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We Wish Mike Wilson Well Sonja Hillgren/Farm Journal In remembrance of Sonja Hillgren, Farm Journal Media has established a memorial fund at the University of Missouri-Columbia that will allow her spirit to live on. AAEA members as well as agribusinesses and other organizations are invited to participate. The magazine is providing the core funding for the Sonja Hillgren/Farm Journal Ag Journalism Field Reporting Institute, which is the backbone of "Field Reporting on Food and Natural Resources," an agricultural journalism course in the university's College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. With additional support, this Institute will be able to grow and offer an expanded perspective of the industry that Sonja covered for more than 30 years, including the addition of a policy component to its curriculum. As an alumna and long-time supporter of the University of Missouri and its school of journalism, Sonja saw great value in this Institute's mission. She applauded the pilot year of this Institute and its efforts to get students in the field to practice their craft. She also liked the opportunity for students to interact with practicing journalists who take part in this three-day, expedition-style trip. The Institute explores the vast scientific, economic and social changes under way in U.S. agriculture and their impact on the food supply and the environment. Students meet, learn from and interview leading researchers, government officials, food industry representatives, farmers and others - out in the fields, on the rivers and at the facilities where these issues take shape. For additional information and a contribution form, go to: http://www.agweb.com/Get_Article.aspx?sigcat=farmjournal&pageid=135557. If you have questions, contact Farm Journal Editor Charlene Finck at cfinck@farmjournal.com (573) 581-9642.
NAAJ Establishes Sonja Hillgren Scholarship The North American Agricultural Journalists Association (NAAJ) has created a scholarship in Sonja Hillgren's name at the University of Missouri, her alma mater, to encourage students to become reporters and editors. NAAJ President Chuck Abbott, Reuters Washington D.C. ag reporter, said that the scholarship will be awarded annually to "journalism students with special emphasis on those who plan a career in agricultural journalism." NAAJ donated $5,000 to start the scholarship, which is open to donations by individuals as well. Sonja had served as NAAJ president in 1987. Information about how to donate to the scholarship is available at the NAAJ Web site, http://www.naaj.net and the University of Missouri at https://donatetomu.missouri.edu.
Lifetime Achievement Award Sponsored AAEA is pleased to announce that our renewed Lifetime Achievement Award
(LAA) program is sponsored by the Sonja Hillgren Foundation, an organization
being developed by Sonja's widower Bruce Downs. AAEA is thrilled to announce
this new sponsorship and that the LAA program -- which has had only one
recipient and been dormant for decades -- is back and will annually recognize
past members for their contributions to the organization. New Members Michele Waber Waber is responsible for internal and external communications for Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latin America within Pioneer's International Operations business. She works closely with each region to develop and implement strategic communications plans for capturing opportunities, managing risks, and telling the Pioneer story. Waber grew up on a farm in northeast Iowa, and enjoys working in the ag industry as a tie back to her upbringing. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband (Andy) and two children (Adam - 5; Sophia - 2), reading, walking, and traveling. Tyler Bruch Bruch started Bruchside Farms Inc. of Brazil in March 2003, a family farming operation in Bahia, Brazil. He is also the owner and CEO of Global Ag Investments, a private equity investment company that allows U.S. investors to invest into American-managed agriculture in Brazil. He is also president of Global Ag Bio Diesel, a 30 million gallon per year plant that is under final financial stages in Brazil. Bruch co-managed crop production and labor for Bruchside Farms, Inc., in Iowa for four years prior to moving to Brazil, and maintains ownership in the Iowa operation. He is fluent in Portuguese and lives in LEM, Brazil. He has a degree in agriculture studies from Iowa State University with an emphasis in economics, and he has also studied international agriculture in Canada, Italy, Panama, and Brazil. He is a frequent presenter on Brazilian agriculture to universities and continuing education groups all over the United States. He is a contributing writer to The Corn & Soybean Digest. Chris Hill| Hill serves as editor of Massey Ferguson Today and AGCO Advantage brand magazines. Prior to this position he was publisher and editor of Poultry & Egg News in Gainesville, Ga. He also is an avid woodworker and uses this skill in contributing to several other magazines produced by SPC Custom Publishing. Cindy Baldwin Baldwin has been freelancing since 2003 when she left her staff writer/news editor position on a daily newspaper to start her own business. She currently writes and does the editing and layout for three newsletters, including the Mid Kansas Cooperative Association newsletter, and writes features and press releases for a variety of regional publications. Her primary emphasis is on agriculture and rural-theme projects. She and her husband are involved in production agriculture in the heart of Kansas. Baldwin also serves on the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom Board of Directors. Stéphane Brélivet Brélivet works for John Deere as the editor of Le Sillon (France), Campo y Mecanica (Spain), Il Solco (Italy), Sulco (Portugal) and Borozda (Russian speaking countries). He also contributes to the U.S. company magazines. Before becoming a journalist, Brélivet worked as a financial and law consultant and as a programming engineer. He is an agronomist engineer and has an MS in economics. His parents are farmers in the Western part of France. Steve Cornett |