10th Alltech/IFAJ Young Leaders Award Winners

Jamie Johansen

Ten participants have been selected for the 2015 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) – Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism award. The award supports the winners’ participation in an IFAJ congress and in an intensive journalistic boot camp-style workshop. This year’s boot camp takes place October 12-13, prior to the IFAJ congress in New Zealand. The successful applicants for …

Agribusiness, Alltech, IFAJ, Journalism

2015 IFAJ Congress Australian Pre-Tour

Chuck Zimmerman

If you are thinking about going to this year’s International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress in New Zealand then you might want to leave a little early and stop in Australia. The Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists is joining with the Rural Press Club of Queensland to put together an enticing pre-congress tour. There will be a welcome gathering on …

IFAJ, International, Media

IFAJ Member Survey Results

Chuck Zimmerman

The just-released results of an International Federation of Agricultural Journalists member survey should be of interest to members of all ag communications organizations. You can find a pdf of the full results here. I think you might find questions and responses about social media of special interest. The survey, completed by 127 members, was designed to offer guidance to the …

ACN, IFAJ, Media

Slovakian Journalist Wins IFAJ Star for Ag Journalism

John Davis

Slovakian journalist Jozef Sedlák was recently named the winner of the coveted IFAJ Star Prize in Agricultural Journalism for his story, “Food Does not Come from Supermarket Shelves,” which was published in the weekend edition of the Pravda daily newspaper. Judges said they were captivated by the entrepreneurial story of a young Slovak farmer Pavel Petránek, a turkey breeder from …

IFAJ, International, John Deere, Journalism

Serbian Ag Journalists Celebrate Ten Years

Chuck Zimmerman

Our friends in the Serbian Association of Agricultural Journalists, AGROPRESS, recently celebrated the organization’s 10th anniversary. That celebration included a tour that began in the Serbian village of Crepaja. The event opened at the modern farm FOTOS (Member of Almex Company) that has more than 300 heifer calves of the Holstein breed. After a farm tour in Crepaja, the anniversary …

IFAJ, International, Media

Wind Turbine Up Close and Personal

Chuck Zimmerman

The benefit of getting an up close and personal look at a wind turbine is the view from the top of the hill. It was a cloudy day but the view at Mackies Farm in Scotland during the 2014 IFAJ Congress was still beautiful. This farm has done an excellent job of branding and marketing its products and was the …

Dairy, IFAJ, Video

Waitrose Educating Supermarket Customers

Chuck Zimmerman

One of the largest employee-owned businesses owns Waitrose, their supermarket division. Representing them as a sponsor of the 2014 IFAJ Congress was John Gregson, Sr. Director of Public Relations. I met him during one of our tour stops and talked about his business and how important it is to communicate and educate their customers. John says education is really important …

Audio, Education, Food, IFAJ

Forestry Thinning in Scotland

Chuck Zimmerman

How about cutting down a tree, stripping the bark and branches and cutting it into logs all in the matter of a few seconds? And without getting your hands dirty or your arms tired? Yep, this Transformers-looking machine from Komatsu can do it and does in the video below. During the IFAJ Congress in Scotland on a rainy day we …

Agribusiness, Forestry, IFAJ, Video

IFAJ Elects Presidium

Chuck Zimmerman

During the 2014 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress in Aberdeen, Scotland the members elected the the members of the Presidium. President Markus Rediger, of Switzerland will again lead the organization. Markus is managing editor of Landwirtschaftlicher Informationsdienst at the Agricultural Information Center LID, Bern, Switzerland. He has been a member of the Swiss guild of agricultural journalists since 1986. …

IFAJ, International