2021 NZGAJC Photography and Journalism Awards

Winners of the 2020 NZ Guild of Agricultural Journalists & Communicators Awards were announced at the nineteenth anniversary dinner, Friday 26 November 

The Guild offers a series of awards each year, in conjunction with our sponsors, for excellence in written and broadcast agricultural journalism.

Following are the award-winning entries. Most are linked to online items, but some are in pdf format requiring Acrobat Reader.

Ministry for Primary Industries Rongo Award

The Country-Wide team’s investigative series into regenerative agriculture over seven issues of the magazine took out this year’s top award in the New Zealand Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators’ annual journalism awards.

Country-Wide investigated the facts of regenerative agriculture, diving deep into the science, to get the reader as close as possible to the truth. The series won the Ministry for Primary Industries Rongo Award recognising excellence in agricultural journalism for its originality, exceptional storytelling, and depth of quality research.

Runner-up in the Rongo award was an entry from Sally Round for a three-item series she recorded, produced, edited, and presented for RNZ's Country Life show. The series showcased classic storytelling about life on the iconic Molesworth Station, in the backcountry of Marlborough. 

Federated Farmers Rural Photography Award was won by Natasha Chadwick for a photo of Megan Whitehead

The Pāmu Agricultural Journalism Encouragement Award, established to recognise the work of journalists who are new to specialising in agricultural journalism, went to BusinessDesk’s Rebecca Howard for her original take on Covid related stories.

The 2021 awards were announced at an event in Wellington. A total of 13 awards were presented; 11 for journalism, one for communications, and one for photography. Judges for each category came from a range from professional backgrounds, from established journalists to industry leaders.

The newest category, the Ministry for Primary Industries Fit for a Better World Award, which recognises the importance of innovation and technology in supporting sustainability, went to the Dairy Exporter team, for their special report over six stories taking an in-depth look at regenerative agriculture through the voices of farmers, scientists, policy makers and funders of research.

The Primary Sector Communications Campaign Award, sponsored by the New Zealand Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators, was awarded to the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Opportunity Grows Here campaign – an attraction campaign to get Kiwis working in the primary sector by focusing on the inspiring sides of the sector, and linking employers and employees to highly skilled and fulltime jobs, seasonal roles as well as training. 

President of the New Zealand Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators, Neal Wallace, said, “We’re proud to recognise the professionalism and excellence in agricultural journalism and photography that these awards celebrate. Agricultural journalism highlights the importance of food and fibre production to all of New Zealand, and is critical in telling the stories and giving a face to the issues and challenges facing the sector’.

The full list of award winners are:

• Ministry for Primary Industries Rongo Award was won by the Country-Wide team for their investigative series into regenerative agriculture. Read the Country-Wide team entry. 
• Ko Tātou This Is Us Biosecurity Journalism Award was won by Richard Rennie for articles which appeared in the NZ Farmers Weekly. Read article 1. Read article 2.
• AgResearch Science Writers Award was won by Jo Grigg, for articles which appeared in Country-Wide Magazine and Merino Review 2020. Read article 1. Read article 2.
• Ministry for Primary Industries Fit for a Better World Award was won by the Dairy Exporter team for six stories taking an in-depth look at regenerative agriculture. Read the winning entry. 
• Federated Farmers Broadcast Journalism Award was won by Sally Round for two items that were broadcast on RNZs Country Life programme. Listen to the feature on dairy farming with robots. Listen to the feature on Molesworth Station.
• Beef + Lamb Hard News Award was won by Neal Wallace, for two articles which appeared in Farmers Weekly focussing on disruption to the meat industry. Read article 1. Read article 2.
• Zespri Export Journalism Award was won by Carol Stiles, for two items that were broadcast on RNZs Country Life programme. Listen to the feature on Miro. Listen to the feature on velveting stags.
• TUANZ Rural Connectivity Award was won by Richard Rennie for articles which appeared in NZ Dairy Farmer and NZ Farmers Weekly. Read article 1. Read article 2.
• Alliance Group Ltd Red Meat Industry Journalism Award was won by Glenys Christian, for articles which appeared in Country-Wide Magazine. Read article 1. Read article 2.
• Federated Farmers Rural Photography Award was won by Natasha Chadwick for a photo of Megan Whitehead of Gore, breaking a world record for the most sheep sheared by a woman in nine hours, which appeared in Farmers Weekly
• DairyNZ Dairy Industry Award was won by Anne Lee, for articles which appeared in NZ Dairy Exporter. Read article 1. Read article 2.
• Pāmu Agricultural Journalism Encouragement Award was won by Rebecca Howard, for items which appeared in BusinessDesk. Read article 1. Read article 2.
• NZGAJC Primary Sector Communications Campaign Award was won by the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Opportunity Grows Here team. Watch a video from the campaign here.