A new project to deliver time-sensitive canola information online and through new media to Canadian growers will be handled by Grainews’ editor.
Jay Whetter announced Monday he’ll be leaving his post as editor of the Prairie grain growers’ magazine effective March 1 to work on the new-media project for the Canola Council of Canada.
Whetter started his career with Radio Southern Manitoba and in October 1998 came to Farm Business Communications, then a division of Winnipeg grain company UGG.
There he wrote as an associate editor for its flagship publication Country Guide, also editing specialty publications such as Canola Guide.
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Whetter, raised on a family farm near Hartney, Man., about 80 km southwest of Brandon, was appointed in 2004 as editor of Farm Business Communications’ long-time weekly Manitoba farmers’ paper, the Manitoba Co-operator.
In 2005, in addition to his Co-operator duties, he also became editor of the western edition of Country Guide. Whetter and his family moved to Kenora, Ont., in 2006, and he was named Grainews’ editor the following year.
Whetter has received numerous national awards for feature and column writing as well as his work online, producing a popular blog at Grainews’ website. He has also previously served as president of the Manitoba Farm Writers and Broadcasters Association.
The Canola Council, also based in Winnipeg, is the national non-profit industry association representing Canada’s canola growers, processors, handlers, crop input providers and other public- and private-sector stakeholders. Its information services include several online publications and the print magazine Canola Digest.