Italian eaterie in Perth (for the Bull Sales) had Joe ordering: "A 22-oonce T-bone steak and a dreel o' tatties."

While there were few 'grey' areas with Joe - he always took time out for those he respected, but had little time for those he did not - there was also a giant streak of kindness in the man that few would realise.

He was sensitive to losses his friends had borne, was thoughtful of others' great deeds and doted on his mother, Mirren, his brothers Murdo and Fraser, and Fraser's children, Joe (11) and Amy (6). Sadly, Joe had lost his father, also Joe, just more than a year before.

The industry has lost a vocal champion and an inherently decent man, who did a lot of very kind gestures behind the scenes that few would know about.