A local company that plays an important role in supporting and communicating for the agricultural sector has received national recognition for its work.
The Burr Forest Group earned three awards at the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation annual banquet in Winnipeg last month.
Its podcast The Extensionists earned bronze in the electronic media – audio category, while its June 2024 KTT (knowledge translation and transfer) cluster report won bronze in the communication – long category. A photograph by principal leader Toban Dyck during a June 2024 storm received gold in the landscape photography category.
Burr Forest Group has built a strong network of leading agricultural professionals and aims to facilitate clear, intelligent approaches to policy, research extension, communications, and marketing for farms, organizations, and companies of all sizes.
“I saw a need in the ag industry to bridge the gap between complex things the industry does and the farmers these organizations serve,” said Dyck. “It was a dream of mine to start a company that services that gap and communicates better to farmers.”
The Extensionists, a biweekly podcast hosted by Dyck and Jay Whetter, features in-depth, accessible conversations with industry experts, researchers, and farmers that bridge the gap between research and farming across Canada.
“What we want to do is have, like our tagline says, conversations with great thinkers in agriculture. We want to get researchers and innovators talking about what they do,” Dyck said.
“There are so many researchers in Canada who do really important work that very little of it sees the light of day, and if we can even play a minute role in bringing that to the surface, that’s a win.”
Dyck also feels proud of their focus on agricultural extensionists.
“Manitoba Agriculture used to have extension offices all over, helping farmers get information and farm better, and those are gone,” he said. “Organizations are reeling from the loss of them and trying to fill that gap.”
Burr Forest Group started an extension training workshop that has been well received across the Prairies.
“It’s becoming a big thing. We’ll be training Manitoba Agriculture extension staff on how to extend information to farmers,” Dyck noted. “There’s a real appetite for it, and very few bridges between where the information is and the farmers who need it.”
The annual Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation awards recognize excellence across 14 categories, judged by 17 experts from across North America.
The organization serves agricultural journalists as well as those in business and government whose primary responsibility is agricultural communications. Dyck said the recognition feels meaningful.
“We’re proud to be recognized alongside so many peers doing important work in Canadian agriculture,” he said. “It’s exciting and affirming to be at this place as a company, starting to get recognition and see improvement, even incrementally.
“These awards reinforce our role as extension and communications leaders—translating research into plain language, telling stories that resonate at the farm gate, and helping organizations show real value to their members.”
