August 17, 2018

Alltech honors agricultural communicators at Ag Media Summit

During the 2018 Ag Media Summit (AMS) in Scottsdale, Arizona, US, Alltech honored young agricultural communicators through the Livestock Publications Council Forrest Bassford Student Award and the American Agricultural Editors' Association (AAEA) Alltech Cultivating Young Ag Journalists Awards.

Sponsored by Alltech, the Forrest Bassford Student Award was presented to Madison Hokanson, a South Dakota State University (SDSU) agricultural communications and leadership student and seventh-generation farmer from south-eastern Minnesota. Hokanson was presented a US$2,000 scholarship and a plaque.

"My career goal is simple: to bring all sectors of agriculture together, working to educate the world as a united front," Hokanson said. "We are all different, but in the end, the future of ag communications is ensuring a thriving future in agriculture for generations to come."

Hokanson is an advocate for the pork industry and served as one of the Pork Checkoff's three inaugural "Pig Farmers of Tomorrow" in 2017. Additionally, she serves as a College of Agricultural and Biological Sciences Ambassador at SDSU and is the vice president of Sigma Alpha, a professional women's agricultural sorority.

The Forrest Bassford Student Award honors excellence, professionalism and leadership among students. Each year, following a competitive application process, the LPC Student Award Program provides travel scholarships for four students to attend the Ag Media Summit.

In support of young professionals, the Alltech Cultivating Young Ag Journalists Award provides the opportunity for active AAEA agricultural journalists 35 years old or younger with a travel stipend to attend the Ag Media Summit, as well as an invitation to attend ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE19), held each May in Lexington, Kentucky.

"Alltech is proud to support the future of agricultural communicators as the ambassadors and voice of our industry as they share stories from the farm in a time where the vast majority of consumers are generations removed from the farm," said Jenn Norrie, Alltech's communications manager for North America.
 

- Alltech