Training and Development

Members and Friends of the Guild have access to continuous professional development (CPD) workshops on social media, writing skills, broadcasting, photography and other topics.

Guild CPD workshops

Based on the most popular courses voted for via a membership questionnaire, a three-year CPD programme of courses and workshops is now underway, focusing on various aspects of communications skills.

Kindly sponsored and hosted by AGCO, a target number of three courses will be run each year. Members will be notified of all course dates via eAlerts and the Guild website.

For further details, please email the Guild at CPD@gaj.org.uk.

Journalism Training Award, sponsored by John Deere

The Guild’s John Deere-sponsored new entrants training scheme is held for 10 trainees from different backgrounds: horticulture, agriculture, PR or agri-media and agricultural engineering. Trainees often have very little or no practical experience of journalism.

The course is held at John Deere’s headquarters in Nottinghamshire and run by a professional training consultant, with some lectures also delivered by Guild members.

Short-term placements offered by a number of farming and horticultural publications, as well as PR and marketing agencies, provide real-world experience of the profession.

Other opportunities

Professional development materials are available from the website of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) and workshops often form part of the IFAJ Congress programme.

Information on accredited courses in journalism is available on the website of the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ).