We asked Jane to reflect on her path into agricultural communications, the topics that inspire their work, and what keeps them passionate about telling the stories behind food and farming.

What drew you to farm writing?

My father. He was an agricultural communicator, independent filmmaker and storyteller. I was intrigued by how he learned about diverse subjects (from grape production and farm equipment to water conservation and scoring dairy cows) and then created communications to clearly and engagingly share them with the intended audience. From an early age, I knew that I wanted to be part of that craft.

What topics or issues do you most enjoy covering?

I really enjoy the challenge of taking technical/research information and finding ways to connect with audiences by turning the results into an interesting and relevant story.

What’s one story or project that stands out in your career so far?

I don’t have any single stories that stand out. But the memorable ones are with the sources I interview – researchers, farmers, industry – who are passionate about what they do and want to share their knowledge with others. Those stories are fun to write.

Why does farm writing matter to you today?

Writing about agriculture continues to inspire me because it is different every day. There will always be interesting stories to share, new research to break down into manageable bites, and innovations to explain. And there will always be a need for writers to craft these stories.

What do you do for fun?

Nature is where I go for fun – hiking, kayaking and birdwatching.

By Kim Sheppard

From global agricultural trends and groundbreaking research to farm business and compelling human-interest stories, Owen Roberts has spent decades helping audiences understand the forces shaping modern agriculture. As Senior Advisor, Strategic Communications with Grain Farmers of Ontario and a longtime agricultural journalist, educator, and communicator, Owen brings a broad perspective to the industry’s biggest conversations. His contributions to agricultural journalism were recognized with the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. His career has taken him from newspaper reporting to university classrooms and international leadership roles, including serving as the first Canadian President of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists.

We asked Owen to reflect on his path into agricultural communications, the topics that inspire their work, and what keeps them passionate about telling the stories behind food and farming.

What drew you to farm writing?

“The breadth of the topics in agriculture and their importance to readers, listeners and viewers inside and outside of agriculture. In the 1980s, I was a general assignment reporter in Ontario and Alberta before becoming the agriculture sector editor at Alberta Report (and later, an agricultural communications instructor at the University of Guelph and professor at the University of Illinois). Switching to agriculture coverage full-time and realizing how many fascinating and important stories were percolating defined the rest of my career.”

What topics or issues do you most enjoy covering? 

“I like writing about 1) global issues, 2) profiles, 3) opinion, 4) research, and 5) business.” 

What’s one story or project that stands out in your career so far?

“Here’s a recent sponsored/supported collection of regenerative agriculture stories from the Toronto Star that was particularly high profile. It stands out because it was an opportunity to explain regenerative agriculture to so many people. A project I’m particularly proud of is the change to the IFAJ constitution, made while I was president, to admit countries to membership that were repressed and lacked freedom of the press.”

Why does farm writing matter to you today? 

“Farm writing matters to me today for the same reason that it has for decades: agriculture needs to reach the people who want and need to know more about their food sources, and farm writers can deliver those stories in an understandable, interesting and responsible way.”

What do you do for fun?

“I’m the lead guitarist in The GMOs, a Guelph-based rock and country band that celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2025, and is scheduled to be the closing night’s entertainment at CFWF 2026 in London, ON.” 

Connect with Owen:
Website: urbancowboy.ca 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drowenroberts/

For starters, the highly accomplished agricultural editor and journalist is celebrating 10 years at long-time farm publication, Ontario Farmer.

“I got into it by accident,” she laughs, thinking back to her foray into agricultural journalism.

While pursuing her graduate degree in rural extension at the University of Guelph, she realized she was missing one final credit.

“I looked through the catalogue and the only one that stuck out to me was a class called ‘Agricultural Communications,’” she says.

ECFWA colleagues

Denard with her family

Worried that she had already missed half of the year-long course, she reached out to the professor, Owen Roberts, and persuaded him to give her a chance.

“I did not excel in economics, or science or math. I didn’t grow up on a farm,” she says. “But I knew that I liked agriculture… and I always loved writing.”

Denard’s talent earned her a coveted spot as a writer in the SPARK program (Students Promoting Awareness of Research Knowledge), where she covered agricultural content for the University of Guelph research magazine.

Pursuing her passion, Denard gained experience with several commodity organizations and took on progressively more freelance assignments until she was offered a full-time position at Ontario Farmer.

“Sometimes interviews are really difficult. They’re really choppy, or you don’t get a lot of content,” she says. “But I love the act of interviewing someone, hearing their story, and then having the ability to craft that into a piece that matters. A piece that maybe somebody will read and feel less alone.”

Fifteen years ago, she moved to her husband’s dairy farm in Owen Sound. This life change marked another key point in her life and, if anything, it brought her even closer to her readers.

The idea for her most memorable assignment to date came to her after watching a dairy cow webinar.

“I thought, why can we talk about cow reproduction so openly and readily in agriculture, and yet we cannot talk about this with women?”

Having grappled with more than one miscarriage, Denard understood the pain and isolation all too well. She shared her own journey in Ontario Farmer during October’s Pregnancy Loss Month.

Two months later, she followed up with a feature article, telling the stories of three farm women and their experiences with infertility.

“There are unique things that farm women deal with when they’re going through infertility and pregnancy loss,” she says. The hospital could be hours away, and hiding unexplained absences from family or friends is almost impossible in a small, tight-knit community.

“I wrote that article with these brave women who so vulnerably opened their stories to me.”

The response was resounding. Denard received an outpouring of emails from women and men alike, realizing they were not alone.

“I think we’re writing more about women in agriculture. But there are some things women go through that are still taboo to talk about, and infertility is one of them.”

For budding agricultural writers, Denard shares a pivotal piece of advice she received from veteran ag writer, Hugh Maynard, early in her career.

“Find the one thing you’re good at, and use it to stand out.”

Writing for a number of different industries at the time, Denard zeroed in on agriculture, then found the beats that resonated – mental health and women.

She’s also been a long-time member of the Eastern Canadian Farm Writers’ Association (ECFWA), giving her the opportunity to connect with like-minded writers across the province, the country and the world.

“I think we all wear a lot of hats in this occupation. One day I call myself a farm writer. One day I call myself a reporter or communicator. But deep down, I really identify as being a storyteller.”

Farm women and men deal with infertility too (PDF)
A story by Courtney Denard, published in Ontario Grain Farmer 380 KB