GlobalHQ editorial team award winners (from left) Neal Wallace, Richard Rennie and Natasha Chadwick, and Farmers Weekly editor Bryan Gibson.
The editorial team at Farmers Weekly and Dairy Farmer claimed multiple awards at this year’s New Zealand Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators (NZGAJC) awards recognising top talent in the country’s rural media.
The Federated Farmers rural photography award went to Farmers Weekly and Dairy Farmer contributing photographer Natasha Chadwick for her dramatic photo of shearing champion Megan Whitehead, moments after she claimed the nine-hour lamb shearing record.
Chadwick, who is based in Tapanui, Southland, said the photo opportunity came moments before Whitehead headed backstage to shower and change.
“I wanted to catch her in that moment, as she was, and managed to convince her to stay for the photo, I am glad I did,” Chadwick said.
Bay of Plenty based Farmers Weekly and Dairy Farmer contributor Richard Rennie was awarded the Ko Tatou This is Us Biosecurity Journalism award for two articles he wrote. One covered research work on the use of native fungi to deal with wilding pine infestations. The other examined the value of pest reduction to improve NZ’s carbon sequestration in native forests, a practice that could help capture as much as 60% of annual vehicle emissions.
Rennie said the article explored the alternatives to the usual ‘plant more trees’ approach to carbon sequestration, by highlighting the advantages in saving more of the ones the country already had.
He also claimed the TUANZ Rural Connectivity award for two articles; one on conflict around 5G connections that appeared in Farmers Weekly, and the other on the use of Halter collar technology for managing a dairy farm, the first commercial farm to employ the tech. This piece was published in the Dairy Farmer.
“The highlight of the technology was not so much the tech itself, which is remarkable, but the impact it had on the farming couple, who had taken to it so well later in their farming careers, on how they ran their farm and how they could now live their lives beyond the farm thanks to the tech,” Rennie said.
Long-time Otago based journalist Neal Wallace collected the Beef + Lamb NZ Hard News award for two articles exploring the impact of covid-19 on global meat markets, and processing companies’ responses to it.
“In the past meat companies have been criticised about how they approached markets, but one of these pieces highlighted how they had responded so quickly to some major changes in consumer behaviour, shifting focus to more online sales and with that the changes in types of cuts and cooking methods,” Wallace said.
Wallace was also appointed president of the guild, with Jackie Harrigan of Farm Life Media stepping down after two years.
Dean Williamson, owner of GlobalHQ and publisher of Farmers Weekly and Dairy Farmer said it was a resounding affirmation for the GlobalHQ team to receive the recognition they had from their peers.
“Now more than ever farmers and the industry need to have access to unbiased, informed news that covers the good, the bad and the ugly,” Williamson said.
“The team at GlobalHQ are leading lights in the rural news sector. Every editorial meeting I attend I come away reminded once again about the depth of talent and passion this team brings to what they do, every day, every issue.”
