I’m pleased to report that at the IFAJ annual meeting in Sweden I was elected vice-president of the organization, making me the first Canadian to hold this post. I’m very proud of that fact, and proud to be part of...
Read MoreI appreciate the interest that’s being generated in this year’s International Federation of Agricultural Journalists’ presidium election. The presidium, the four-person body entrusted with the day-to-day operations of the...
Read MoreMy friend Prof. Jim Evans and his team at the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center at the University of Illinois offers these suggestions in the latest edition of ACDC News: The Reynolds Center for Business...
Read MoreThe Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture competition has announced the topics for this year’s participants: – Does supply management belong in Canadian agriculture? – A national food policy: challenges...
Read MoreI almost never start a blog post, story, column (or speech) with a quote. I got pummeled for doing so back in the 1970s by an editor at the Windsor Star, and I’ve never forgot. But to me, this one bears our attention:...
Read MoreCrisp copy is the focus of an Eastern Canada Farm Writers’ Association professional development seminar, tomorrow afternoon at Syngenta’s headquarters in Guelph. Top marks to Syngenta internal communications...
Read MoreIt’s a red-letter day for Kitchener-based Hendrix Genetics and Hybrid Turkeys, having one of their fold — a turkey named Liberty, which they describe as a second-generation Canadian (because its genetics originated...
Read MoreThe GMOs are hosting our annual pre-holiday party Saturday, November 12 at the University of Guelph Bullring. Please see the poster below for details. Thank you Francesco Piccioni for the great poster design, as...
Read MoreJapan’s Tsuyoshi Sato (popularly known at IFAJ as Six Pack) always brings his unique spirit and effervescence to an IFAJ congress — as well as a new memorial vest every year, for which he seeks other...
Read MoreOntario Federation of Agriculture President Bette Jean Crews announced this morning she won’t seek re-election to the president’s position in November, citing a need to concentrate her efforts on her family farm....
Read MoreSeveral efforts underway by farm journalists and communications professionals in North America and Europe to help their colleagues in Japan were revealed this week. In North America, the American Agricultural Editors’...
Read MoreTopics were announced today for the 27th annual Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture competition, taking place Saturday, November 5, 2011 at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto. The five topics are: • Dynamic...
Read MoreI was pleased to be asked by my communications colleague Cort Egan in the University of Guelph library to be a presenter last week at a two-day writing workshop. The event, which was well organized by the library’s...
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Owen Roberts is a faculty member in the Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications program at the University of Illinois. As an agricultural journalist, he is the past president of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists and a lifetime achievement award recipient from the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation. His programs and research papers have been recognized nationally and internationally through awards from the Journal of Applied Communications, the National Agri-Marketing Association, the Association for Communications Excellence, and others.