Effective December 31, 1999 Gaunt, CKNX Radio Farm Director, will retire after 17 years of work with CKNX Radio and TV He says he'll miss the regular contact with the farm community. Even though deadlines have become part of his life, Murray says he's looking forward to a more relaxed, deadline-free lifestyle, being able to spend more time with his family and enjoying his four grandchildren in his retirement.

Having a well-rounded knowledge of the agricultural industry, Murray was raised on his family's St. Helens area shorthorn beef farm, and graduated from the Ontario Agricultural College in animal and poultry husbandry.

Murray Gaunt has served agriculture both in his broadcasting and political careers. During his time in provincial parliament (1962-1981), he served as Agriculture and Environment critic for the Liberal party of Ontario. In recognition of distinguished service to Ontario agriculture, he was appointed to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture Special Task Force in August, 1981. The task force was created to investigate and report upon the financial difficulties farmers faced. He was awarded an honorary life membership by the Ontario Instituted of Agrologists and in 1983 he won the Huron County Federation of Agriculture Award for outstanding contribution to agriculture. Gaunt has been a board member of the Developing Countries Farm Radio Network.Gaunt says the family farm will survive. He says, "The family farm will always be the main production unit in Ontario agriculture. It's the most efficient. The family farm won't die."

Joanne Bregman

Stirling responded with a $35,000 grant, which has proven pivotal: In October, the CanAdapt program (funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) announced it was getting behind Roberts's project with a three-year, $170,000 grant to help make agricultural communications part of the Ontario Agricultural College's core curriculum.The project will link two agricultural communications electives in OAC with a variety of activities being driven by the university's award-winning SPARK (Students Promoting Awareness of Research Knowledge) program - including the University's Research magazine - and a summer internship communications program.

The first course covers the theory and practice of writing about the agri-food industry for the media. In the second course, students will work with SPARK participants to produce a research publication. In the summer, internships with business, media, government and industry will be offered for academic credit. The initiative is being led by Roberts, the University of Guelph's director of research communications, SPARK coordinator and course instructor.

"The agri-food industry's profile has grown incredibly with issues such as biotechnology, food safety and nutrition making front-page headlines every day," says Roberts, who also serves as an ECFWA director. "The CanAdapt support shows the industry recognizes the importance of training students to effectively communicate about agriculture and food in a balanced, objective way."

The agricultural communications courses grew out of the SPARK program, started by Roberts 10 years ago to give undergraduate students journalism and communications experience by writing about the varied research at the university. The credit course was introduced five years ago and the prototype for the publication-production course was launched earlier this year with Pioneer's help. The result was a 60-page Research magazine called "Cosmic Crops," which highlighted activities of the university's new Department of Plant Agriculture.

SPARK is open to students from all disciplines. And although the courses are offered in the agricultural college, they have attracted students from across campus, including international development and English. Kahn is heading a campaign to generate the support needed to sustain the program beyond the CanAdapt funding. His firm, Kahntact Marketing Inc., has sponsored the SPARK program for several years and he has hired graduates from both the SPARK program and the agricultural communications course. "These graduates are two to three years ahead of comparable communications graduates in their writing skills and overall ability," says Kahn.

CanAdapt is administered by Ontario's Agricultural Adaptation Council, a 47-member industry-driven coalition that delivers funding programs on behalf of the federal government. Since 1996, the Council has committed $34 million in CanAdapt funding to 197 projects.

Owen Roberts

Random highlights from this year's edition: Cool-guy Secretary Treasurer Hugh Maynard sporting his peace-sign tie-dye shirt at the post-banquet hospitality suite; simultaneous translation courtesy Hugh and Terre de Chez-Nous editor France Groulx, each taking the other's mother tongue (Hugh says breakfast is "en haut," France says it's "downstairs" - we all find it in the end); quick-pouring long-lasting official ACRA bartender Jacques Janelle (Why don't we have this title on our executive slate?); and a new hospitality suite addition to Owen Roberts' strumming - Pictionary!

Linguistic differences notwithstanding - those without headsets learned that "coffee break" in French is the less polite but more accurate "Pause Pee" - the cross-cultural camaraderie was outstanding. Communication and exchange of ideas were greatly enhanced by the superb translation work of FCC's Adrienne Gagnon, an impeccably bilingual Francophone from Saskatchewan.

The Friday tour explored the city of Laval, Quebec's second largest city, population 345,000, situated on Ile Jesus, a 32 km long, 13 km wide island just north of Montreal surrounded by two rivers, Mille-Iles and Des Prairies, and the Deux-Montagnes lake. At the morning session with municipal officials at the council chambres, we learned of the 7,000-ha "Agroparc," a green zone of ag land similar to Niagara, comprising one-third of the island. There some 220 farms, mainly horticultural, produce $35 million worth of produce including 1.5 million pots of flowers.

So much of the land is under glass that planner Charles Fleury preferred to talk in square feet than acres. He described a scheme to return speculative lands back into ag, whereby landlords who didn't sell were slapped with a surtax. After two years, 10 per cent of these small parcels, or 7.3 million square feet, have been returned either to farmers at an average four cents per square foot, or to the farmland agency AGRIL. The rest of the day was spent along "The Flower Trail," visiting different Laval horticulture operations. The Marineau family welcomed us to their Fleruineau Floral Economuseum, which produces 100,000 bouquets of dry flowers from 17 ha. After lunch we stopped by the horticulture operation of the Lacroix family, including greenhouses and a vegetable stand, the "Kiosque des Ancetres" (deftly translated by Adrienne as "Ye Olde Farm Market"). Proprietor Gilles Lacroix seemed more interested in grilling farm writers on the hort business in their provinces, and got a briefing from B.C.'s Dave Schmidt and Manitoba's John Morriss.

Then it was off to Canada's largest hort operation run by the Gibouleau family, on 1,500 acres including 300 acres of peppers alone, and packing 6,000 boxes of cantaloupe in a single day!

Saturday's seminars, including updates on the Quebec environmental situation and WTO talks, wrapped up by lunch, leaving a full afternoon for sightseeing in the gloriously beautiful surroundings, including an ACRA-CFWF hike in a local park.

The Saturday night banquet featured succulent roast beef (bleu to brule) and a snappy awards presentation. The ACRA awards - emceed by dazzling duo Pascale Tremblay and Josee de Grandmont - was short and sweet: three finalists and one overall winner.Many thanks to prez Barry and the ECFWA for the kind bursary allowing me to attend the conference

John Muggeridge

From my perspective, it's been a pretty good run for the ECFWA. The organization is still strong and healthy decades after being formed. The industry has changed and those of us who communicate its issues and activities to the rest of the industry and the public have changed along with it. Membership has increased in recent years and attendance has been up at our last few annual general meetings. Our little group remains a major part of the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation.

1999 was an interesting year. We had more wild weather, we discussed WTO at our annual meeting long before the 'Battle in Seattle', our colleagues in the mainstream media discovered genetically modified food, and several of our members changed jobs and careers.

So as we approach the dawn of a new age, here are a few thoughts I wish for all of you. I hope Santa finds your stocking (or stockings!) May that 'story of a lifetime' fall into your lap, that news release get national pick-up or that big account finally sign on the dotted line. I hope you all get a raise, a promotion and you get the credit you deserve for the whatever it is you do. May your 2000 be fully compliant, may the Y2K Grinch be kind to you and may your computer still work in a month!

On behalf of the ECFWA, I want to wish you the best of the Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!

"The goal of the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program (AALP) is to expand and strengthen the pool of effective leaders in agriculture and rural Ontario," says Ann Gordon, the program's Executive Director. Farm writers give the industry a voice through their words. Similarly, AALP fosters the development of leaders to ensure a strong voice for Ontario agriculture.

Designed to broaden a participant's knowledge of the agri-food system and expose the person to new ideas and issues, the executive development program kicks off every second year with the selection of a new group of 30 individuals from across all sectors of the industry. Recently, the 8th AALP class got underway. Over the next two years, this new crop of participants will travel across Ontario to attend nine three-day seminars examining a host of topics from national and international trade to consumer and social issues. They will visit numerous ag-related and community-minded operations and hear hundreds of guest speakers. In July 2000, Class 8 will travel to a study-tour destination in North America and in February 2001 they will embark on a two-week international travel experience.

Class 8 brings together a diverse group that includes 20 primary producers. The remainder of the class represents financial institutions, agri-business, food processing, government, marketing communications and rural associations. They are people committed to Ontario agriculture and rural communities, who have demonstrated leadership potential. During the course of the program, participants will hone their skills in communications, problem solving and managing complex change.

To date, AALP's alumni is more than 200 people strong. Graduates are affecting changes at all levels of the agri-food industry and rural community. In fact, an Angus Reid study found that 79 per cent of AALP grads are involved in leadership activities at the local and regional levels; 58 per cent are focussing at a provincial level of activity; and 31 per cent of graduates are using their leadership skills in national and international jurisdictions.Strong leadership is a key to the future of the agri-food industry. This is where AALP fits in - the group behind the acronym is doing its part to make certain Ontario maintains a viable position on agriculture's world stage.

Karen Lewis, AALP, Class 8ECFWA Secretary-Treasurer

Congratulations to Don Stoneman and Robert Irwin for the launching of Better Farming magazine. Don and Robert share editorial duties at the new publication that's based in Milton at The Farm Museum.

Bernard Tobin has joined AdCulture Group as account executive.

Tom Button is writing for Country Guide from his home office in Ridgetown.

John Muggeridge has joined Quarry Integrated Communications in Waterloo as a writer-editor (519-570-2020 ext. 2415), and says he's looking forward to continuing farm-writer fellowship with ECFWAers

Christina Selby is doing freelance agricultural writing.