Wisconsin Watch journalists have been recognized for their work at the state and national level in recent months.

The Religion News Association awarded Phoebe Petrovic first place in its Award for Excellence in Religion Reporting — Online-only News Outlets category for her stories on radical Wisconsin pastor Matthew Trewhella and a visually stunning explainer on the origins of Christian nationalism. Both were done as part of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network fellowship.

Petrovic also was named among the finalists for the Toner Prize in national political reporting for her stories on Trewhella and Christian nationalism. And her Trewhella story received a second place Award of Excellence in the Wilbur Awards, which recognize national reporting on religious issues in public media.

The RNA also awarded former Wisconsin Watch intern Rachel Hale first place for the Chandler Award for Excellence in Student Religion Reporting for her coverage about the strain of the Israel-Hamas war on Wisconsin’s Jewish community. Her entry included her Wisconsin Watch fact brief that debunked a viral story about a pro-Palestinian protest chant.

The North American Agricultural Journalists awarded Bennet Goldstein a first place award in news for his story on how AI and satellites are being used to detect illegal manure spills in Wisconsin. He was also part of a team of journalists who received second place in special projects for their coverage of the Mississippi River Basin, including Goldstein’s story on whether a Chesapeake Bay conservation strategy could help.

The National Press Photographers Association recognized Joe Timmerman with third place in the Emerging Vision Photojournalist of the Year.

In the Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism awards, handed out this past weekend, Hale won a first place award for her meticulous coverage of book bans across all of the state’s 421 public school districts. Hale also won a second place award for examining how Wisconsin lags the rest of the country in providing postpartum Medicaid coverage. Both were in the online category. And Addie Costello won a second place in the audio category for her story on the privatization of county-owned nursing homes.

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Wisconsin Watch journalists receive state and national recognition is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Farm Foundation has announced the recipients of its prestigious 2025 awards, recognizing outstanding individuals dedicated to addressing critical issues in food and agriculture. The honorees exemplify Farm Foundation’s work of fostering innovation, leadership, and thoughtful public policy dialogue.

The recipients of the 2025 Farm Foundation Awards are:

Innovator of the Year: Robbie Dye, CEO, and Tyler Speer, COO, co-founders of Our Farms.
Emerging Leader Award: Dr. Shandrea Stallworth, Senior Agronomist and Global Resource, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Regenerative Agriculture, Nestlé Purina North America.
RJ Hildreth Public Policy Award: Dr. Keith H. Coble, Vice President for the Division of Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University.
Book of the Year: Land Rich, Cash Poor by Brian Reisinger, award-winning writer, rural policy expert, speaker, and consultant.

“We received a remarkable range of inspiring nominations this year, and these four honorees stood out for their exceptional contributions,” said Tim Brennan, vice president of programs and strategic impact at Farm Foundation. “Their dedication to tackling critical issues in food and agriculture is vital to improving our food system.”

The awards ceremony will take place during the July 2025 Farm Foundation Round Table meeting in Spokane, Washington.

2024 recipients of Farm Foundation Awards include Dr. Jayson Lusk of Oklahoma State University; Dr. Robert Fraley, former executive vice president and chief technology officer at Monsanto Company; Dr. Yangxuan Liu of the University of Georgia; and Dr. Stephen Adejoro of the Livestock Industry Foundation for Africa.

For more information about the recipients and the Farm Foundation Awards, visit: https://www.farmfoundation.org/programs/farmfoundationawards/

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Farm Foundation has added a book award to its prestigious roster of annual awards. The Farm Foundation Book of the Year Award is open to a non-fiction English language work focused on food and/or agriculture published within the last 24 months.

“We are excited to expand the scope of the Farm Foundation Awards to honor the importance of a contemporary author exploring food or agriculture,” says Tim Brennan, Farm Foundation vice president of programs and strategic impact. “With so much exciting scholarship in these fields, we anticipate a robust pool of candidates and a difficult choice ahead.”

The book award joins the two lifetime achievement awards and two innovator awards recognizing leaders and change makers who exemplify Farm Foundation’s mission and values. They include:
–R.J. Hildreth Public Policy Award In the mid-1990s, Farm Foundation began awarding the R.J. Hildreth Award for Career Achievement in Public Policy, an award open to those in the field of public policy, through government service, as educators, or those researching agricultural policy.
–The Farm Foundation Transformational Leadership Award This lifetime achievement award honors an individual who has demonstrated innovative and transformational leadership in food and agriculture.
–The Farm Foundation Innovator of the Year Award The focus of this award is to recognize those changemakers that are an integral part of solving some of the most difficult challenges we face today in the food and agriculture sector.
–The Farm Foundation Emerging Leader Award This award recognizes a young emerging leader who is on the trajectory to make transformational change within the agriculture and food sector.

The official awards recognition ceremony will take place at the July 2025 Farm Foundation Round Table meeting in Spokane, WA. Award recipients will be invited to participate in the Round Table meeting.

The awards are open to any candidate involved in the agriculture and food sectors. For other nomination requirements and more information on each award, visit farmfoundation.org/farmfoundationawards.

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