Johanna Fry honoured with the Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism Award

Johanna Fry from the editorial team at top agrar was presented with the Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism Award in Nairobi, Kenya, in mid-October. The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) presents this award annually in collaboration with the agricultural industry company Alltech to a total of ten agricultural journalists under the age of 35 worldwide. Johanna Fry, editor at top agrar since 2023, is the only German among this year's winners and one of two Europeans.

The aim of the award is to provide special encouragement and support to young professionals with potential through expert training, feedback and mentoring. This is achieved, among other things, through a ‘boot camp’ (development workshop) held as part of the IFAJ Congress, which took place in Kenya this year. In addition to seminars and discussions, the programme includes agricultural tours and exclusive industry insights, specifically designed to deepen journalistic skills, leadership competencies and international industry knowledge. The workshops include practical exercises, training by experts and the opportunity to write your own articles during the congress. This promotes career development and opens doors for cooperation and international reporting. In addition to the content input, the award winners receive financial support, e.g. for travel expenses and participation fees for the IFAJ Congress.

‘It speaks volumes for Johanna that she was able to prevail in a multi-stage selection process, first at national and then at international level,’ say top agrar editors-in-chief Guido Höner and Matthias Schulze Steinmann. The basis for a successful application includes three above-average work samples (articles), which each participant must submit with their application.

'The award is also a wonderful endorsement of our corporate philosophy: in all our media relating to agriculture, food and rural life, we consistently focus on quality journalism, which is implemented by well-trained and highly motivated editors. As part of our diverse training and continuing education programme, we not only promote journalistic expertise, but also the personal development of our employees,' emphasises Dr Ludger Schulze Pals, Managing Director of Landwirtschaftsverlag Münster.

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For more than 50 years, top agrar has been the leading trade magazine for agriculture in German-speaking countries, providing farmers and decision-makers from the agricultural and food industry with up-to-date specialist information and practical decision-making aids on all aspects of agriculture via a range of media.

About Landwirtschaftsverlag
With its media and service offerings in the fields of agriculture, food and rural life, the Landwirtschaftsverlag Münster group of companies is one of Germany's ten highest-grossing specialist publishers and one of the 100 largest German media companies, with total sales of over €130 million. The group employs more than 900 people in Münster and at its other locations in Germany, Poland, Austria and the Netherlands.

Press contact:
Dr. Ludger Schulze Pals
Managing director
Ludger.SchulzePals@lv.de
Tel. +49 2501 801 6600
Hülsebrockstr. 2–8, 48165 Münster