Three awards handed out by the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation this year had a Manitoba Co-operator name attached.
Geralyn Wichers added two CFWF awards to her accomplishments. She took third place in the current affairs feature category for her Nov. 3, 2022, article, “Left out: Officials told First Nations farmers they weren’t eligible for BSE relief cash; 20 years later governments say that wasn’t true.”
The category, dubbed the Dick Beamish Award, is “awarded to the best feature article published by a Canadian medium that provides insight into a current agricultural topic or issue,” according to the CFWF’s guidelines.
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Wichers also took third place for her current affairs reporting in “Emissions goal realistic, even conservative, with enough funding: experts,” published Sept. 1, 2022.
The Q.H. Martinson Award is “awarded to the best single news story published by a Canadian medium that reports on a current agricultural topic or issue.”
“Current affairs” is defined for both awards as “events happening at the present time that have a political or social interest and importance to Canada.”
Now retired reporter Allan Dawson also ended his Co-operator tenure with another CFWF feather in his cap. Dawson won third place in the landscape photography category for his photo “Red River flooding farmland 2022.” (see photo at top)
The aerial photo showcased spring flood conditions north of Emerson last spring and was published in the photo essay “Flooded fields, island communities,” which appeared on the Co-operator’s website May 6, 2022.
Other wins for Glacier FarmMedia included second- and third-place laurels for Country Guide in the Peter Lewington Award for technical feature writing. Rebecca Hannam took second place for her story “Five moves to make in 2022,” while Jay Whetter took third for “The satisfying pulverization of weed seeds.”
Fellow Country Guide writer Leeann Minogue took third in the Jack Cram Award for feature writing that highlights a person or group, with “Are you ready for this?”
Gerald Pilger, also writing for Country Guide, earned third in the O.R. Evans Award for technical writing for his story, “Not that much choice.”
Matt McIntosh earned Farmtario a second-place nod in the C.B. Fairbairn Award for business or economics reporting with “Failure in the face of demand.”
Ed White of the Western Producer was honoured as the CFWF’s Farm Writer of the Year.
