Owen Roberts » General news

First place agricultural photo in the UK

Owen Roberts — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:27:11 +0000

Many member countries in the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists hold their own photo awards annually, with participants often competing in the federation’s yearly competition as well. Congratulations to UK agricultural journalist and photographer Joe Watson of Scotland for winning the people category — as well as the top prize overall — in his guild’s photo contest, with this dramatic shot of farrier Alex Sharman.

Click here to see other UK photo award winners.

SPARK and ag com grads among new farm writers’ executive

Owen Roberts — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:41:20 +0000

The 2010-2011 version of the Eastern Canada Farm Writers’ Association board brings a broad range of experience and ambition to the table. The board held its inaugural meeting this week, and president Clare Illingworth says the group is determined to carry on the ECFWA’s tradition of offering value to its members. “I know that this executive will be able to build on that reputation, as we gear up to host our international colleagues at IFAJ 2011,” she says.

It’s great to see so many former SPARK participants and ag communications graduates among the executive. The group, from left, comprises president Clare (SPARK), second vice-president Karen Dallimore, director Kathie MacDonald (ag com diploma), secretary-treasurer Andrew Campbell (SPARK*AIR liaison with farms.com), newsletter editor Claire Cowan (ag com undergraduate course), director Terry Stevenson (ag com diploma), first vice-president Sarah Andrewes and past president Kelly Daynard. Absent from the photo are directors Jane Robinson and Christina Franc.

What a competent group! Good luck to the new executive.

G8, G20 make Farmers Fighting Poverty campaign timely

Owen Roberts — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:42:33 +0000

The G8 and G20 activity in Ontario makes it timely to introduce an anti-rural poverty campaign I learned about at the recent International Federation of Agricultural Journalists congress in Belgium, called Farmers Fighting Poverty. It’s led by an NGO based in The Netherlands, Agriterra, whose head of communications, Jose van Gelder (pictured below), provides the guest blog posted on the Agriterra site. Be sure to check out the campaign’s new video there.

World leaders say they want to end poverty and promote ecomonic stability. That’s great, but without farmer stability, any significant measure of recovery will be shortlived.

Jose van Gelder, Agriterra head of communications

Research writers ramp-up activity with SPARK Speaks blog

Owen Roberts — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 19:33:16 +0000

Students Promoting Awareness of Research Knowledge (SPARK) is the name of the student research-writing program at the University of Guelph, which is ramping up its blogging activities through the newly named SPARK Speaks. You can subscribe to new post notification emails — such as SPARK participant Natalie Osborne’s online radio news award from the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists — at the bottom of the right hand navigation bar.

Below is this summer’s SPARK contingent (from left): Carol Moore, Joey Sabljic, Matt Hawes, John Roberts, Vanessa Perkins and Natalie Osborne (photo by Hayley Millard).

New farm writers’ group assembles in Atlantic Canada

Owen Roberts — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 21:37:04 +0000

Congratulations to the newly formed Atlantic Canada Farm Writers’ Association, the sixth association under the umbrella of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation. The 12-person charter group, led by federation senator Allison Finnamore, assembled earlier this month in the cradle of Canadian confederation, Charlottetown, PEI.

Allison writes about the experience on her blog , and cites these reasons for having a local farm writers’ group:

Farmers and agriculture — around the world, throughout our country or in our own back yard — have important stories to tell, and we need to help them.
We need to gather together to share our experiences about what works and what doesn’t work when we tell these stories.
We need to learn about the new practices farmers are adopting and how they’re working on the farm.
We need to stay informed and up-to-date with the latest communication methods.
We need to polish our photography skills and sharpen our reporting proficiency.
We need to network with each other.

Good luck to this new group of agricultural journalists and communications professionals. Thanks to the anonymous security guard who took the photo of the group, which included Gwyn Bellefontaine (third from left), a former agricultural communications student of mine at the University of Guelph, along with Allison, fourth from the right.

Charter members of the Atlantic Canada Farm Writers' Association: (from left) Andy Walker (PEI), Wayne MacKinnon (PEI), Gwyn Bellefontaine (PEI), George Fullarton (NB), Allison Finnamore (NB), Wayne Riley (PEI), Jeanne Whitehead (NB) and Nina Linton (PEI).

Overall winning photo in 2010 IFAJ competition

Owen Roberts — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 15:40:42 +0000

John Eveson of Great Britain is the overall winner in the 2010 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists photo competition, for his photo entitled “sheep vs. sheep dog.” The photo, taken at the Skipton sheep dog sale, appeared in the Farmers Guardian in January, 2009, and was John’s 11th photo to figure in the finals of the long-running annual IFAJ awards.

The awards were presented earlier this week at the federation’s annual congress in Oostende, Belgium, hosted by the Belgian agricultural journalists’ guild. News releases about the winners in all media can be found here (scroll down to New at IFAJ).

Canada receives IFAJ flag to host 2011 congress

Owen Roberts — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:16:46 +0000

The time-tested tradition of handing the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists flag to the next host country — in our case, from Belgium to Canada — was an emotional one for me. Early on, I developed an appreciation of agriculture from a neighbouring farmer, George DeMeyer, a Belgian immigrant to Canada. I was hardly six years old when he taught me how to do chores and, later, how to drive a tractor. Those memories stuck with me and hit home when IFAJ 2011 co-chair Lilian Schaer (pictured below, at the IFAJ 2010 closing ceremonies earlier this week in Oostende, Belgium) and I accepted the IFAJ flag. For the 2011 Congress, we’ve chosen the theme Experience New World Agriculture, in part as a nod to immigrants who helped build Canada’s farm sector — farmers like George DeMeyer.

Congratulations to the organizers of IFAJ 2010 for a fantastic congress, and thanks for the photo to Joe Watson of Scotland, who will host IFAJ 2014.

Guest blogger Vanessa Perkins: How the intersex horse story came to be

Owen Roberts — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:41:34 +0000

I asked SPARK writer Vanessa Perkins (pictured below) to be my guest blogger here today, to recount the way the University of Guelph intersex horse story developed for her. It’s become a local and national story, appearing everywhere from the Guelph Mercury as a SPARKplug she wrote herself (as per an agreement we have with the Mercury) to CTV News. Here’s the way it happened…with the take-home message for journalists being to keep listening after you think the interview is over.

Vanessa is currently a communications intern with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at the Ontario region headquarters in Guelph.

* * *

You sometimes find a lot more than you go looking for – as University of Guelph scientists and SPARK writers have found.

As a SPARK student writer, I had the opportunity to meet with several University of Guelph researchers. Dr. Allan King, biomedical science researcher, and I were discussing a state-of-the-art lab recently built in the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) for an article in the upcoming issue of the Research magazine.

While meeting with Dr. King, and after discussing the lab, we started talking about some of the other research he and his colleagues were now able to do with the new pieces of equipment , such as PCR analysis, cell cloning, better analysis of intersex horses…

Better analysis of what? I had to ask! Dr. King explained they’d found horses that appeared to be females, but after exhibiting some strange behaviour, and upon closer analysis at the OVC, were found to be male.

After excitedly passing the story idea on to others at SPARK, it turned out I wasn’t the only person who was intrigued by the topic! I was lucky enough to meet again with Dr. King and his colleague Dr. Tracey Chenier, who explained the phenomenon to me in detail. It’s now being retold across Canada.

It just goes to show – in communications, expect the unexpected!

- Vanessa Perkins

Print and online readership up for this newspaper

Owen Roberts — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:59:28 +0000

Newspapers are having their share of readership challenges, but the Guelph Mercury is bucking the trend. It’s carrying a story today about readership being up more than nine per cent for its print edition, and 10 per cent for the online version. That’s encouraging for anyone who believes that when it comes to news, good content is as important as the medium in which it appears.

Welcome Oklahoma agricultural communications students

Owen Roberts — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:06:08 +0000

It was my pleasure this morning to welcome students and sponsors of the 2010 CanACT-Oklahoma State University agricultural communications exchange program. The CanACT members travelled to Oklahoma State during Guelph’s Reading Week in February; now, the Oklahoma students are in Guelph to take part in College Royal, farm tours and other events.

Thanks to Ross Wallace at Kubota Canada Ltd., Steven Larmer at the Students Federation of the Ontario Agricultural College, Claire Cowan and Erin Fletcher of the Grain Farmers of Ontario, Lianne Appleby of the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association, Ian Rumbles of the OAC Alumni Association and Dean Rob Gordon of the Ontario Agricultural College for their support of the exchange, as well as the Dairy Farmers of Ontario.

Tomorrow we’re heading out for farm tours, including a beef farm. The photo below is an Ontario beef farm, courtesy of the Ontario Farm Animal Council photo library.