EVENTS: February Meeting Summary Biotechnology: what does it mean for Victoria? On February 18, new Monsanto Country Lead Peter O'Keeffe presented to 74 guests at a Rural Press Club of Victoria's breakfast meeting. He addressed what the impact has been on Monsanto's Roundup Ready® canola entering the Victorian market with the lifting of the ban on genetically modified crops, and what biotechnology, more generally, will mean for the future of agriculture. Our next meeting notice will be available soon. Wodonga journalist wins national award again The writing skills of young Victorian journalist John Conroy have won him the ACAJ Star Prize for Rural Journalism for the second year in a row. An international panel of judges has named The Border Mail journalist as the best rural writer of the year for his feature 'Out west, where the rain don't fall'. The judges commended John Conroy's article for its content, style and balance. The award was announced at the Rural Press Club of Victoria's monthly breakfast meeting this morning in Melbourne. Mr Conroy will now represent Australia in the world's most prestigious professional competition for rural reporters - the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Star Prize for Agricultural Journalism. The presentation included awarding state finalists Peter Hunt, from The Weekly Times and Graeme O'Neill, from The Sunraysia Daily. David Hillman from John Deere presented the writing prizes. Also this morning, Rabobank's Mark Bennett presented the Victorian finalists for the inaugural ACAJ Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting. ABC Mildura Rural Reporter Nikolai Beilharz and Win Television's Gippsland reporter Brooke Van Nooten took the honours. Please click on the link below to view the media release in full. For more information, please contact Emily Bogue on 0429 416 778. David Hillman (John Deere), Graeme O'Neill (Sunraysia Daily), John Conroy (Border Mail) and Peter Hunt (The Weekly Times) Brooke van Nooten (WIN TV), Mark Bennett (Rabobank) and Nikolai Beilharz (ABC Rural Mildura) Click here to view the media release. Registrations are now open for the 2010 Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ). The 54th annual congress IFAJ 2010 will be hosted by the Belgian association of Agricultural Journalists (BVLJ-ABJA), a founding member of IFAJ. The BVLJ-ABJA welcomes you at the Belgian seaside in the marvellous Thermae Palace hotel from April 17 until April 21. The theme of the congress is "Between passion & pressure". Australian Council for Agricultural Journalists members have the opportunity to attend the Congress and through the Rural Press Club of Victoria, enter the associated awards. To visit the IFAJ2010 website, click here. 2009-10 Sponsors The Rural Press Club of Victoria gratefully acknowledges the support provided by all of its sponsors. They include: Rural Finance Telstra Victorian Farmers Federation Department of Sustainability and Environment Transport Accident Commission Rural Workforce Agency Victoria Red Handed Stock & Land The Weekly Times To find out more about our sponsors, please go to the 'about us' section of this website.