Gerard Keenan, managing director of the feeder and nutrition management firm, announced the winners of the 2014 Richard Keenan Innovation in Agriculture journalism award at the annual Harvest Lunch.
He was delighted that in its third year, the award attracted a record number of entries on topics illustrating the innovative nature of British farmers.
The winning article for the Press & Journal by farming editor Gemma Mackenzie described a biomass-fuelled dryer project installed by the Aberdeen Grain co-operative.
“It was the clear winner out of 15 entries into this year’s Richard Keenan Innovation Award,” he said.
“An article that was well researched, written with confidence and had a natural flow, while still managing to get all the relevant costs, facts and figures into the informative piece.
“It also really met the needs of Gemma’s local readership, showing her understanding of the farming community that she writes for.”
Freelance Rachel Lovell took the runner-up prize for an article on the way dairy farmers in Austria are adapting to change.
It was published in Farmers Guardian and resulted from Rachel earning a place through the Guild on one of the facility trips organised by the European Network of Agricultural Journalists (ENAJ).
Gerard Keenan said: “The article demonstrated good interviewing skills, an empathy with and understanding of the subject matter and gave a clear account of what happens when young farmers are given the freedom to innovate and experiment.”
Read Rachel’s runner-up article here
