Canadian Farm Writers' Federation

13/11/2024

Some of our veteran members may remember Jack Gilliland, who was a true friend of many agricultural organizations, including CFWF. Jack passed away earlier this week.

In his senior marketing position at John Deere, Jack supported many events and programs. CFWF Treasurer Hugh Maynard recalls that for several years, when Jack was in charge, sponsorship by John Deere for the opening reception at the annual CFWF conference was approved before we even asked.

On November 11th, 2024, we said good-bye to our much-loved father, grandfather and great-grandfather, at the age of 87 years. Jack follows home Joan, his wife of over 64 years, who passed away in July of this year.

07/10/2024

Robert Irwin and Don Stoneman receive CFWF Lifetime Achievement Awards

Halifax, Nova Scotia – October 7, 2024 – At the annual conference of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation (CFWF) in Halifax on Saturday, Ontario agricultural journalists Robert Irwin of Vankleek Hill and Don Stoneman of Bancroft were presented with CFWF Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The pair have had careers, achievements and contributions to Canadian agricultural journalism that have been intertwined since they met as colleagues working at Farm & Country magazine in the late 1980s. When that publication folded in 1999, a group of its employees quickly regrouped, producing the first edition of Better Farming magazine only four months later.

Irwin and Stoneman developed a reputation for leading a team of strong, investigative journalists that covered stories across the spectrum including farm animal welfare, stray voltage and its effects on livestock, the Ontario government’s decision to end the Slots at Racetrack program, the role of women in farming, neonicotinoids, sewage spills and bypasses from urban sources and more. They also covered farmer mental health issues years before it was given a place of prominence in mainstream farm discussions. Among the magazine’s best known pieces was a series on Lyme disease that won both national and international awards.

In 2007, they broke the story that later became known as the ‘Pigeon King’ scheme with coverage containing more than 50 stories as the issue was first publicized, charges laid and through the court case. In years since, it has been used as the basis for both a play and a feature on CBC’s Farm Crime series.

Former colleague Mary Baxter said, “They worked hard to uphold the principles of good, investigative journalism and they gave their staff the chance to dig deep into really important issues.”

The nomination was submitted by Kelly Daynard, Bernard Tobin and John Muggeridge, all members of the Eastern Canada Farm Writers’ Association with letters of support submitted by Baxter and other agricultural journalists and communications professionals from across the country. The award was co-presented to the recipients by Kelly Daynard and CFWF president Allison Finnamore.

For further information:

Allison Finnamore, President, CFWF (506)-863-8797; [email protected]

Robert Irwin: [email protected]

Don Stoneman: [email protected]
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ABOUT CFWF:

The Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation (CFWF) serves the common interests of agricultural journalists, including reporters, editors and broadcasters as well as those in business and government whose primary responsibility is agricultural communications.

05/10/2024

CFWF History: the Senators’ Report being delivered by a female Senator, Crystal Jorgensen (caught mid-sentence).

04/10/2024

Shoutout to Bayer Crop Science Canada for sponsoring the dinner at in Halifax! Thank you.

04/10/2024

Tour Day at - Tour 2 is in Truro area, with a stop at Dalhousie Agricultural Campus. This is part of their tropical and subtropical greenhouse.

04/10/2024

Tour Day at is on the go! Bus 1 is in the Annapolis Valley, with a stop at Avon Valley Floral. They annually produce $10 million of vegetable transplants, value-
added plants and hanging baskets for Costco, Walmart, Kent and other box store customers.

29/09/2024

Are you ready for CFWF 2024 in Halifax? We're ready for you! Check out our conference FAQ and refined agenda: https://www.acfwa.ca/ See you soon!

03/09/2024

Looking for a roommate for CFWF 2024 in Halifax (Oct. 3-5)? Email Wayne at [email protected] and he'll send you the link to the Google Sheet to help facilitate matches.

03/09/2024

Join us Wednesday, September 4th at 2 pm Eastern for the
CFWF's Annual General Meeting.

Click here to register: https://quanglo.wufoo.com/forms/sidl8vk0hqtwcw/

31/08/2024

Don’t forget, today is the last day to register with the early bird price for CFWF 2024 in Halifax.

Concerned about the role of AI in your daily work as a journalist and communicator? Not sure what's real, what's fake or how to tell the difference?

15/08/2024

Huge congratulations to CFWF members Trevor Bacque, Ed White and Matt McIntosh for their big wins in the IFAJ Star Prize Contest, including Matt’s win of Writer of the Year. We are so proud of you!! More details to come…

15/08/2024

I was happy to meet Aghan Daniel of Kenya’s guild of agricultural journalists at the congress in Interlaken, Switzerland. We agree that even though we live on opposite sides of the globe, the community of agricultural journalists and communicators is an important one. Supporting each other and learning together is core to this group.

10/08/2024

Have you heard about the featured speaker at CFWF 2024 in Halifax? On Oct. 5, Craig Silverman will do a 2.5 hour exclusive, in-person only, hands-on workshop. We'll learn how to background people, verify digital images and videos and to investigate websites. Register for the entire conference at www.acfwa.ca.

Want to know more about Craig? Listen to him this morning on CBC Radio 1's The House where he digs in to a peculiar bot campaign that promoted a Pierre Poilievre rally. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-64-the-house

01/08/2024

To everyone who's registered already for CFWF 2024 in Halifax, THANK YOU! To everyone else, we have some good news for you... www.acfwa.ca

31/07/2024

30/07/2024

Full agenda details and registration at www.acfwa.ca. See you there!

29/07/2024

Special prices for CFWF 2024 end on July 31 - don't miss out on the savings!