State Farm Bureau Professionals Honored for Outstanding Work in Communications

The American Farm Bureau Federation recently honored top communications professionals from state Farm Bureau organizations for their outstanding work in communications. Illinois Farm Bureau and Pennsylvania Farm Bureau earned the most awards overall, including recognition in news, media relations and video production.

The awards contest was not held in 2020 due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s contest featured 198 submissions for work produced in 2019 and 2020, with separate awards in each category for work primarily related to COVID and projects focused on other subjects.

“Our state communicators are vital to advancing Farm Bureau’s policies and priorities, both nationally and at the state level,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “They also play a key role in satisfying customers’ hunger for information about how America’s farmers and ranchers produce their food while protecting our water, air and soil.”

The power of the Farm Bureau network shined through during the pandemic in the #StillFarming campaign, as states helped generate more than 110 million views and more than half a million engagements on social media.

Awards were presented to Farm Bureau communicators in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.

A list of award winners follows. Winners of larger state membership competitions are listed first. In some categories, only one award is listed because there were entries in only one of the contest divisions.

Best News Story (Non-COVID)

Michigan – Mitch Galloway

Pennsylvania – Liam Migdail, Bill Zeiders

Best News Story (COVID)

Iowa – Tom Block

New York – Steve Ammerman

Best Feature Story (Non-COVID)

Alabama – Marlee Moore

New York – Steve Ammerman

Best Feature Story (COVID)

Iowa – Corey Munson

Pennsylvania – Liam Migdail, Darrin Youker, Kristina Watson

Best Single Blog Item, Editorial or Column (Non-COVID)

Illinois - Dennis Green, Kevin Semlow, Emily Sullivan, Katie Zelechowski

Pennsylvania – Liam Migdail

Best Single Blog Item, Editorial or Column (COVID)

Illinois – Kay Shipman

Wisconsin – Sarah Hetke

Best Newspaper or E-Newsletter - published at least quarterly (Non-COVID)

Illinois – Chris Anderson, Kay Shipman, Daniel Grant, Ashley Rice

New York – Steve Ammerman, Brooks Brown

Best Newspaper or E-Newsletter - published at least quarterly (COVID)

Iowa – Dirck Steimel

California – Ching Lee, Christine Souza, Dave Kranz, Kevin Hecteman

Best Magazine - published at least quarterly (Non-COVID)

Kansas – Sheridan Wimmer, Meagan Cramer, Greg Doering, Sandi Cowdin

California – Barbara Arciero, Karin Bakotich, Jessica Cook, Paula Erath, Kevin Hecteman, Ching Lee, Christine Souza

Best Magazine - published at least quarterly (COVID)

Illinois – Nan Fannin, Chris Anderson, Jeff Brown, Mike Orso, Chris Magnuson

Best Member/Leader Newsletter - print or e-newsletter (Non-COVID)

Kansas – Sheridan Wimmer

Wisconsin – Marian Viney

Graphic Design (Non-COVID)

Florida – Alex Compton, Amanda Overstreet, Rachael Smith

Pennsylvania – Holly Cohick, William Zeiders, Darrin Youker, Liam Migdail

Graphic Design (COVID)

Georgia – Payton Butler

Best Audio News Story, Feature Story or Commentary/Editorial (Non-COVID)

Texas - Tom Nicolette

Illinois – DeLoss Jahnke

Best Audio News Story, Feature Story or Commentary/Editorial (COVID)

Illinois – Deana Stroisch, Rita Frazer, Mark Gebhards

Best Video News Story (Non-COVID)

Kentucky – Matt Hilton, Austin Anderson, Michael Corrigan

Nebraska – Cassie Hoebelheinrich

Best Video News Story (COVID)

Mississippi – Sam Boone, Jon Kalahar

Best Video Feature Story (Non-COVID)

Oklahoma – Hannah Davis, Dustin Mielke

Nebraska – Cassie Hoebelheinrich

Best Video Feature Story (COVID)

Georgia – Ray D'Alessio

California – Tracy Sellers, Charles Williams, Melanie Duval

Best Promotional or Education Video or Ad (Non-COVID)

Illinois – Jim Polus, Mike Orso

Wisconsin – Amy Eckelberg

Best Promotional or Education Video or Ad (COVID)

Texas – Ed Wolff

Utah – Matt Hargreaves, Bailee Woolstenhulme

Best Website (Non-COVID)

Oklahoma – Dustin Mielke, Hannah Davis, Brianne Whitcomb, Rebekah Nash

Pennsylvania – Liam Migdail, Holly Cohick, Lorraine Potochney-Kobold, William Zeiders

Best Website (COVID)

Florida – Alex Compton, Amanda Overstreet, Rachael Smith

Unique Tactic or Execution (COVID)

Kansas – Greg Doering

Utah – Matt Hargreaves, Susan Furner, Bailee Woolstenhulme

Unique Tactic or Execution (Non-COVID)

Kentucky – Matt Hilton, Austin Anderson, Michael Corrigan, B. Todd Bright

Pennsylvania – Holly Cohick, Lorraine Potochney-Kobold, Tonya Wible, Nicole Guise

Best Virtual Innovation (COVID communications contest only)

Alabama – Mary Wilson

Pennsylvania – Liam Migdail, William Zeiders, Joel Rotz, Lorraine Potochney-Kobold, Holly Cohick, Kim Flegal

Best Public Relations Campaign (Non-COVID)

Indiana – Debra DeCourcy, Garrett Kelly, Molly Zentz, Brady Hagerty, Maddie Sanft, Kathleen Dutro, Chelsea Poe, Cheyenne Dunn

Wisconsin – Amy Eckelberg, Lynn Siekmann, Cassie Sonnentag, Sarah Hetke, Wendy Kannel

Best Public Relations Campaign (COVID)

Alabama – Mary Wilson, Marlee Moore, Laura Unger, Hunter McBrayer

Utah – Matt Hargreaves, Bailee Woolstenhulme, Susan Furner, Joshua Palmer, Heidi LeBlanc

Best Media Relations Event (Non-COVID)

Indiana – Debra DeCourcy, Molly Zentz, Garrett Kelly

Best Media Relations Event (COVID)

Texas – Gary Joiner, Ed Wolff

Utah – Matt Hargreaves

Dave Lane Award for Media Relations Excellence (Non-COVID)

Illinois – DeAnne Bloomberg, Andrea Casali

Utah – Matt Hargreaves

Dave Lane Award for Media Relations Excellence (COVID)

Texas – Gary Joiner, Julie Tomascik, Ed Wolff, Penny Cox