By Tracey Feist

The 1997 Alberta farm writers Tour highlighted generations of ranching country, profitable businesses and interesting individuals promoting agriculture in Alberta.

On a beautiful sunny September morning, the group gathered in Cochrane. We were happy to have Frank Jacobs along on the tour, a truly original farm writer.

Francis Gardner of Mount Sentinel Ranch, an 8,000 acre cattle ranch south of Longview, told the group how he is marketing his cattle as an organic product.

His philosophies were reflective of his love for the land, and a genuine interest in

producing a quality product for a niche market. He told us about Producers of The Diamond Willow Range, a group of seven ranching families that are committed to raising antibiotic and growth hormone free beef. Their tracking system allows them to maintain animal ownership and identity through the feeding, processing and retail levels.

The highlight of the tour was at Mt. Sentinel, where we learned how the Cows and Fish program works to improve the condition of riparian ecosystems through changes in grazing management strategies.

Barry Adams and Lorne Fitch have single-handedly influenced the attitudes and

management practices of local fishermen, recreationalists, environmentalists, cattle producers and government agencies. This program has positively impacted an estimated one million acres, 20,000 km of trout streams, 500 ranch managers, 1.5 million recreational users and about

150,000 cows in a relatively small area in southern Alberta. Barry and Lorne were masterful presenters, and it was easy to see why they were awarded the Alberta Emerald Award for Environmental Excellence in June this year.

They also put us to the test, teaching the group how to properly assess the health of a stream. I can confidently say the group will never look at another stream the same way.

Swath grazing, or placing cattle into a swathed field of barley or oats to help extend the grazing season, is seeing a resurgence in Alberta. Pat Ramsey, Beef Specialist for Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development took us to three crop sites, and told us how ranchers in the area are able to defer winter feeding, and save money at the same time.

Located in the heart of horse country, and nearby to Spruce Meadows, was another industrious farm family. A tour of Equine Reproduction Services showed us that Curtis and Judy Kirshman are leaders in the process of freezing stallion semen. Curtis, in fact, is one of five individuals conducting this type of service in North America. And yes, a horse was drawn right before our very eyes. It was an interesting site to see, to say the least.

Friday was spent in Cochrane, west of Calgary. The first stop for the day was visiting MacKay's Ice Cream plant. We heard how Rhona and Robyn MacKay took over from their father's business in 1983, and now serve 50 flavors of home made ice cream to more than 10,000 visitors per week, and 23 grocery stores and restaurants in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan. A fresh batch of mango ice cream was made especially for the group. And of course samples were provided!

The next stop was the Western Heritage Center, which opened in 1996. The facility serves as an interpretive center for the ranching, rodeo and agricultural communities. Here you can learn to rope a steer, or help a cow giving birth. Plastic life size models help even the least knowledgeable person understand agriculture and its importance to Alberta.

Our final stop was made at Alta Genetics, a leader in dairy genetics.

In all we were blessed with wonderful weather, great conversations, and thoughts of next year's farm writers' tour. At the annual general meeting, held at Elkana Ranch in Bragg Creek, Bill Owen was elected as 1998 Alberta Farm Writers' Association president. Janet Kanters will serve as new secretary/treasurer.

One Alberta farm writer will be the recipient of a new Pioneer Hi-Bred professional development award. The award was announced at the recent annual meeting of the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation (CFWF) held in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

The Pioneer Leadership in Communications Award has been established to support the professional development of Canadian farm reporters, editors, broadcasters and public relations specialists.

The new award will sponsor up to six agricultural journalists from across Canada to attend the annual convention of the American Agricultural Editors' Association (AAEA) in St. Louis, Missouri in 1998. Representatives from Canada's five provincial farm writer organizations -- British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Eastern Canada -- and the Quebec-based French-language Association canadienne des rédacteurs agricoles de langue française (ACRA), will receive up to $2,000 each toward attending the annual conference.

More details about the award will be sent to Alberta farm writers in the New Year.

Alberta farm writers made a great showing at this years Canadian Farm Writers' Federation annual awards banquet.

This year, a total of six AFWA members brought home hardware for their excellence in agriculture communications.

Bill Black and Dianne Finstad with CKRD-TV in Red Deer again won awards for television news reporting. Bill's story, 'Farrier', took gold, while Dianne's story, 'Tenderness Research' captured a silver award.

In the new category, general periodical, Clare Stanfield with Fieldstone Marketing took top honors with AgrEvo's Farm Forum. Her colleague Kieran Brett took bronze prize with the Royal Bank's Agricultural Business Review publication.

Larry Thomas, associate editor of Cattleman magazine who resides at Priddis, took the gold prize in the press editorial category for his column 'Make Special Places.'

Finally, the AFWA outgoing president, Tracey Feist, won bronze in the press feature category for her article in Farm, Light & Power, 'Caring for the Green Zone.'

Congratulations to all Alberta farm writers!

The Alberta Farm Writers Federation has increased its membership during the past few months, with the addition of four new members.

We welcome Brad Brinkworth with Meristem Information Resources Ltd.; Sharon McKinnon with the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association; and Peter Burnett and Ron McMullin with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge.

If you know of someone who may be interested in joining the AFWA, please contact secretary/treasurer Janet Kanters, and she will forward a membership application to that person.