SA people & places take out national rural photography awards (March 2019)

The Australian Council of Agricultural Journalism (ACAJ) National Star Prize for Excellence in Rural Photography has been won by The Stock Journal’s Jacqui Bateman for her pic of Tom Ellis from ‘Coola Station’ at Tantanoola in SA’s South East (pictured).

Judges said it was a classic Australian image of a man and his best friends. The photograph had high technical excellence, being well composed and exposed, with a good choice of lens and settings to make the subject matter really stand out.

Jacqui, from Robe in SA, is a previous International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) World Star Prize winner from 2017 with her photo of a naked shearer.

The Australian winning photo earns $1000 cash prize from the ACAJ.

Winner of the Nature-Landscape category was freelance photographer Paula Heelan from the Darling Downs in Queensland for her photo of a historic stone homestead on Nilpena Station in the Flinders Ranges, SA.

Her photo was published in The Land, Queensland Country Life, and Farm Online.

Winner of the Production category was multi-award winner Tait Schmaal from The Advertiser in Adelaide.

Tait’s photo was an image of farmer Adrian McCabe with the last of his summer crop awaiting harvest at Hamley Bridge in SA.

The three winning photos will now compete in the IFAJ World Star Prize Awards to be judged at the 2019 IFAJ World Congress in Minnesota, USA in July.

In the Rural Radio/Audio Broadcast Awards, ABC’s SA Country Hour rural journalist, Cassandra Hough won the Radio/Audio sub-category for a comprehensive report on a successful Australian agricultural aid project in Vietnam ( https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-03-08/international-womens-day-vietnam-aciar-vegetables/9524998). Cassandra's radio story will now also be entered in IFAJ World Star Prize Awards in Minnesota.


Tait Schmaal's photo of Hamley Bridge farmer Adrian McCabe looking down into his summer crop