FIRST PLACE — Brian Bienkowski, The New Lede

FOIA records reveal EPA leaders frequent meetings with industry lobbyists — (09/18/2025)

HONORABLE MENTION — Estefanía Pinto Ruiz, Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk / KWQC-TV 6

Pesticide manufacturers ask lawmakers for immunity from lawsuits by sick farmers — (5/21/2025)

SECOND PLACE — Gil Gullickson, Wallace’s Farmer / Farm Progress

Nab more cash through Section 45Z  — (August 2025)

THIRD PLACE — Joshua Baethge, Farm Progress

One more look at the ‘big, beautiful bill’— (7/25/2025)

FIRST PLACE — Lisa Foust Prater, Successful Farming

Bring Buffalo Back to Standing Rock (2/01/2025)

HONORABLE MENTION — Susan Payne, DTN/Progressive Farmer

New Love for the Farm: After tragedy, this fifth-generation farmer finds his way home (1/01/2025)

Joel Reichenberger, DTN/Progressive Farmer

Lighted Tractor Parade Now a Tradition (12/19/2025)

Kevin Draper, The New York Times

Move Over, Curds. Whey is the New Big Cheese (00/00/2025)

Emma Glassman-Hughes, Offrange

The Snails at the End of the World (9/12/2025)

SECOND PLACE — Joel Reichenberger, DTN/ Successful Farmer

The Great Shift: The COVID pandemic five years ago left a new world for many farmers in its wake (2/1/2025)

THIRD PLACE — Joshua Baethge, Farm Progress

Farmworker’s dilemma: The hidden cost of pursuing the American dream  (8/19/2025)

FIRST PLACE — Elaine Shein and Mary Kennedy, DTN/Progressive Farmer

ND, MN Hit by Tornadoes High Wind: ND Governor Declares Disaster After Tornadoes 100 mph Winds Hit State and Kills 3 — (6/22/2025)

HONORABLE MENTION — Jason Jenkins, DTN/Progressive Farmer

EPA Comment Period Opens on OTT Dicamba: Proposed OTT Dicamba Registrations Eliminate Application Cutoff Dates  — (7/23/2025)

SECOND PLACE — Marcia Brown, Politico

Trump officials delayed farm trade report over deficit forecast — (6/04/2025)

THIRD PLACE — Timothy Hearden, Western Farm Press / Farm Progress

ICE raids on farms, packing houses rankle California ag  — (6/12/2025)

FIRST PLACE — Gil Gullickson, Wallace’s Farmer
Buehlers aim to do it right with cattle operation   — (March 2025)

HONORABLE MENTION — Joshua Baethge, Farm Progress

Reluctant farm warrior still fights for justice  — (February 27, 2025)

SECOND PLACE — Pamela Smith, Progressive Farmer

From Tragedy to Legacy: Farmer’s daughter urges others to plan for the unexpected   — (December 2025)

THIRD PLACE — Dan Miller, Progressive Farmer
Failure Isn’t Fatal — (January 2025)

FIRST PLACE — Dan Miller, DTN/Progressive Farmer

The Autonomy Riddle: Farm labor won’t be programmed away by the promises of intelligent technologies. (6/1/2025)

HONORABLE MENTION — Oliver Ward, Agri-Pulse

EU deforestation rules shaping U.S. timber contracts, hitting ag land conversions  (10/08/2025)

SECOND PLACE — Noah Wicks, Agri-Pulse

Progress made in US-Mexico water dispute amid farmers’ irrigation struggles (12/15/2025)

THIRD PLACE — Gil Gullickson, Wallaces Farmer/Farm Progress

Is a phantom stealing corn yields? (9/1/2025)

FIRST PLACE — Michael Grunwald, The New York Times

• Spraying Roundup on Crops Is Fine. Really. — (9/28/2025)

• They’re Small, Yellow and Round — and Show How Trump’s Tariffs Don’t Work (10/21/2025)

• Elon Musk Should Take a Hard Look at One Agency Truly Wasting Taxpayer Dollars (3/7/2025)

HONORABLE MENTION — Jennifer Carrico, DTN/Progressive Farmer

• Cattlemen Continue to Question How Long Will High Cattle Prices Last (5/26/2025)

• Promote Farm Safety to Prevent the Risk of Accidents (9/25/2025)

• 7 Lessons Youth Learn at County Fairs While Completing Projects (7/17/2025)

SECOND PLACE — Lisa Foust Prater, Successful Farmer

• Legacy in a Bottle: After nearly six decades of arming, Tom Bindner’s final corn crop can be enjoyed by generations to come (September 2025)

• A Fresh Start: Up-and-coming farmers find peace, purpose, and a path to independence in Iowa (December 2025)

• 4 Summer Reads: Enjoy fiction, facts, a memoir, and a celebration of farm life (July 2025)

THIRD PLACE — Pamela Smith, DTN/Progressive Farmer

• Corn Husker Comeback: Healing Lotion Takes a Crack at Winter  — (1/13/2025)

• Start Spotting Tar Spot in Cornfields — (7/1/2025)

• Corn Black Layer Sends a Signal About Building Dry Matter — 9/10/2025

FIRST PLACE — Chris Clayton, DTN/Progressive Farmer
A Broken Government Uses SNAP Recipients as Shutdown Leverage — (10/23/2025)

HONORABLE MENTION — Urban Lehner, DTN/Progressive Farmer

15 Reasons These Tariffs Are a Mistake  — (4/8/2025)

SECOND PLACE — Tim Hearden, Western Farm Press/Farm Progress

It’s time for Congress to step in on immigration — (7/16/2025)

THIRD PLACE — Tim Hearden, Western Farm Press/Farm Progress

Here’s your California ‘two-state solution’: Stop wasting time  — (9/3/2025)

FIRST PLACE — Joel Reichenberger, DTN/Progressive Farmer
The Great Shift: The COVID pandemic five years ago left a new world for many farmers in its wake  — (February 2025)

SECOND PLACE — Jason Jenkins, DTN/Progressive Farmer

Flour Fundamentals: From the field to the final product, wheat quality counts  — (March 2025)

THIRD PLACE — Jason Jenkins, DTN/Progressive Farmer

Plots With Purpose: FIRST trials offer unbiased evaluation of commercial seed  — (September 2025)

FIRST PLACE — Chris Clayton, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Tariff Impact on Agricultural: Continuing Coverage

• Trump Orders Tariffs on Trade Partners  — (2/2/2025)

• Tariff Standoff Ends With Ag Unscathed — (2/3/2025)

• Ag Groups Fear Trade Losses — (4/2/2025)

• Trump Details Sweeping Tariff Plans — (4/2/2025)

• China Responds to Tariffs: Markets Drop — (4/4/2025)

• Keeping Score on Trump’s Tariffs — (8/4/2025)

• Soy, Sorghum Leaders Plea for Talks — (9/25/2025)

• Farmers Lose Ground to Brazil in China — (10/1/2025)

• Farmers Cautiously Optimistic on China — (10/30/2025)

• Supreme Court to Weigh Tariff Power — (11/4/2025)

HONORABLE MENTION — Gil Gullickson, Wallace’s Farmer

Outlook 2026: How to navigate the year ahead: Series

• Secrets to survive (and maybe thrive?) in 2026 — (10/22/2025)

• 8 ways to navigate tight margins in 2026 — (10/22/2025)

• Will southern rust strike in 2026? – (10/23/2025)

• Is now the time to buy land? — (10/23/2025)

• Know these seed secrets to cut costs — (10/23/2025)

• Should you cash in or keep heifer calves? — (10/24/2025)

• How to wipe out 98% of waterhemp — (10/24/2025)

• Budget-friendly fertilizer tips for 2026 — (10/24/2025)

SECOND PLACE — Todd Neeley, DTN/Progressive Farmer

The Hansen-Mueller Co. bankruptcy: Continuing coverage

• Grain Dealer Fails to Pay Nebraska Farmers — (10/27/2025)

• Hansen-Mueller Leaves Farms in Limbo — (10/30/2025)

• Hansen-Mueller Pays Nebraska Farmers — (11/4/2025)

• Neb. Grain Company Files Chapter 11 — (11/17/2025)

• Failed Ventures Fuel Grain Company Failure — (11/18/2025)

• Hansen-Mueller Unsecured Creditors Want More Time — (12/1/2025)

• Hansen-Mueller Asset Sale in December — (12/3/2025)

• Farmer: Hansen-Mueller Misled Nebraska — (12/11/2025)

• 3 Companies Win Hansen-Mueller Auction — (12/19/2025)

THIRD PLACE — Ilena Peng, Bloomberg

America’s Shrinking Cattle Herd: Continuing Coverage

• Surge in US Dairy Herd Signals Some Relief for Beef Shortage — (11/17/2025)

• Trump’s Beef Price Battle Meets America’s Insatiable Demand — (11/25/2025)

• More US Beef Plants May Close as Cattle Herds Keep Shrinking — (12/19/2025)

FIRST PLACE — Dan Miller, Susan Payne, Joel Reichenberger, DTN/Progressive Farmer
The roots of a new family tree: The Crocks of Cascade, Iowa  — (12/2/2025)

HONORABLE MENTION — Jason Jenkins, DTN/Progressive Farmer

Digital Yield Tour: Missouri corn and soybeans  — (8/14/2025)

SECOND PLACE — Carey Gillam, The New LedeIs Big Ag to Blame for Iowa’s Drinking Water Crisis?  — (7/22/2025)

THIRD PLACE — Elaine Shain, Chris Clayton, DTN/Progressive FarmerReporter’s Notebook: U.S.-Canada Trade Situation — 9/26/2025

FIRST PLACE — Sarah Mock and DTN Staff — DTN/Progressive Farmer
“Field Posts” podcasts

Archive of the podcast located at the link above. Entrant recommended the following episodes as good examples of the topics the podcast covers and the speakers it has:

• Episode 249: Cattle Market Outlook for What’s Left of 2025 – with ShayLe Stewart (7/1/2025)

• Episode 262: USDA Reorg, Looming Shutdown, and More Ag Policy – with Chris Clayton (9/26/2025)

• Episode 272: First Look at the 2026 Ag Weather Forecast – with John Baranick (12/5/2025)

SECOND PLACE — Lisa Foust Prater, Successful Farmer“15 Minutes With a Farmer” — 10 select episodes that aired in 2025

• The ‘Khaki Farmer’ Embraces Technology on the Farm While Advocating for Behavioral Health (1/20/2025)

• Member of Iowa’s Oldest Black-Owned Family Farm Talks History, Family, and Finding his Mission Moment (1/27/2025)

• See How This Michigan Farmer Educates Urban Consumers About Modern Farming (4/28/2025)

• This Connecticut Dairy Farmer Makes Flower Pots Out of Manure — And the Sharks Took Notice (5/5/2025)

• Empty Barn: A Dairy Farmer's Song of Loss and Renewal (7/26/2025)

• Watermelons and Winning: Ross Chastain on Racing, Farming, and Staying Rooted (8/2/2025)

• From Poor Fields to Top Yields: An Indiana Farmer's Soil Transformation Journey (8/9/2025)

• 20-Year-Old Twins Reinvent a High Plains Farm After Loss (9/6/2025)

• How (and Why) Kristjan Hebert Scaled His Farm From 300 to 41,000 Acres (10/11/2025)

• How Annie's Project Helped a Young Widow Find Her Place on the Ranch (12/6/2025)

THIRD PLACE — Sarah Mock, Offrange (formerly Ambrook Research)The Only Thing That Lasts

• Chapter 7: The Land Is Dead, Long Live the Land (5/29/2025)

• Chapter 8: The Land Is Dead, Long Live the Land (Part 2) (7/18/2025)

• Chapter 9: Buying the Farm (10/9/2025)

FIRST PLACE — Anthony Greder, Mark Moore, Katie Dehlinger, Chris Clayton, Michael Watkins, Susan Payne, Jennifer Carrico, Dan Miller, Gregg Hillyer, DTN/Progressive Farmer

Labor Pains: Inside Ag’s Workforce Crisis and How Employers are Adapting  — (Summer 2025)

SECOND PLACE — Elaine Shein, Katie Dehlinger, Chris Clayton, Susan Payne, Rhett Montgomery, Gregg Hillyer, DTN/Progressive Farmer

Finding Financing for Farming  — (October 2025)

THIRD PLACE — Noah Wicks, Parker Litterick —Agri-Pulse

State SNAP food restrictions spread amid MAHA push  — (10/22/2025)

WINNER — Melissa Dai, Investigate Midwest

Broadband’s broken promise: How federal failures and funding fights keep Native and Black farmers offline — (10/22/2025)

FIRST PLACE — Juan Vassallo, Investigate Midwest

• Why Oklahoma farmers are leery of the energy storage facility next door  (3/18/2025)

• Oklahoma’s loophole: How Tyson’s water use goes unchecked (6/11/2025)

• Immigrants helped save this Illinois meatpacking town. Trump cut hundreds from its workforce. (9/3/2025)
  

HONORABLE MENTION — Rebekah Alvey, Civil Eats 

• As Federal Support for On-Farm Solar Declines, Is Community Agrivoltaics the Future? (9/16/2025)

• For Farmers, the Government Shutdown Adds More Challenges (10/22/2025)

• Farmers Face Prospect of Skyrocketing Healthcare Premiums (11/19/2025)

SECOND PLACE — Emma Glassman-Hughes, Offrange (Formerly Ambrook Research) 

• Caviar’s Shifting Tides (3/15/2025)

• Grasshoppers Wreaking Havoc (6/27/2025)

• The Snails at the End of the World (9/12/2025)

THIRD PLACE — Susan Payne, DTN/Progressive Farmer

• New Love for the Farm (January 2025)

• Mentorships Cultivate New Farmers (June 2025)

• Financing For Young Farmers (October 2025)