Coast & Country News editor and SunMedia senior journalist Elaine Fisher has won the Horticulture New Zealand Journalism award for a fourth time in her career, recognising her extensive knowledge of and relationships in New Zealand's horticulture industry.

Elaine was presented the award for excellence in horticultural journalism at last night's New Zealand Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators' awards dinner in Wellington.

Coast & Country News editor Elaine Fisher has won the Horticulture NZ Journalism award for the fourth time.

'I appreciate HortNZ sponsoring this award and the guild for organising the annual awards for rural journalists – and of course, the judges for selecting my entry,” says Elaine.

'These awards are important for not only recognising good journalism, but also helping raise the standards of rural reporting. Entering the awards is a useful benchmark and one that keeps me striving to meet high standards.

'I am privileged to be able to write about and meet the people involved in our diverse primary industries and am continually impressed with their ingenuity, tenacity and positivity despite the volatility of their industries.”

Two stories won Elaine the highly recognised accolade. The first was ‘Elite soils threatened by city sprawl' in Coast & Country News' March 2015 edition, which highlighted the threat to Pukekohe soils from Auckland's growth.

The second ‘Resurgence of confidence', in Avoscene's May 2015 edition, extensively covered the New Zealand avocado industry's remarkable economic turnaround.

SunMedia directors Claire and Brian Rogers are proud to see Elaine win the award for the second time as the editor of Coast & Country News, since joining SunMedia in 2012.

'It is excellent to see Elaine's extensive expertise in horticultural journalism recognised.

'She is very well respected in the rural news sector and is highly skilled at bringing fresh, engaging and well-researched horticultural and agricultural news direct to Coast & Country News readers and advertisers on a monthly basis.

'This award celebrates that – and Elaine continues to lead the region's rural news industry with Coast & Country News.”

Horticulture NZ chief executive, and former NZ Kiwifruit Growers chief executive, Mike Chapman says Elaine has long been an enthusiastic journalistic supporter of horticulture in New Zealand.

'It probably helps that she lives right in the middle of kiwifruit country in the Bay of Plenty, and has built up a career's worth of great relationships with many, many folk in the kiwifruit and wider horticulture industries,” says Mike.

'She is well liked and respected in the HortNZ and Kiwifruit Growers Inc offices and it is a great pleasure for us to honour her work, and her commitment, with this award.”

Elaine first won the HortNZ Journalism Award when editing the ‘Kiwifruit Journal' in 1993 – and won the accolade a further again in 2011, 2014 and 2015.

Elaine began writing for a newspaper while in sixth form, aged 17, at Otamatea College, Northland, 'after my school bus driver Gus Dallas suggested I become a journalist”.

'He arranged an introduction for me to Lincoln Gould who was then the editor of the Lower North Weekly News, for which I became the Paparoa/Maungaturoto correspondent.”

Since then she's worked for numerous weekly and daily newspaper publications throughout her career spanning more than 40 years, with the support of husband Graham and their three children Rebecca, Roydon and Owen.

'Now Graham and I live in the recreational fishing village of Tanners Point near Katikati, where we operate a small bed and breakfast, grow lots of vegetable, catch fish and I work from home. Life is good.”