Jay, a freelance writer, podcaster and editor/chief content producer for Canola Digest, will receive a $2,500 stipend towards costs to attend the 2025 IFAJ Congress in Kenya. He’s also a past president of the Manitoba Farm Writers and Broadcasters Association and has just recently re-joined the MFWBA board as a director.

“I have never been to an IFAJ conference and have never been to Africa. The 2025 IFAJ gathering in Kenya is the perfect opportunity to achieve two firsts with one bursary,” says Jay. “I try many tools to communicate farming best practices and always seek new ones. I want to explore the African approach to extension, and I’m looking forward to doing so through the experience of attending the congress.”

Bayer’s valuable continuing support of this bursary recognizes the important role journalists and communicators play in the agriculture industry and CFWF appreciates its long-time partnership with the company.

“We’re thrilled to sponsor this International Bursary, as it’s a great opportunity to put Canadian agriculture on the global stage” says Ginger Rozmus, Bayer’s Senior Communications Lead. “Bayer is proud to support one of Canada’s incredible farm writers through helping them attend the upcoming congress. We know that they will have an unforgettable experience getting to learn and network with other farm writers from around the world. Congratulations Jay Whetter on this fantastic achievement!”

Annually, CFWF supports the travel costs of its IFAJ executive member – currently Alberta’s Craig Lester – to attend both the IFAJ congress and the annual executive meeting. As not all those funds will be needed by Craig this year, the CFWF board has voted to redirect some of that budget to create a second IFAJ congress bursary for 2025.

This means the judging committee – Clare Stanfield, John Greig and Lilian Schaer – were able to select a second winner, who will also receive a $2,500 travel stipend.

The second travel bursary has been awarded to Julia Smith from British Columbia. Julia, a livestock farmer, is on the board of the BC Farm Writers’ Association, as well as Executive Director of the Small-Scale Meat Producers’ Association.

“I’m honoured and delighted to receive this bursary. Attending the IFAJ Congress in Kenya is an incredible opportunity to explore innovative global approaches to climate-smart livestock agriculture and to learn from fellow communicators and farmers around the world,” says Julia. “Given my personal experience with climate challenges and small-scale farming, I’m particularly excited to exchange ideas, gain fresh perspectives, and build relationships that will amplify our efforts in Canada, while fostering meaningful
collaborations with like-minded colleagues globally.”

The 2025 IFAJ Congress will be held October 14 to 18 in Nairobi, Kenya. Registration is now open.

(CFWF) – Becky Zimmer from the Saskatchewan Farm Writers’ Association (SFWA) has been selected as this year’s recipient of the CFWF International Federation of Agriculture Journalists’ (IFAJ) bursary sponsored by Bayer. 

The bursary will help cover Zimmer’s costs for travelling to the IFAJ’s World Congress, which is being held in Interlaken, Switzerland, from August 14 to 18.

“I am beyond grateful for being chosen for the 2024 CFWF Bayer IFAJ bursary,” says Zimmer.  

“It was a tough field to pick from as each of the applicants made strong cases as to why they should be awarded the bursary,” says Craig Lester, CFWF Vice President and Chair of the Professional Development subcommittee. 

“The judges had their work cut out for them and took a lot of time deliberating.”

The bursary would not be possible without the generous sponsorship from Bayer Canada.

The CFWF would also like to thank Lisa Guenther, Past President, Owen Roberts, Past President and Ian Doig, Member at Large for volunteering their time to judge the applications. 

ABOUT BECKY:

Born and raised in rural Saskatchewan, Becky Zimmer takes immense pride in her farming and small town background. After graduating university, she returned to her home area where she has spent nearly a decade covering prairie news, the effects of provincial and national government policies on rural Canada, civic politics, and community living for a variety of local and farm media outlets. Now into her second year as a freelance journalist, when she is not planning her next adventure with her camera and notebook, she spends much of her time in her home office surrounded by plants, books, and music. She also enjoys volunteering with local nonprofits, the Canadian Freelance Guild, and the Saskatchewan Farm Writers Association.

ABOUT CFWF: 

The Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation (CFWF) serves the common interests of agricultural journalists, including reporters, editors and broadcasters as well as those in business and government whose primary responsibility is agricultural communications.

ABOUT IFAJ:

The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists represents more than 5,000 communicators in 60 countries who support freedom of the press. These communicators focus on sharing new technologies and information relevant to the agricultural industry.

For more information:
Della Oberhoffner
Managing Director
Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation
secretariat@cfwf.ca

Kevin and Marlene Hursh were presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. They were recognized for their complete and total dedication to agricultural journalism and communications. 

Kevin’s name has practically been synonymous with farm journalism in Saskatchewan for decades. Saskatchewan audiences were first introduced to Kevin through his early work as the Agriculture News Editor with CTV in Saskatoon into the early 1990’s. Since then he was a long-time editor with FCC’s AgriSuccess magazine, and his work has been published in many publications. 

He has always had a strong involvement with the agriculture industry and commodity associations. In addition to operating his own farm, he was the Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Mustard  Development Commission for many years and still holds this position with the Canary Seed Development Commission of Saskatchewan and the Inland Terminal Association of Canada. He has also been very active in the Saskatchewan Farm Writers Association (SFWA), being the president of the organization for many years. 

Marlene has been right by Kevin in all these adventures and has been the SFWA Treasurer for almost the entire 21st Century. Her work ethic is like no other, and the SFWA and CFWF are extremely grateful for all her efforts and contributions on the part of the organizations. Her work includes serving on the SFWA Board as well as putting her organizing skills behind several CFWF conferences hosted in Saskatchewan over the years. 

Both Kevin and Marlene are very deserving of this award. We would like to thank them both for their time and commitment they have put in over the years. 

Congratulations to both of you!