DTN/The Progressive Farmer Wins Awards in National, International Competitions

DTN/The Progressive Farmer (DTN/PF) staff members took home awards in nearly all the categories of this year’s American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA) annual awards contest during the 19th Annual Ag Media Summit. The 2017 Summit was held at Utah’s Snowbird Resort, near Park City, July 22-26.

Top awards included Photographer of the Year honors to DTN/PF Senior Editor Jim Patrico and Writer of Merit award to Gregg Hillyer, editor-in-chief of The Progressive Farmer Magazine. This was the ninth time Patrico has won top photo honors, given for a portfolio of a year’s work. Hillyer becomes one of only 14 AAEA members to earn the Merit title, the top honor given for a career’s worth of writing as part of the organization’s Master Writer recognition program.

DTN Associate Editor Elaine Shein also was named an AAEA Fellow, given to members for their dedication to the organization and the field of agricultural journalism. DTN/PF now has three Fellows, the most of any AAEA member news organization, including Shein, Hillyer, and Greg Horstmeier, editor-in-chief of the DTN/PF digital newsroom. All three are past AAEA presidents and have held other offices and responsibilities within the organization.

DTN/PF staff earned 30 awards in writing, photography, digital and social media, design and marketing communications categories. The tally included three First Place, nine Second Place, eight Third Place and 10 Honorable Mentions.

“We have some of the best talent in the industry,” said Kip Pendleton, senior vice president of Agriculture. “DTN is committed to providing our readers with the best content and we are so proud and honored to have our work recognized by those in the industry.”

In earlier contests, DTN/PF staff earned nine awards at the North American Agricultural Journalists annual meeting in April. The late Marcia Zarley Taylor, DTN/PF executive editor, was the posthumous recipient of the J.S. Russell Award, presented to an NAAJ member who has given outstanding service to that organization.

DTN’s Shein also was the recent recipient of the Distinguished Recognition, Production Category, in the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Star Prize for Photography competition. That award was given at the IFAJ Congress 2017 in South Africa.