From the President's Desk

Can U.S. ag editors and Canadian farm writers work together?

By Susan K. Davis

In early October I had the opportunity to be a panelist at the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation (CFWF) conference in Windsor, Ontario. The topic was how Canadian and U.S. ag communicators can better work together.

The other panelist, Laura Rance, of Farmers' Independent Weekly in Manitoba, was the first Canadian president of North American Ag Journalists (NAAJ), formerly the Newspaper Farm Editors of America. Rance joked that she lobbied for the association name to be changed to NAAJA (Eh?). Many of the 100 attendees at the Ontario meeting were listed as freelancers. There was a question about how many freelancers could qualify for NAAJ membership because the bylaws state that "Freelance writers who also write for advertising agencies or public relations firms are not eligible to join NAAJ." Canadians have been a part of AAEA membership for many years and our association presently has about a dozen Canadian members.

Like AAEA, CFWF is comprised of writers, editors and photographers. Unlike AAEA, CFWF has regional associations and their membership also includes farm broadcasters.

How do you feel about working with the Canadians? An AAEA survey last year showed 92.5% of our members were in favor of asking the CFWF to participate in the Ag Publications Summit (APS). Eighty-one percent of AAEAers said they would attend an Ag Publications Summit if it were held in Canada and 59% said they would go on a day-long bus tour of local farming operations in Canada. This isn't a new discussion. Twelve years ago, the AAEA long-range planning committee was also looking how we could work with our northern neighbors.

Currently, AAEA allows CFWF members to attend APS the member rate; AAEA members were able to attend the CFWF meeting in Windsor at the CFWF member rate as well. Other AAEAers at the meeting were Den Gardner, AAEA executive director and editor of Apply magazine, and Andy Markwart, editor of The Furrow.

There are several ways we can work with our northern neighbors. CFWF could hold their meeting at APS, as is done by the Ag Relations Council and Ag Communicators of Tomorrow. Holding APS in Canada also has been discussed at APS planning meetings, but several questions would have to be resolved, including the difficulty of transporting InfoExpo displays, materials, etc., across the border. CFWF members seemed willing to work together and share meetings, but another question is how many will attend on both sides due to budget and travel expenses. One member suggested a meeting in Windsor/Detroit, where the InfoExpo could be held in Detroit and other meetings in Windsor. This presents some logistical challenges, but any idea at this point is worth considering.

Before the annual meeting, Andy Markwart attended the tours, which CFWF traditionally conducts as part their annual meeting. As meetings are held in different provinces, journalists gain an understanding of the diversity of their country's agriculture. The group explored Canada's "Banana Belt" of southwestern Ontario during the first two days of their annual meeting. This area, due east of Detroit, produces a diverse mix of fruits, vegetables and crops not commonly found in other parts of Canada.

Tours included visits to mushroom, field tomato, hydroponic tomato, house plant and diversified vegetable operations; a major Canadian vegetable processor, a grain elevator and wildlife conservation areas.

The CFWF is an informal group. The meeting ended with entertainment by University of Guelph's Owen Robert's real band, the GMO (See www.GMOmusic.com). Owen is also a member of the AAEA band that has played to record crowds at the past two Ag Publications Summits.

What will develop from the panel discussion? Maybe we'll pick up more Canadian members. And possibly we'll share annual meeting locations. After listening to the trade discussions at the meeting, I found the more we learn about our northern neighbors, the more we learn about ourselves.

In addition to her duties as president of AAEA, Susan K. Davis runs Susan Davis Communications, Stockport, OH.