Photo credit: American Farm Bureau Federation.
The American Farm Bureau Federation recognized state Farm Bureau communications professionals for their work highlighting agriculture and rural America during the 2026 Communications Awards at the organization’s Communications Conference in New Orleans.
Nearly 200 entries featuring work produced in 2025 were submitted for this year’s competition. Entries were judged against states with similar membership sizes across 18 categories covering writing, print, media relations, social media, graphic design, video, audio and websites.
California, Iowa, Illinois, Texas and Wisconsin received the most awards overall. Awards were presented to Farm Bureau communicators in California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
The Anne Marie Moss Team Effort Award recognized outstanding collaborative engagement on a regional or national issue. California received the award for its broad public relations effort to elevate agricultural workforce and immigration issues. The team included Barbara Arciero, Mahek Pandya, Ching Lee, Caleb Hampton, Connor Duncan, Samantha Adams, Shawn Collins and Bryan Little.
Texas also received the Anne Marie Moss Team Effort Award for a coordinated, multi-platform effort to increase awareness of the New World screwworm issue. The team included Gary Joiner, Julie Tomascik, Ed Wolff, Shelby Shank, Emmy Powell, Angela Lujan, Pedro Rosas, Jessica Domel, Carey Martin and Tom Nicolette.
The Trailblazer Award recognized innovative tactics or executions in communications projects. Nebraska received the award for "Sincerely, Yours," a docuseries featuring farm and ranch stories. The project team included Cassie Hoebelheinrich, Kenzie White and Abby Samuelson.
Iowa received the Trailblazer Award for an initiative designed to enhance county Farm Bureau Facebook pages. The project was led by Zach Sturgeon and Zach Bader.
The award categories were evaluated by independent professionals with experience in the respective fields. Most categories were divided into separate groups for states with smaller and larger memberships.
Additional award recipients can be reviewed on the American Farm Bureau Federation website.
Source: American Farm Bureau Federation, "State Farm Bureau Communicators Honored for Outstanding Work"