Canadian journalist wins international agricultural journalism award

Mary Baxter, a London, Ont.-based journalist and J-Source’s Agricultural journalism editor, has won an international award recognizing her writing on agricultural issues.

The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) awarded Baxter with the Star Prize for Print Journalism for an article in Better Farming magazine titled “Lyme disease: the painful and hard-to-diagnose condition.”

“I’m absolutely delighted about the award and honoured,” Baxter said in a post on Better Farming. “A lot of the credit belongs to the farmers in this article who shared their perspectives so candidly and to Better Farming editors Robert Irwin and Don Stoneman who have been so supportive of my exploration of agricultural issues over the years. I also want to thank contributing editor Charles Magill for his patience and insight.”

In a release, judges said Baxter’s article was “a beautiful piece using a nice mix of human interest story telling and scientific research, exemplifying great journalism. Although it's a story about a sensitive subject, zoonoses, Better Farming had the guts to publish it.”

The award was judged by Ed Cassavoy, senior editor, news and special sections at theToronto Star and Rochus Kingmans, former editor of Boerderij and head of publishing for CRV, The Netherlands.

The winner of the Star Prize for print journalism, which is sponsored by John Deere, receives a 1,000 Euro cash prize, and a gold IFAJ pin.

Check out www.ifaj.org for more information about the award or the Federation itself.