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IFAJ Star Prize - 2011 Winners
2011 Australian Star Prize for Rural Photography
Cheerful sunflower smiles through in major Australian photo competition...
A farmer admiring a sunflower with petals removed to form a cheerful face is the winner of the 2011 Australian Star Prize for Rural Photography.
The image with the sun peeping through the farmers arm was captured by New South Wales photographer Michael Petey. It was published in The Land newspaper on June 10, 2010, under the story line All Smiles at Sunny Yields.
Competition judge Jim Fenwick said the photo showed imagination and a sense of humour, illustrating the subject with clever technique. “The
juxtaposition of the sun and the flower was the perfect composition for maximum impact,” said Mr Fenwick, who is retired Pictorial Editor of The Courier Mail in Brisbane.
The photo won the People Category of the Star Prize before going on to take the overall award.
The prestigious competition is organized by the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ), the umbrella body for Australia’s five rural press clubs, which each submitted three photos to represent their state in national judging.
The Nature/landscape Category was won by South Australian photographer Mark Brake for a photo of a fireman hosing flames during a fire in Belair Park. It was published in The Advertiser on October 16, 2010. The judge commented that the image captured the drama of the occasion with a vignette effect enhancing the impact.
The Production category was won by Steve Hynes, with a photograph published in the Warnambool Standard in Victoria on January 28, 2010. His image of two bulls facing head to head was a standout, Mr Fenwick said.
Another Production category photo of a group of goats climbing up the side of their pen taken by Adelaide Advertiser photographer Tait Schmaal was highly commended.
The three winners will now represent Australia in a world photography award run by the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ), with the result to be announced during the annual IFAJ Congress in Canada in September. (from the ACAJ – April 29 News Release).
Writing award. And the winner is...
Sydney based journalist, Richard Fox has won the 2011 Farm Writers’ Association of NSW Inc Star Prize for Rural Writing in New South Wales – which includes a trip to the IFAJ Congress in Ontario, Canada in September 2011. The prize covers registration, including accommodation and airfares up to the value of $5,000. Richard Fox writes for the Rural Press group of publications.
The Australian Star Prize for Rural Writing recognises and rewards excellence in print journalism published in the previous calendar year and articles must be on wide agricultural interest and published in 2010 in print or on line and judged by a panel of independent judges.
Richard’s winning story reported on the unexpected swarm of locusts that took hold across the northern part of the state. Titled ‘Airborne…and now a big new threat’, the article was published in The Land newspaper on November 4, 2010. Richard’s piece was entered as the NSW Finalist in the national competition to find Australia’s representative in the international Star Prize award.
The National winner was Queensland-based rural writer Ashley Walmsley. Mr Walmsley’s article about the Asian honeybee incursion, Asian Invasion, was cover story for the November 2010 issue of national horticulture magazine Good Fruit and Vegetables which he edits on behalf of Rural Press Ltd. Mr Walmsely won the national competition which is sponsored by John Deere.
The 2011 Star Prize will be presented at the IFAJ World Congress to be held in Ontario, Canada in September.
IFAJ Star Prize - Previous Winners
2010 Winner
Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting in NSW & ACT (and Australia!)
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Ben Craw, Farm Writers'
Awards Co-ordinator, Sarina
Locke and Patrick Lally
of Rabobank |
Farm Writers member and Canberra-based ABC journalist Sarina Locke won the overall prize in the inaugural Australian Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting. Sarina was presented with a $1000 cheque by award sponsor Rabobank at our March event. She took out the overall award after winning the national radio category and securing her place in that final by winning the radio category in NSW & ACT.
Star Prize for Writing in NSW & ACT
The winner of the Star Prize for Writing in NSW & ACT, Armidale-based Rural Press writer Matthew Cawood was placed joint-second in the national award for Rural Writing.
As the NSW & ACT winner, Matt is in Belgium in April to attend the 2010 congress of the IFAJ. His prize, including airfares and conference registration, is provided by Farm Writers.
Below are some recent articles and Multi Media files that Matt has had published:
2008 Winner
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| Matthew Cawood (centre), who writes for the Rural Press group of publications, is congratulated by Mark Druery, NSW Territory Manager, John Deere and Farm Writers President, Bev Jordan (right) after receiving his prize at the June Farm Writers’ function. |
The 2008 winner was Armidale based journalist Matthew Cawood. Matthew writes for the Rural Press Group of agricultural weeklies, and this is the second time he has won this contest.
Retired NSW editor and journalist, Don Jones, judged a record number of entries for their style, content and objectivity. Mr. Jones chose Matthew’s comprehensive story highlighting the risks to Australian agriculture of a research gap and lack of expertise to manage diseases already decimating bee colonies in the rest of the world and the resultant export opportunities. Titled ‘Attack on pollinators’, the article was published in The Land newspaper on 10th May 2007.
Matthew’s prize included his registration at the IFAJ Congress in Austria/Slovenia and a contribution to his airfare to the value of $5,000. In addition his article was entered as the NSW/ACT finalist in the national contest to find Australia’s entry to the International Star Prize.
2007 Winner
The winner of the Farm Writers’ Star Prize for Rural Writing in NSW and the ACT in 2007, Rural Press Writer Matthew Cawood, has returned from Japan after attending the 51st IFAJ Congress. Matthew says he’s already working on getting to the 2008 IFAJ congress in Austria, “even if I have to swim”.
"Journalists love to talk shop, and the opportunity to talk shop with dozens of like-minded scribes over superb Japanese food and beer - quite a lot of beer, actually - was deeply satisfying. The stand-out fact for me was that agriculture everywhere is facing the same suite of problems. Declining terms of trade, weather extremes, ageing farmer populations, whether to put up trade barriers or drop them - these seem to be universal issues."
Matt adds that the international cast of the IFAJ Congress produced many genuinely useful contacts. "I suspect that of all the nationalities there, Australians have as much to gain from the networking opportunities as anyone because our farm sector is so strongly export focused. No amount of trawling on the internet could have broadened my horizons as effectively as attending the congress.
Read Matthew’s overview of Japanese agriculture.
“I'm sincerely grateful to the NSW Farm Writers Association for its support, and hope it can continue to sponsor journalists to future IFAJ get-togethers. I believe it is money well spent on behalf of Australian agriculture."
Matthew’s attendance at the conference was funded by Farm Writers’ as his prize for winning the 2007 award for Rural Writing in NSW & ACT for his story “Guyra graziers locked into cells” published in The Land newspaper on 16th November 2006.
2006 Winner
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| At our June event, Len Clutterbuck from national sponsor, John Deere, shown on the right in the photograph presented Neil Lyon with the Australian Star Prize for farm writing and a cheque for $1,000. Bev Jordan, President of Farm Writers also presented Neil with a certificate marking his win in NSW. |
2006 NSW winner, Tamworth based journalist Neil Lyon, went on to win
the national contest and attended the 2006 IFAJ Conference in Norway as part
of his prize as the NSW winner. On his return, he said such an experience was a must for any agricultural journalist. Read Neil's report and articles he has written about Norway's agricultural industries and farming techniques:
Browse the results from last year's IFAJ Star Prize writing contest and the
details of this one at the website www.ifaj.org.
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