The Australian Farm Institute is launching an essay competition, with a cash prize of $2500 for the winning entry, to recognise the contribution of Mr. John Ralph to the Institute. John was Chairman of the Institute from its founding in 2003 until his recent retirement, and has played a major part in the Institute's development.

The John Ralph essay competition will be held annually.

In 2010, the first year of the prize, the topic is ‘The role of Australia's primary industries in buffering the Australian economy from external economic shocks.'

The essay competition is open to anyone, and entries should be a maximum of 3,000 words in length. The winning essay and the best four other essays will be published in the November issue of the Farm Policy Journal.

Entries will be judged by John Ralph, the AFI Executive Director and the Chair of the Institute's Research Advisory Committee.

Entries close Monday, 13 September 2010.

Further information, including guidelines, is available here. http://www.farminstitute.org.au/news-and-events/JohnRalphEssayCompetition