Colbert takes up farmworker's cause

It seems like on-farm labour is an issue that frequently draws attention, sometime from the most unlikely sources.

A shortage of workers throughout North America is cause for concern from farmers. Meanwhile, working conditions are often called into question.

American comedian Stephen Colbert is wading into the issue now.

Colbert takes up farmworker's cause

Canada gets underfoot at the World Cup

Canada may not have a team playing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but that doesn't mean we don't have a presence at the competition.

The grass comes from seed produced by Canadian farmers in Manitoba.

Here's a story printed in one of the country's national newspapers.

Grass greener thanks to Manitoba farmers

We've come a long way, Baby

I received my 10 year pin from the Professional Writers Association of Canada today. It's pretty hard to reach any milestone with out a bit of reminiscing, so here are my Top 10 PWAC lessons/thoughts.

10. A decade ago, I had no idea how to write an invoice, what to charge a publication or how to write a query.

9. It's been 10 years since I met many of my PWAC pals. Do I dare name anyone in particular? Kate Merlin and I use to meet at the local park during the summer. Her kids played and I nursed my daughter. Then there was my first AGM in Montreal, when Trudy Kelly Forsythe, Tracey Carr and I -- strangers at the time -- drove together. Nothing like spending eight hours in a car with someone to get to know them!

8. Over the years, PWAC has taught me to be a confident entrepreneur. As an optimist who believes anything is possible if you work hard, giving me the tools to be successful in business helped fuel my optimism.

7. PWAC helped me to think big -- outside my town, outside my province, outside my country -- there are publications around the world seeking good writers. We just need let them know we're here.

6. The best chocolate of my life -- so far. A large group of us, including Doreen Pendgracs (and is anyone surprised that Doreen was involved?), were in a restaurant in Edmonton on the Sunday night, after the AGM had wrapped up. The chocolate crepe dessert we had that night was, dare I say, orgasmic.

5. It was through PWAC that I heard about a publishing company looking for writers for this series called Amazing Stories.

4. It was through PWAC that I learned a bit about how to fight book publishers that go under.

3. PWAC taught me how to read a contract. Trudy Kelly Forsythe and I, under a committee headed by Kevin Yarr, sifted through writing contracts that PWAC members from across the country sent in. The final report discussed what publishers are seeking in contracts, but the lesson for me was learning the language of contracts.

2. As the current moderator of PWAC's biz list, I've learned that I can't make everyone happy. I always suspected it, but the moderator's job has cemented it.

1. Without PWAC's never ending inspiration and idea-generating vitality, I'd probably be stuck in an office somewhere.

Canadian farmers using SM, but not to promote ag

A survey released this week by Farm Credit Canada shows 54 per cent of Canadian farmers is using social media -- but mostly for personal use.

54 per cent of producers use SM for personal business, while only 30 per cent use it to promote their business, connect with customers and speak out about agriculture.

"There are opportunities to incorporate social media into a number of areas -- such as research, making business connections and promoting agriculture as an important part of society and the economy,” says Kellie Garrett, FCC Senior Vice-President, Strategy, Knowledge and Reputation.

Four in 10 producers who are online, or 44 per cent, state they spent more time using SM this year compared to last year, while 43 per cent of non-users say they don’t have the time or they don’t see value in using social media (30 per cent).

Age also appears to matter.

Producers under 40 are more likely to use Facebook for both personal (56 per cent) and business (11 per cent) compared to producers over 40 (34 per cent and 4 per cent respectively).

When putting SM to work for business, 44 per cent of producers are doing research and looking for information, while 19 per cent are reading up on industry news and 13 per cent are networking with other producers. Only nine per cent are advertising their products via SM and seven per cent building their network of customers. Four per cent are using SM to network with current or potential supplies and a meager three per cent are using social media to promote agriculture.

Use of social media is expected to grow among producers who are currently online and already using social media; four in ten (39 per cent) believe they will spend more time using social media in the upcoming years. Producers under 40 (45 per cent) are more likely to agree with this statement than producers over 40 (34 per cent).

43 per cent of non-users say they're too busy to use social media and 30 per cent stated they don't see the value of social media. Half of non-users told say they're unlikely to start using social media for personal use.

No matter what their age, two thirds of online producers are unlikely to use social media for business use (65 per cent).

The survey was sent to 1,636 FCC Vision panelists, including both primary producers and agriculture-related businesses. Of these, 883 completed the survey, translating to a 54 per cent response rate.

Full results of the survey are at www.fccvision.ca/research.

Looking ahead

In 2011, the International Federation of Agriculture Journalists (IFAJ)comes to Canada. The main gathering will be in Ontario, but a post conference tour to Atlantic Canada is planned.

I've been to most stops on our Atlantic Canada tour, but this summer, I plan to visit the other places... so over the next few months, I'll be heading out on a buffalo safari, horse back riding and a few cultural shows that highlight some of Atlantic Canada's history. I'm also going to take the chance to revisit favourite places along the way.

Thanks!

Lots of well wishes have come to me about the formation of the Atlantic Canada Farm Writers' Assocation. Thank you.

Here's a link to Owen Roberts' blog, Urban Cowboy, where he kindly gives us some ink. http://www.urbancowboy.ca/.

Brewing passion

It's hard to remember sometimes where our passion comes from. Do I truly love this here and now or do I love this because I always have?

I was feeling a bit of that when I set off for Belgium in April for the International Federation of Agriculture Journalists annual congress.

See, the idea of forming an Atlantic chapter of the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation was something that some of us in this part of Canada had been talking about for several years. Four of us had been talking prior to IFAJ and decided to get the ball rolling with an event at the end of April. But as for planning the details, we decided to wait until I returned from IFAJ in Belgium.

In the weeks leading to up to IFAJ in Belgium, I had worked on several additional contracts. In fact, after several consecutive 18 hour days, I calculated that I had written 10,000 words in seven days. By the time I reached Belgium, I was exhausted and feeling quite burnt out.

When I thought about continuing the push to form the Atlantic Canada Farm Writers Association, I was overwhelmed. So much work to, was it worth it? Is it a worthwhile project to put my time into? Why is it worthwhile? And whose big idea was this, anyways?!

But attending IFAJ just prior to the first meeting of the Atlantic Canada Farm Writers couldn't have been any more perfect. My passion was reignited.

I don't know exactly when it happened.

Maybe it was at the beginning or end of each day, when Janet and I caught up with what was going on in our respective lives. Or maybe it was hearing Billy's Facebook updates about his crazy travels to reach the congress, or when Rodney and I shared the joys of working from a home office, or when Markus blocked the bathroom door for me at the farm, or when many of us stared with disbelief at the Belgium blue cattle, or when Adrian told me about his recent trip to Africa, or one of the many times Joe cracked a joke, or when Marc let me try on his wooden shoes, or when Kelly, Lilian, Joanne and I piled into the clown car. Or, or, or, or....

All of the reasons, none of the reasons, each one individually, none of them in particular, all of them put together and so many more brought the passion back for me. It was never far away anyways, but you know, sometimes we just need reminding.

In Belgium, I was reminded of exactly why it was important to have a local farm writers' group: Farmers and agriculture -- around the world, throughout our country or in our own back yard -- have important stories to tell and we need to help them. It isn't any more complicated than that and it certainly isn't any simpler. And as writers who help tell these stories, we need to gather together so share our experiences about what works and what doesn’t work when we tell these stories. We need to learn about the new practices farmers are adopting and how they're working on the farm. We need to stay informed and up-to-date with the latest communication methods. We need to polish our photography skills and sharpen our reporting proficiency. We need to network with each other.

So zeal renewed, I came home and caught up with Wayne, Andy and Heather to plan our June 4 Atlantic Canada Farm Writers' Association meeting.

I have always been confident that we had the potential in Atlantic Canada to have a good size group, but how many would I actually see on June 4? Nine had contacted us and expressed an interest, so with that number in mind, I set off for Charlottetown. By the time I started my presentation talking about what CFWF and IFAJ have to offer to those of us in Atlantic Canada, there were 12 of us. Twelve!

I. Knew. We. Could. Do. It.

And do you know what the best part of whole experience was? I didn't have to "sell" them on the advantages of regional, national and international farm writers' groups. They already knew. They could feel the energy in the room and see the potential of what broader groups can offer. We're already brewing our very own passion, right here in Atlantic Canada.

Allison's Follow Friday Twitter List

Here's my Follow Friday list for this week... and some of the reasons why these are great folks to follow.

@KimEagles - for her organizing tips
@upmagazine - for seeking out freelance writers
@AaronBillard - for the love of Star Wars
@LtoG - for her hard work at freelance writing
@briancormier - for his brilliant idea of buying two coffees at once at Tim's
@rebeccahannam - for her curiosity about all things ag
@SteakPerfection - come on... steak. Perfection. What more do I need to say?
@JPlovesCotton - for our shared love of making an entrance
@FredMarcoux - for hot news tips
@Tamara_Stecyk - for helping feed Edmonton's hungry