I spent the day in Saskatoon today with reporters and editors from the Western Producer. Once a year, they all gather together for a staff conference – and today, I was on the agenda to do an introduction to social media.
I am generally quite intrigued by the endless possibilities posed by social media, excited by [...]

Canada is a land built on the foundations of agriculture and the hard work of generations of immigrants and farmers. These are the people who came to what was the “New World” to lay the groundwork for the life, culture and society we enjoy here today. Around the globe today, our country is admired as [...]

And now for some shameless self promotion…
I was thrilled to be the recipient of a writing award at the recent Canadian Farm Writers Federation (CFWF) annual banquet. A news release I wrote last year called “What gardeners can learn from farmers” won a bronze in the Alice Switzer award category for news release writing.

Growing numbers of farmers are turning to alternative agriculture and agri-tourism initiatives to help them earn a living. That message was illustrated by several speakers at the recent Canadian Farm Writers Federation annual meeting in Edmonton, Alberta earlier this month.
Ron Hamilton, Mary Ellen Grueneberg and Doug Livingstone have each found a different niche for [...]

Tonight, I’m joining about 100 of my colleagues and heading west for the next few days – to Edmonton, Alberta for the annual Canadian Farm Writers Federation conference.
Our hosts, the Alberta Farm Writers Association, have some wonderful farm tours and professional development sessions lined up for us and of course, it’s always great to meet [...]

It’s time to hit the road for another International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) congress. This year takes us to Fort Worth, Texas where the US hosts are set to welcome more than 700 delegates from up to 30 different countries.
We’ll be immersed in the cowboy spirit during our stay in Fort Worth, learning about [...]

These are interesting and exciting times to be in agriculture – and seemingly, even better times to be communicating about food and farming.
I’m basing this on the growing popularity of the Eastern Canada Farm Writers Association (ECFWA), which reported record membership numbers at its annual meeting in the Niagara Region today.