The switch to an automated news gathering system for the Farming Online website in the United Kingdom has effectively closed the Independent Farm Business News (IFBN) service and ended work for its journalists and editors, reports the local guild's latest e-bulletin. IFBN has supplied the great majority of content for the site since it started more than 10 years ago. In what could be a worrying trend, a specialist internet database agency will now use sophisticated computer software to harvest material published on other websites to generate news content at a lower cost. Read more here.

The IFAJ Presidium has unveiled a major new ten-point plan to move the organisation forward during the next eight years. The plan includes creating a new part-time position for an Executive Secretary, revamping the website and expanding professional development and tour opportunities to non-member countries. It was presented to the IFAJ Executive Committee in January and is now being considered by national affiliates around the world.

Dutch journalist and IFAJ executive committee member Hans Siemes has been leading a small working group to explore freedom of the press and how the organization can support journalists in countries where press freedom is restricted. He provides this update on discussions so far as the debate is taken up by member organisations around the world.

In doubtful cases, Reinhold S. Bonfig from Germany believes it is important that the IFAJ always supports freedom of the press. Read his views in English or German.

The disputed presidential election which brought widespread chaos to Kenya affected agricultural journalists too. Catherine Mgendi, who works in media relations for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), based in Nairobi, wrote this report for the IFAJ E-News.

A major BBC television series about how farm animals make their way to the dining table is causing a stir in Great Britain. Titled 'Kill it, cook it, eat it', the series is based around the concept of an audience seeing an animal being killed and cooked, and then having to eat it. The latest programs have focused on young animals and are creating a storm of emails from viewers. Joanne Pugh, livestock editor on Farmers Guardian, had first-hand experience when she was in the audience for the veal calf edition. 'I came away with very mixed feelings,' she says. Read more about her experience or click here for a Farmers Weekly Interactive report on the way farming is being reported on television.

A graphic television broadcast debating the issue of procedures such as calf de-horning, tail docking and cutting piglets' teeth by BBC Scotland journalist Nancy Nicolson has won the UK guild's NOAH Writer/Broadcaster of the Year 2007 award. Jonathan Long from Farmers Weekly was runner-up with an article exploring the future of a national scheme to breed scrapie-resistant sheep. Read more.

Food security is emerging as a critical issue for farmers and their markets as a range of factors impact on the amount of food countries can produce. Severe weather patterns, war and political unrest, decreasing farmer numbers, disease outbreaks, competition for crops and resources for other uses such as biofuels, environmental degradation, water rights, pressure from urban development and changing government policies are all cited as factors in this IFAJ E-News special feature which explores how the issue is being reported around the globe.

Wikipedia is not only a valuable website for IFAJ members, it gives you a chance to contribute, according to Joe Zumalt. Read his latest contribution to the professional development series generated by the Agricultural Communications Documentation Centre in partnership with the IFAJ.

IFAJ members are welcome to attend two international conferences planned in the Ukraine in April 2008. The first event on April 2 and 3 will explore the development of the biofuel sector in the Ukraine. For more information click here. The second event on April 9 and 10 is dedicated to discussing prospects for grain trade in the Black Sea region. To find out more click here.

The IFAJ's membership committee is working on guidelines to help agricultural journalists set up more professional associations or guilds. The hand-out will provide advice and encouragement for countries where there is currently no national organization for agricultural journalists, photographers and communicators. It will also incorporate information about what a guild needs to do to join the IFAJ. Another hand-out is being prepared with advice about how to raise money.

A special travel award for an emerging agricultural journalist will be presented in New Zealand this year to mark the 50th anniversary of the local guild. Supported by the NZ-UK Link Foundation, the winner will travel to the UK to broaden their understanding of the importance of New Zealand's agricultural sector in the global marketplace and the many links between agriculture in the two countries. NZ journalists up to the age of 35 can apply, with entries closing on March 3. The guild is also planning a jubilee conference in Wellington on October 17 and 18. More information is available from Sue Miller at kotuku.media@xtra.co.nz

Development is rapidly swallowing up farm land in Switzerland says Claude Liengme in this report about a recent guild visit to the country's federal office of statistics which drew plenty of numbers, both in attendance and information given.

A photo contest in Norway will celebrate the International Year of the Potato. The Norwegian Association of Agricultural Journalists is inviting organisations, photographers and journalists from across the community to participate and generate as much publicity as possible. The challenge is to capture all aspects of the humble potato from the growing season to processing and eating, and even the humorous.

Swedish journalists are enjoying the benefits of several stipends organised by their national association, FSLJ. Torbj��rn Esping from southern Sweden will visit Kenya and Tanzania to explore how forestry is helping to develop rural businesses with 1500 Euros provided by the Ivar Peterson fund run by the FSLJ presidium. Another journalist, Nils Lindstrand, will go to the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Finnish guild in March.

The American Agricultural Editors Association is currently selecting a college student in agricultural communications to benefit from its summer intern program. The lucky student will spend 10 weeks working at The Corn and Soybean Digest in Minnesota, under the supervision of editor Greg Lamp. They will also attend the Agricultural Media Summit in Florida in July as part of the program which is funded by the AAEA's Professional Improvement Foundation and Smithfield Foods.

Freelancers don't usually have access to the same employment benefits as journalists on staff. But Canadian freelancer Claudette Lacombe has found an exception that fits with writing about water management issues in rural Alberta. Read her story from a recent edition of the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation newsletter, The Farm Journalist.

What are the greatest professional dangers you face today as agricultural reporters and editors? They might include failing to try new ideas, not looking ahead, emerging technologies, losing journalistic integrity or freedom of expression, or budget crunches. The Agricultural Communications Documentation Centre is looking for input on this important question as part of research for a special feature it is preparing for the IFAJ. Your response does not have to be long to be helpful. Please forward your thoughts to Jim Evans at evansj@uiuc.edu or complete the electronic survey form at the bottom of this newsletter.

You have until March 31 to catch the special early bird rate for the 2008 IFAJ Congress in Austria and Slovenia, save money and qualify to win one of four weekend farm holidays. Titled 'From the Mountains to the Sea', the congress will be held from September 10 to 14. Extensive information about the event and how to register is available at www.ifaj2008.com.

The IFAJ is seeking a part-time executive secretary to support the organisation and its activities. Click here for a job description and details on how to apply.

The IFAJ's prestigious Star Prize for Agricultural Photography has been revamped to offer more prizes, more prize money and three separate categories for portraits, landscapes and nature, and images capturing aspects of production. Photographers have until May 1 to enter the awards, sponsored by DeLaval. Click here for more information and to view previous winners.

National guilds have until June 1 to select and enter a finalist to represent their country in the prestigious IFAJ Star Prize for Agricultural Journalism, sponsored by John Deere. The competition celebrates the best agricultural stories published during 2007. Entries can only be made by organisations affiliated with the IFAJ. The winner will be announced on September 1 via the IFAJ website and honoured during the 2008 IFAJ Congress in Austria/Slovenia. To find out more and read about previous winners click here.

The IFAJ is planning to expand its awards program in 2009 with the introduction of a new contest for broadcast journalists. The concept was approved at the executive meeting in Berlin. Find out more.

Hollywood may have been the focus for Academy Award winners in February, but the Dutch have been busy celebrating their own version of the Oscars, with a local website for farmers coming up trumps. Read more here.

A formal application from Sweden to host the 2012 IFAJ congress was accepted by the Executive Committee when it met in Berlin in January. The move was recommended by the IFAJ's Host Country Liaison Committee which has also received expressions of interest in hosting future events from Argentina, South Africa, Great Britain and Finland. The committee also talked about the need to update guidelines for congress organisers to take into account increasing requirements relating to biosecurity precautions when farm journalists travel to different countries. The issue arose last year when a foot and mouth outbreak occurred in England just prior to the Japanese congress.