Ongoing Coverage or Series Category Awards - 2021
Category description: Entries in this category contain three or more stories focused on an agricultural issue, trend or event. Entrees may be either stories published as part of ongoing coverage or in a planned series, but should objectively explore the subject in great depth from various points of view. A collection of at least three stories published on more than one day is a single entry. Number of entries: 26
“This year, the COVID-19 pandemic was an obvious platform on which to to base a series of stories. As with all good journalists, this year’s winners worked to elevate and expand coverage on a number of issues important to their communities, including the pandemic, beyond a surface take.”
1st Place: Bart Pfankuch and Nick Lowrey
South Dakota News Watch
Coverage of COVID impacts on South Dakota ag industry
— Beef producers in S.D. reeling from COVID-19 epidemic and price irregularities — 3/23/2020
— Ethanol industry and corn growers in S.D. facing economic ‘bloodbath’ due to COVID-19 — 4/6/2020
— Closure of Smithfield and other plants forces S.D. pork producers to consider desperate measures — 4/21/2020
— Special Report: Regulatory gaps and missed opportunities allowed COVID-19 to spread freely in U.S. meatpacking plants — 4/29/2020
— Special Report: Small towns in S.D. facing big challenges amid pandemic and historic declines — 6/16/2020
— Special Report: Pandemic threatens fragile rural health-care system in South Dakota — 6/24/2020
— Pandemic increases demand for locally grown foods but small S.D. producers can’t keep up — 7/22/2020
— S.D. sheep farmers hurting as pandemic reduces demand and processing capacity — 9/21/2020
— CDC report on Smithfield COVID-19 outbreak in Sioux Falls was redone with ‘watered down’ safety recommendations — 10/2/2020
Judge’s comments: Pfankuch and Lowrey took a story everyone was covering, the COVID-19 pandemic, and went deeper, demonstrating its impact across wide ranging sectors and also within communities. They focused on both people and the business perspective. The stories explore multiple angles to each issue.
2nd Place: Johnathan Hettinger
Midwest Center for Investigating Reporting
Coverage of dicamba EPA court case
— In 2020, ag community has ‘to prove to society’ it can safely spray dicamba — 3/11/2020
— ‘We’ve got it everywhere’: Dicamba damaging trees across Midwest and South — 6/16/2020
— New Bayer-engineered seed raises questions among experts on the future of weed control — 7/3/2020
— EPA documents show dicamba damage worse than previously thought — 10/29/2020
— ‘Buy it or else’: Inside Monsanto and BASF’s moves to force dicamba on farmers — 12/4/2020
Judge’s comments: Hettinger went beyond the headline of the dicamba-EPA court case and illustrated the breadth of ongoing impacts of resistant weeds to neighbors and communities and the breadth of complaints registered by the EPA, providing greater context around the issue.
3rd Place: Jessica Fu and H. Claire Brown, The Counter
Coverage of Farmers to Families Food Box Program
— “Someone’s profiting off this”: New public records reveal Covid-19 hunger relief contractors get handsome payouts for mediocre food boxes — 9/3/2020
— Mapping Trump’s food boxes: More than 1,000 counties received no aid in May and June, while some organizations received 9 truckloads a day — 9/8/2020
— “Please take a moment to thank Jehovah”: Churches distributing USDA food boxes are blurring the boundaries between church and state — 9/29/2020
Judge’s comments: This series provides an in-depth look at the shortcomings and political implications of the federal food box program and took a closer look at who was actually helped and who was harmed.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
— Sierra Dawn McClain, Capital Press
Coverage of aftermath of Southern Oregon wildfires
— Rising from Rubble: In the aftermath of fires, Southern Oregon faces a human, and economic, tragedy — 9/8/2020
— New study: Cattle grazing significantly reduces wildfire spread — 9/9/2020
— After the fires: Farm animals face long-term feed shortages — 11/6/2020
Judge’s comments: McClain’s reporting on the aftermath of the regional wildfires covered it from both personal and agriculture perspectives, giving readers a unique perspective.
— Emily Unglesbee, DTN/Progressive Farmer
Coverage of dicamba EPA case and impact
— Dicamba Registrations Vacated: The Ninth Circuit Vacates Three Dicamba Registrations — 6/3/2020
— Dicamba Legal Update: Here's What We Know About the Legal Status of Dicamba — 6/4/2020
— Weed Control Minus Dicamba: Xtend Weed Control Options Without Dicamba — 6/5/2020
— The States of Dicamba: States Enter Uncertain Legal Territory With Conflicting Dicamba Decisions — 6/8/2020
— EPA Dicamba Cancellation: EPA Issues Cancellation Orders for Three Dicamba Herbicides — 6/8/2020
— The Future of Dicamba: Dicamba Use Faces Trio of Threats: Courts, Weeds and Farmer Fatigue — 7/14/2020
— EPA Registers Dicamba Again: EPA Approves Three Dicamba Herbicides With Federal Cutoff Dates — 10/27/2020
— New Dicamba Labels: A Breakdown of Changes to the 2020 Dicamba Labels — 10/29/2020
— EPA, States Clash Over Pesticides: EPA Throws Up Roadblock to State Restrictions on Dicamba, Other Pesticides – 11/6/2020
— States Mull 2021 Dicamba Limits: Some States Working to Further Restrict Dicamba in 2021 — 12/8/2020
Judge’s comments: Unglesbee took a court decision and expanded coverage to outline the uncertainty for farmers and staying on top of evolving decisions and implications for multiple jurisdictions.