NAAJ Writing Contest Winners - 2022
News
FIRST PLACE — Joel Reichenberger, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Kansas Fires Leave Ash, Pain at Ranches — 12/23/2021
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Emily Unglesbee, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Seed Treatment Overload: The Unintended Consequences of a Popular Practice – 7/14/2021
Victoria Myers, Progressive Farmer
Cybercrime Takes Aim at America’s Food Supply — October 2021
Gil Gullickson, Successful Farming
Dicamba’s Dilemma: Great weed control results, but volatility still plagues controversial herbicide — November 2021
SECOND PLACE — Carey Gillam, The Guardian
‘There’s a red flag here’: How an ethanol plant is dangerously polluting a US village — 1/10/2021
THIRD PLACE — Emily Unglesbee, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Ag Chem Supplies: Four Things to Know Heading Into 2022 – 9/22/2021
Feature
FIRST PLACE — Georgina Gustin, Inside Climate News
The Amazon is the Planet’s Counterweight to Global Warming — 12/19/2021
HONORABLE MENTION
Gabriel Pietrorazio, Civil Eats
The Seneca Nation is Building Food Sovereignty, One Bison at a Time — 1/14/2021
Ximena Bustillo, Politico
‘Rampant issues:’ Black farmers still left out at USDA — 7/5/2021
Matthew Wilde, Progressive Farmer
Farm With the Wind: Opportunity and opposition accompany wind energy in rural America — April 2021
Emily Unglesbee, Progressive Farmer
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: For better or worse, biotech crops have changed the agricultural landscape forever — February 2021
SECOND PLACE — Ximena Bustillo, Politico
How the pandemic taught farmers to love online sales — 9/30/2021
THIRD PLACE — Matthew Wilde and Todd Neeley, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Ethanol: Fuel for the Future? — August 2021
Spot News
FIRST PLACE — Michael Hirtzer, Mike Dorning, & Fabiana Batista, Bloomberg
All of JBS’s U.S. Beef Plants Were Forced Shut by Cyberattack— 5/31/2021
HONORABLE MENTION
Meredith Lee, Politico
Democrats brace for massive cuts to child food aid in spending bill — 10/26/2021
Matthew Wilde, Progressive Farmer
Extreme Weather Preparedness Tips: It’s Always Storm Season on the Farm — 12/15/2021
SECOND PLACE — Todd Neeley, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Farms Eye Colonial Supply Disruptions — 5/12/2021
THIRD PLACE — Emily Unglesbee, DTN/Progressive Farmer
EPA: Politics Tainted Dicamba Decision — 3/15/2021
Profile
FIRST PLACE — Joel Reichenberger, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Family Farm Taps Beer Success — 4/20/2021
HONORABLE MENTION
Sierra Dawn McClain, Capital Press
Down Shepherds Lane: Trailblazing sheep breeders improve U.S. industry through imported genetics — 05/6/2021
Laura Rance, Winnipeg Free Press
Steward of the land: Leonard Rance was an early adopter of farming conservation — 9/18/2021
Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News Watch
Robotic milking is latest high-tech tool on dairy farms in S.D. — 3/10/2021
SECOND PLACE — Matthew Wilde, Progressive Farmer
Vintage Farmers: Operating older equipment brings this Iowa family closer and bolsters its farm’s success — March 2021
THIRD PLACE — Victoria Myers, Progressive Farmer
Marty Irby: Unconventional Activist — December 2021
Technical
FIRST PLACE — Joel Reichenberger, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Chasing Protein’s Pluses — 2/28/2021
HONORABLE MENTION
Robin Booker, The Western Producer
Resistance to resistance — future control today – 12/30/2021
Clarisa Diaz, Quartz
Urban farming in Singapore – 3/30/2021
Three ways Singapore is designing urban farms to create food security
How a parking lot roof was turned into an urban farm in Singapore
The indoor urban farm startup that’s undercutting importers by 30%
How a Singapore farmer is building a better greenhouse for tropical urban farming
SECOND PLACE — Gil Gullickson, Successful Farming
Pay Dirt: How carbon may become another crop for farmers — January 2021
THIRD PLACE — Laurie Bedord, Successful Farming
In the Zone: Take the guesswork out of in-field applications – February 2021
Column
FIRST PLACE — Elaine Shein, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Editors’ Notebook: My Farming Father is Called Home — 7/28/2021
HONORABLE MENTION
Laura Rance, Winnipeg Free Press (Glacier Farm Media)
Building community in the Information age — 12/18/2021
Gregg Hillyer, DTN/Progressive Farmer
We’d Like to Mention: One less Christmas Card — December 2021
Todd Hultman, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Todd’s Take: New Trade Challenges for U.S. Ag — 3/1/2021
Mary Kennedy, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Cash Market Moves: What to Hoard in 2021, and It’s Not Toilet Paper — 7/19/2021
Elaine Kub, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Kub’s Den: High Fertilizer Prices – The History and Future — 12/15/2021
SECOND PLACE — Chris Clayton, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Details, Conversations Needed on Biden’s 30x30 Plan — 4/6/2021
THIRD PLACE — Pamela Smith, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Gender Talk From the Turn Row — 3/8/2021
Blog
FIRST PLACE — Urban Lehner, DTN/Progressive Farmer
An Urban’s Rural View
To Exercise, or Not Exercise, Godlike Powers — That is the Question — 6/10/2021
Where Were You on 9/11? — 9/10/2021
The Sensitive Superpower — 9/20/2021
HONORABLE MENTION
Chris Clayton, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Ag Policy Blog
Analyzing Loan Totals for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers — 3/21/2021
What to Know About the Debate Over Stepped-up Basis and Capital Gains Taxes — 9/10/2021
The Build Back Better Vote and Recent History — 11/10/2021
SECOND PLACE — Russ Quinn, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Farm Life Blog
County, State Fairs Make a Comeback – 8/6/2021
DTN Reporter Remembers Difficult Early Career Assignment Covering Rural Reaction to 9/11 — 9/10/2021
Sandhills Ranchers Could Help Grassland Bird Population — 4/21/2021
THIRD PLACE — Pamela Smith, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Production Blog
Periodical Chaos — 4/30/2021
Seasonal Cadence: Armyworms Are Marching Again — 8/3/2021
Gathering Kernels of Corn Knowledge — 8/13/2021
Editorial
FIRST PLACE — Urban Lehner, DTN/Progressive Farmer
An Impossibly Meaty Commercial — 6/1/2021
SECOND PLACE — Todd Hultman, DTN/Progressive Farmer
How Much Corn Will China Import? — 7/16/2021
THIRD PLACE — Michael Raine, Western Producer
Cattle theft serious issue, despite portrayal on TV — 2/4/2021
Photojournalism
FIRST PLACE — Joel Reichenberger, Progressive Farmer
Salvation in a beer bottle: Farm-to-glass approach saves Colorado farm — Summer 2021
HONORABLE MENTION
Matthew Wilde, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Vintage Farmers: Operating older equipment brings this Iowa family closer and bolsters its farm’s success – March 2021
SECOND PLACE — Alice Mannette, The Hutchinson News
While certain chicken and sheep breeds near extinction, this Kansas farmer is stepping up to help — 5/11/2021
THIRD PLACE — Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News Watch
S.D. dairy industry growing fast to meet needs of cheesemakers – 3/3/2021
Take a tour of a $12 million robotic dairy in South Dakota — 3/9/2021
Robotic milking is latest high-tech tool on dairy farms in S.D. – 3/10/2021
Ongoing Coverage or Series
FIRST PLACE — Gil Gullickson, Successful Farming
SEED DECISIONS 2022
It starts with Spit for Soybean Cyst Nematode – 7/7/2021
Sizing Up Seeds: Follow This Checklist to Improve Seed Selection for 2022 – 7/8/2021
Netflix for Seed: Data Analytics Used by the Video Streaming Industry Comes to Corn Breeding – 7/28/2021
Nine Seed Myths Busted: Misguided Beliefs Can Prevent the Correct Seed Selection – 8/2/2021
HONORABLE MENTION
Rebecca Miller, Sarah Donaldson, Rachel Wagoner, Farm and Dairy
— Challenges for new farmers are rooted in history — 5/20/2021
— Farm transitions are as much about families as about farms — 5/20/2021
— Let’s rewrite the last will of Mr. Farmer – 5/24/2021
— New farmers struggle with land access — 5/27/2021
— A family farm finds a home — 5/27/2021
— Researchers: Health care and child care hold back family farms — 5/27/2021
— Partnerships, local connections keep Living City Farms growing — 6/3/2021
— Knowing who knows: Beginning farmers need a strong network — 6/3/2021
— Beginning farmers and burnout: Knowing when to say when — 6/10/2021
— Discrimination adds a layer to beginning farmers’ challenges — 6/10/2021
— Remembering where we came from — 6/8/2021
SECOND PLACE — Noah Wicks, Agri-Pulse
Saving the planet by saving the soil: Can cover crops fulfill their promise? – 11/29/21
Making cover crops pay off: What it takes to cover the cost — 12/06/2021
Cover crops as cash crops: Farmers angle to profit off the practice — 12/13/2021
Direct checks could ignite cover crop surge; crop insurance may play role, too — 12/20/2021
THIRD PLACE — Victoria Myers, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Cybercrime Takes Aim at America’s Food Supply — October 2021
Cooperative Won’t Pay Hacker Ransom: Cyberattack on Iowa Cooperative Considered Terrorism — October 1, 2021
Malware Ties Up Supply Chains — December 2021
Special Projects
FIRST PLACE — DTN/Progressive Farmer
Gregg Hillyer, Pamela Smith, Matthew Wilde, Des Keller, Emily Unglesbee
Gene Revolution Turns 25 — February 2021
HONORABLE MENTION — Politico
Helena Bottemiller Evich, Liz Crampton, Annette Choi, Joanne Kenen, Ryan McCrimmon, Ximena Bustillo
Could Covid-19 finally end hunger in America? 9/9/2021
Policy Hackathon: How to crisis-proof our food supply 9/9/2021
What Covid-19 taught America about food and hunger, in 5 charts 9/9/2021
Prescribing tomatoes and carrots could help some Americans eat better 9/16/2021
America’s meat supply is cheap and efficient. Covid-19 showed why that’s a problem. 9/23/2021
SECOND PLACE — Iowa Farmer Today
Jeff DeYoung, Aaron Viner, Benjamin Herrold, Phyllis Coulter, Nat Williams, Gene Lucht
Labor Crunch — 7/31/2021
THIRD PLACE — Harvest Public Media & Investigate Midwest
Dana Cronin, Katie Peikes and Seth Bodine, Harvest Public Media
and Johnathan Hettinger and Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest
Corporate money keeps university ag schools ‘relevant,’ and makes them targets of donor criticism — 11/15/2021
A giant investment firm paid a university to study one of its biggest assets: farmland — 11/16/2021
As tax dollars dry up, university ag schools turn to agribusiness dollars and industry projects – 11/16/2021