News Release                                                 September 22, 2011

Australian rural writer named among best in the world

Australian rural writer Ashley Walmsley was named runner-up in the IFAJ Star Prize for print journalism as part of a major international awards program which saw many Aussie journalists honoured at the weekend.

Walmsley received recognition for “Asian Invasion,” published in Good Fruit and Vegetables in November 2010, with the judges saying the story showed “his journalistic astonishment of the fact that the Australian fruit and vegetable industry refused to assist in a program to eradicate the dangerous Asian honeybee.”

“Walmsley shows us why this bee is so dangerous in three sidebars, while the main story searches to answer the question why 11 organisations refused to assist in the eradicating program,” the judges said.

The Queensland-based journalist was chosen to represent Australia in the competition after winning the 2011 John Deere Australian Star Prize for Rural Writing, announced in May.

As part of his prize, John Deere, who also sponsors the international award, covered the costs of airfares and registration for Walmsley to attend the awards ceremony. It was held in Canada on the final night of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) annual congress.

The international prize was won by Per Henrik Hansen of Denmark for ”Chickens Designed for Growth” published in Spis Bare magazine.

John Deere’s Advertising and Communications Manager Craig Pretorius said the company sponsors the national and international Star Prizes to foster excellence in rural writing and help spread the word about issues of importance to agribusiness and food production.

“We congratulate Ashley Walmsley and Per Henrik Hansen on their success and are pleased to support the reward, recognition and professional development opportunities these awards represent,” Mr Pretorius said.

Australians took out almost half the major prizes at the international awards ceremony in Canada with ABC Landline reporter Pip Courtney being named the world’s best rural broadcaster for a piece that included images filmed by her husband, John Bean, who was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this month.

“We like to think that our rural journalists and photographers are among the most talented in any media sector in Australia, but these awards confirm that they stand tall against their peers from around the world,” said Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists president Liz Harfull.

For the full results visit www.acaj.org.au

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For more information, contact Jane Milburn 0408 787 964