Professional Development – CFWF

2016—Karli Reimer

Alexandra Hayden — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 20:12:27 +0000

“Communicating with Visual Graphics”

$1,000

The Manitoba Farm Writers and Broadcasters Association (MFWBA), which formed in 1956, is the regional association representing Manitoba’s agricultural journalists and communicators. MFWBA brings together agricultural media and communications specialists to learn about and debate all aspects of Manitoba agriculture. As a regional chapter of CFWF, they will be organizing a learning event via webinar for MFWBA members, others in the CFWF organization and extend an invitation to other organizations such as Canadian AgriMarketing Association.

In today’s world, many readers want to consume information quickly and look for visual cues to learn more efficiently. As a result, more than ever before, words are being paired with images and graphics to teach, instruct and inform. We are proposing a group professional development session on effective graphic communications. While our organization often hosts “lunch and learn” sessions on local agricultural issues, we have a need to expand our offerings to include professional development sessions that will address new and improved ways of communicating with our audiences. The agriculture communicators in our association would be the primary target, but journalists can also benefit from understanding the importance of visuals and graphics for their readership. The webinar will also be recorded for later viewing.

2016—Suzanne Atkinson

Alexandra Hayden — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 20:11:31 +0000

“Exchange Tour with Russian Dairy News”

$2,000

Suzanne has been a regular contributor to Ontario Farmer Publications for 22 years, covering all aspects of agricultural news from Port Perry to Kingston. Previously she was an editor at a community weekly in Cobourg, ON and community editor at the now defunct Cobourg Daily Star. With her husband and son, she is also a full time dairy farmer at Rainbowsend, a 40-cow purebred Holstein operation that crops about 800 acres. She has been an active CFWF member for about 10 years and was a ECFWA organizer of the 2007 CFWF conference in Prince Edward County and, subsequently, hosted one of the tours to the area as part of the 2011 IFAJ Congress

She has been invited to lead a tour involving the chief editor of the Russian publication Dairy News and other Russian dairy industry professionals. Visits will take place to industry leading dairy farms, Holstein Canada, CDN, CLGA, the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair etc. This opportunity will allow her to build on her CFWF experiences and share her knowledge of the industry while broadening her understanding of the international market place. As a journalist, she will share information with readers at Ontario Farmer and its dairy publications and also contribute to the Russian publication, Dairy News. The learning will be shared through the publishing of articles, social media and through ECFWA and CFWF events.

2016—Karen Dallimore

Alexandra Hayden — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 20:09:01 +0000

“Learning Research Methods in Agricultural Science”

$1,148

As owner of Words For Hire, Karen has been a fulltime freelance writer for agriculture and equiculture since 2002. She counts over 50 publications as her clients, providing copy, photography, and one commissioned book. In 2006, she was a finalist for a Kenneth R. Wilson Award for Best Agricultural Article; she received the CFWF Q.H. Martinson bronze award for Weekly Press Reporting in 2012 and another CFWF bronze in 2016 for photography. Known as ‘the idea person’, she served 11 years on the ECFWA board as director and VP and as editor of The Nib, the ECFWA newsletter, and two years as regional representative on the CFWF board.

Karen has enrolled in a course at the University of Guelph entitled “Research Methods in Agricultural Science” to enhance her understanding of research principles and processes that will allow her to analyze and disseminate relevant research results to readers, combining good science with her writing talents to provide interesting articles. She hopes to gain a stronger foundation in critical thinking, experimental design and data analysis that will allow her to assess and report the value of research projects. Karen plans to share her knowledge through CFWF presentations, a webinar or articles and is interested in speaking to students about the role of mainstream media in science.

2016—Gord Gilmour

Alexandra Hayden — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 20:08:08 +0000

“Enhancing skills for better understanding agriculture as a business”

$2,000

Gord is an associate editor with Country Guide magazine, and was previously a reporter with the Manitoba Co-operator and communications consultant with the Canadian Wheat Board. He has been a member of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation for nearly 20 years and has been involved in organizing three CFWF annual conferences. He grew up working on a family farm in northeastern Saskatchewan.

He is currently studying business administration at Red River College with the aim of improving his theoretical grounding in all aspects of business given the extensive coverage he has to provide of ‘agriculture as a business’. He plans to take courses in financial accounting, statistics, business law and human resources management amongst other relevant topics so that his writing will reflect a greater understanding of business fundamentals and provide readers with better information on which to base their business decisions. To share the learning from this activity he will contribute two feature-length articles on my professional development activities to the Farm Journalist over the next 12 months. He will also make himself available to the organizers of the upcoming CFWF conference and leadership of the MFWBA for opportunities to make a presentation or participate in a webinar.

2015—Lorne McClinton

Alexandra Hayden — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 20:06:55 +0000

“Implications of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement on the Canadian dairy industry”

$2,000

Lorne has been working as a journalist and photojournalist for over 30 years, specializing in agriculture journalism since 1995. He will be examining the implications of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement on the Canadian dairy industry given the significant changes that such an agreement would bring to the tariff-protected supply management system currently in place. He will be travelling to New Zealand and California to learn how the dairy industry operates in these areas and to examine whether it is even possible for Canadian dairy farmers to compete in a global free market system like New Zealand does and whether there are other support programs, such as those offered in the U.S. that might act as a substitute.

Lorne will publish his findings as articles in the agriculture press and mainstream business publications to provide greater insight to producers in Canada’s supply managed sectors on what type of regulatory environment they might have to operate in, in the future. He will also provide useful information to consumers and to investors active in Canada’s food industry. In addition, he will make a presentation to CFWF members via webinar and/or at the 2016 CFWF conference, which will be held in Saskatoon.

2015—Shannon VanRaes

Alexandra Hayden — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 20:05:42 +0000

“Developing an International Perspective for Improving Agricultural Communications”

$2,000

Shannon VanRaes writes for the Manitoba Co-operator covering issues ranging from animal husbandry and agronomy to farm policy, research, transportation and trade. In 2014, she was named the Glenn Cunningham Agriculture Journalist of the Year by the North American Agricultural Journalists.

To complement her 2015 participation in the IFAJ Exposure-4-Development tour to Zambia, Shannon will be attending the IFAJ 2015 Congress in New Zealand to further develop her craft by meeting new writers and gaining fresh insights since agriculture is viewed and covered differently across the globe. She will share her learnings in real time via social media and reflect on her experiences through articles in the Manitoba Co-operator, Metro News and broadcasts from CJOB Radio in Winnipeg. She will also be presenting to the Manitoba Farm Writers and Broadcasters Association and the Commonwealth Journalists Association, as well as making a presentation to CFWF members via webinar and/or at the 2016 CFWF conference, which will be held in Saskatoon.

2015—David Schmidt

Alexandra Hayden — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 20:04:24 +0000

“IFAJ 2015 New Zealand”

$2,000

David Schmidt, BCFWA member, is currently associate editor of Country Life in BC and a freelancer for various other publications. He will be attending the 2015 IFAJ conference in New Zealand. As a supply management and dairy specialist he believes the opportunity to learn more about the “free market” dairy industry in New Zealand would be very helpful and the insights he would gain into agriculture on the opposite side of the world would also benefit his overall expertise.

CFWF members will benefit as they will have another liaison attending the conference, as well David will post articles for Country Life in BC and other interested publications. He will also provide a full report to the Farm Journalist and a presentation at a CFWF conference.

2015—Owen Roberts

Alexandra Hayden — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 20:03:23 +0000

“Plant Biotechnology Science Writing and Public Communication”

$1,362

Owen Roberts, ECFWA member and vice-president of IFAJ, has been a journalist and columnist with daily, weekly and monthly print and online media for 35 years. He is also an agricultural communications instructor and a research communications director at the University of Guelph.

He has been invited as the sole Canadian communications representative to make a presentation on “Plant Biotechnology Science Writing and Public Communication” at the international University-Industry Consortium conference in Yuma, Arizona in March, 2015. He will be one of four speakers on communications; he will bring the Canadian perspective, based largely on what he knows as an active farm journalist and as the originator and coordinator of a unique student-based program at Guelph that promotes a greater understanding of agricultural research. He anticipates this will enlighten others from agricultural universities and industry about how they too can work cooperatively to involve young people in plant biotechnology communication in Canada. He will be able to prepare stories and columns from the material he collects at this conference, to present at a CFWF annual conference and at classes at the University of Guelph.

2015— Trevor Hargreaves

Alexandra Hayden — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 20:02:11 +0000

“Communications preferences of British Columbia’s dairy farmers”

$2,000

Trevor Hargreaves, BCFWA member, works for the BC Dairy Association as the Managing Editor of the BC Dairy Producer News. For the past year and a half he has been working on an agricultural specific thesis as a completion requirement for a Masters Degree in Communications at Royal Roads University. This thesis is focused on the communications preferences of British Columbia’s dairy farmers.

This study is of direct relevance to CFWF due to the agricultural content, but more specifically because of the interesting findings that differ significantly from oft-preached communications industry developments. Specifically, the findings show a very high reliance on traditional print formats, and far less desire to read information digitally. This research provides strong support for traditional newsprint as a method to reach this sector of the agricultural community, and provides an argument for maintaining traditional journalism in the agricultural sector. He will publish findings in BC Dairy Producer News, related agricultural press (Holstein News/Country Life News), general media (including a press release and PR campaign around the findings), communications conferences, and dairy scientific publications.

2018—Lilian Schaer

Alexandra Hayden — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 19:46:48 +0000

“Global Food Innovation Summit”

$1,500

Lilian has been a member of Eastern Canada Farm Writers’ Association since the early 2000s, joining the board as a director in 2003 and serving as president from 2005 to 2008. She was an ECFWA rep to the CFWF board in 2009‑10 before stepping down to concentrate on her role as co‑chair of the 2011 Canadian IFAJ congress. After that congress, she was part of the Legacy Fund committee that helped determine how to manage proceeds of the event. Lilian has attended IFAJ congresses since 2007 and was a 2010 Alltech Young Leader, received an IFAJ gold medal in 2011 for my role in congress organization, and have won numerous CFWF writing awards.

Lilian will attend the 2018 Global Food Innovation Summit in Milan, Italy with an interest in topics at the conference such as innovation and new technology, artificial intelligence, block chain, automation, and genomics/genetics as well as issues related to food waste and food security. She aims to get a broader, more international perspective on these topics and learn about the latest trends and innovations from global leaders active in this space. She will write news articles about the conference as well as using the information as background for future stories and industry innovation projects and programs. Lilian will share the information on social media as well as make presentations as requested.