Can U.S. ag editors and Canadian farm writers work together?
By Susan K. Davis In early October I had the opportunity to be a panelist at the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation (CFWF) conference in Windsor, Ontario. The topic was how Canadian and U.S. ag communicators can better work together. The other panelist, Laura Rance, of Farmers’ Independent Weekly in Manitoba, was the first Canadian president of North American Ag Journalists (NAAJ), formerly the Newspaper Farm Editors of America. Rance joked that she lobbied for the association name to be changed to NAAJA (Eh?). Many of the 100 attendees at the Ontario meeting were listed as freelancers. There was a question about how many freelancers could qualify for NAAJ membership because the bylaws state that “Freelance writers who also write for advertising agencies or public relations firms are not eligible to join NAAJ.” Canadians have been a part of AAEA membership for many years and our association presently has about a dozen Canadian members. Like AAEA, CFWF is comprised of writers, editors an
