The NAAJ conference has been rescheduled for August 17 to 21 with much the same agenda as last year.

There'll be meetings with officials at the Canadian Wheat Board and the Canadian Grain Commission. Bus tours will cover the diversity of Manitoba agricul- ture, from hemp fields to PMU operations. Other sessions will explore international trade and the intricacies of Canada's various commodity groups. It's one of the most ambitious fall meetings the NAAJ has ever staged.

If you're interested in attending, contact either Laura Rance or Ron Friesen at the Manitoba Co-operator. Of course, you first have to be a member of the NAAJ, eh?

The Manitoba Canola Growers Association has hired Ellen Kubay as their Education and Promo- tions Co-ordinator. Ellen is based in the Council's Winnipeg head office.

The Council's CDROM Decision Support System program should be available early this summer. It's an interactive decision-making tool and is an extension of the Council's grower's manual.

A new look for the Council's Web site is in the works. The site will be more interactive and easier to navigate.

Planning has begun for the Council's 2000 annual convention in Kananaskis, Alberta, in July 2000. Washington, D.C. will be the site of the 2001 convention and Vancouver has been chosen as the site the 2002 convention.

The entertainment at the pancake breakfast will include a Latin American band and some 20 hosts in full costume. Participants at the dinner at the Hotel Fort Garry will be entertained by Cool Water, a country western band from the Interlake. Tickets for the breakfast are $10 and for the dinner $35. The entry fee for the golf tournament is $75.

Net proceeds from the golf tournament are donated to Winnipeg Harvest. Net proceeds from the auctions at the dinner are donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

For more information, please contact Jim Pietryk at 983-8951.

Tracey Bryksa joined Agricore’s Communications Group in February after a three-year stint in Corporate Communications at the Canadian Wheat Board. In her new role as Communications Coordinator, Tracey is responsible for external communications, including communication with members, presentations by management, Agricore’s newsletter and the annual report. Tracey is on the MFWBA Executive, responsible for program planning.

Laura Rance, Manitoba Co-operator reporter and Winnipeg Free Press columnist, recently won first prize in the column/analysis category of the National Association of Agricultural Journalists' annual awards program. She was in Washington, D.C., recently to receive the award. The NAAJ is a U.S. organization of agricultural print writers. As well as major farm publications, it includes some of the leading U.S. dailies.

Allan Dawson, a reporter for the Manitoba Co- operator, received an NAAJ honorable mention, also in the column/analysis class. Allan was also a finalist in the small newspaper category of the Canadian Association of Journalists annual awards competition. Although he didn't win, Allan hit the jackpot in another way. At the CAJ awards night in Vancouver, Allen's name was drawn for two Cathy Pacific All-Asia airline passes. They include two round-trip economy class flights to Hong Kong, plus up to 30 days travel to as many as 15 Asian cities. Allan says it was such a shock he'll need a couple of weeks on the beaches in Bali to get over it.

While Allen is headed off to Asia, Ron Friesen , also a reporter at the Manitoba Co-operator , recently got back from there. He spent nearly three weeks in Singapore and the Philippines during March after winning a journalist's fellowship from the Canada-ASEAN Centre. The CAC promotes scientific and technical co-operation between Canada and South- east Asia. Ron reported on agri-food trade in the ASEAN region. He was originally scheduled to go to Indonesia but unrest in that country necessitated a last-minute change in the assignment. Ron was one of three winners of the CAC's media exchange support program this year. The other two were from the Toronto Star and the Vancouver Sun.

MFWBA member Kelly Dueck, the circulation manager for UGG's Farm Business Communications, left the fold last fall to take a position with Maclean Hunter in Toronto. Congratulations go out to Kelly and his wife, Kelly, who in February became proud parents of daughter Lillian.

This year, MFWBA member Barbara Metrycki has been teaching Technical Communications to students in the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Manitoba. She says she is impressed with the range of interests and expertise of her 102 students, who came from various disciplines in the Faculty, including animal production, agriecology, food science, crop production and agribusiness.
What are the pressing interests of these students? Based on final reports presented this April, students are very interested in hemp production, biotechnology , herbicide resistance, organic farming, artificial sweeteners, and alternative crops such as coriander.