Telstra Big Pond Rural Journalist and Photographer Award winners >

Trip to Europe for top young SA journalist

Stock Journal Livestock Editor Catherine Miller has been announced as 2008 winner of the prestigious Alltech Award for young rural journalists.

Catherine will attend the up International Federation of Agricultural Journalists World Congress in Austria and Slovenia in September.

The Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ) coordinates the award which is sponsored by global animal nutrition company Alltech.

The ACAJ's affiliate clubs in all mainland States select finalists for the award. Catherine represented Rural Media South Australia.

The career development opportunity enables a young Australian to meet and network with some of the world's top agricultural journalists.

Alltech Pacific Rim Marketing Manager Emily Boyd said the company strongly believed that professional education was vital to ensuring the sustainability and success of rural industries.

"Agricultural journalists have an essential role to play in communicating what is happening in the farm sector and we are delighted to again sponsor this award," Ms Boyd said.

ACAJ President Gordon Collie said the award was a great learning opportunity for a young journalist keen to broaden their knowledge of rural affairs and gain international experience.

Launch of RMSA Telstra BigPond Rural Media Awards

The Rural Media South Australia Show Breakfast on 11 September will also feature the launch of the thirteenth RMSA Telstra BigPond Rural Media Awards for rural journalists and photographers.

In conjunction with the Telstra BigPond Rural Media Awards, the Royal Agricultural & Horticultural Society of SA Inc will once again be sponsoring two awards for the Best Published Story about the 2008 Royal Adelaide Show and the Best Photograph from the 2008 Royal Adelaide Show.

Journalists and photographers are being urged to pull out all stops at this year's Royal Adelaide Show to display the best in imagination, innovation and investigation.

Survey wants your views to guide important debate

Agricultural journalists from around the world are being invited to participate in a special on-line survey which will contribute to an important international debate about the profession at the 2008 IFAJ Congress.
The congress session on September 11 will explore the question: “To whom are agricultural journalists responsible – politicians, farmers, consumers or advertisers?”
Leading representatives from politics, lobbying, agriculture and industry have been invited to participate in the discussion, including former EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Franz Fischler, and Michael Mann, spokesman for the current commissioner, Mariann Fischer Boel.
An audience of more than 200 congress delegates from around the world will take part in the session, but organisers are keen to involve the opinions of others who cannot attend the sold-out event.
Results from the survey will be presented during the session by Joschi Schillhab from the market research centre, “Oekonsult, which has help set up the questionnaire.

It is available on the 2008 Congress website or at www.oekonsult.at/ifaj2008

International judging panel awards top honour to rural editor

Good Fruit and Vegetables magazine editor Brad Cooper has been selected by an international panel of judges to receive the 2008 Australian Star Prize for Rural Journalism.

The Brisbane-based journalist will now represent Australia in the world's most prestigious professional competition for rural journalists – the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Star Prize for Agricultural Journalism. The Australian prize was organised by the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ), the national umbrella organisation for Australia's five state-based rural press clubs.
Brad represented Queensland and competed against finalists nominated by affiliated clubs in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.
He will receive a cash prize of $1000 and a certificate from sponsor, John Deere, who also sponsors the international award.

Second place was awarded to Victorian finalist, Carlene Dowie, from The Australian Dairyfarmer magazine, and third place went to Mathew Cawood, from The Land, in NSW.

All three placegetters impressed the judging panel, which comprised:
• Dr Jim Evans, one of the world's most respected leaders in agricultural communications. After working as a journalist in radio and television, and as an account executive in a leading public relations business, Dr Evans became head of teaching and research in the Agricultural Communications Department at the University of Illinois, in the United States.

• James Campbell, a highly respected farm commentator in Europe, who has been Northern Editor with the Irish Farm Journal for more than 20 years. He has a Masters degree in Farm Business Economics and a post graduate diploma in agricultural communications. James represents Ireland on the IFAJ executive, and is a past winner of the Star Prize.

• David East, a former Rural Press senior group editor and national award winner, with more than 35 years' experience in rural journalism. He was a leading farm machinery writer, served as editor of the Stock Journal and was involved in establishing the Australian Farm Journal.

Brad Cooper's winning story, 'The last post: life and death in the Murray Darling Basin' published in the November 2007 edition of Good Fruit and Vegetables, was the unanimous choice of the judges. The story covered in depth, the impact of ongoing water shortages in the Basin on growers and their communities.

Carlene Dowie's second place story, 'Vision and planning brings rewards for young farmers' was published in the September-October 2007 edition of The Australian Dairyfarmer. The story profiled Dairy Business of the Year award winners, Browyn and Claudio Segafredo, from Nambrok in Gippsland.

Third placegetter, Mathew Cawood tackled an almost hidden issue of great importance in his story, 'Attack on pollinators' published in The Land on May 10, 2007. The story explored the need to invest more money into research and development for the Australian bee industry to protect it from pests and diseases. One in three bites of food relies on the honeybee.

The international Star Prize winner will be announced on September 1 and honoured during the annual IFAJ congress, to be held in Austria and Slovenia from September 10 to 14.

UPCOMING RMSA MEETINGS & EVENTS

Rural Media South Australia aims to provide a genuine focus for rural issues, combined with a forum for networking between the highest levels of agribusiness, government, media and rural producers.

Members and guests are encouraged to note the following dates in their diaries:

2008

• Thurs. 11th September RMSA Royal Adelaide Show Breakfast
(Members' Banquet Room, Adelaide Showground, Wayville)
Breakfast – 7.00 am for 7.30 am

• Friday 12th December Telstra BigPond Rural Media Awards
RMSA Christmas Function
(Members' Banquet Room, Adelaide Showground, Wayville)
Luncheon – 12.00 noon for 12.30 pm

Trevor Dillon Scholarship presented at RMSA meeting

A young farmer from Underbool in the Victorian Mallee was presented with the prestigious 2008 Trevor Dillon Agronomic Roseworthy Study Scholarship at a recent RMSA luncheon.

It was awarded to eighteen year old Matthew Winslow by President of the Roseworthy Old Collegians Association, Locky McLaren and Co-patron Chairman of the Roseworthy Campus and Student Fund, Hon Dr Bruce Eastick AM.

Through the Dillon Scholarship, Matthew will now receive full residential support to live and interact with peers within the supportive collegiate environment of Adelaide University's Roseworthy Campus during his first year of study in the Bachelor of Agriculture degree.

The Scholarship was named in memory of Trevor Dillon, one of this state's most respected and high profile advocates for excellence in farming practice over a period of five decades. The primary focus of this year's Dillon Scholarship recipient will be to further refine his knowledge and skills within the agricultural sector with the long term desire of making a genuine contribution back to industry in a farm advisory role.

• Photographs from our recent meetings >