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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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