The North American Agricultural Journalists have named their standout reporter for 2007. Congressional Quarterly‘s Catharine Richert is the recipient of this year’s Glenn Cunningham Agricultural Journalist of the Year Award.

Richert became eligible for the prize when she won the organization’s award for best news story of 2007 for her CQ Weekly cover story “Reshaping the Farm Agenda.” She has been Congressional Quarterly’s agriculture reporter since 2006 and has written about everything from the stalled Doha trade talks to farmers who trade carbon credits to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

“The reporter ‘surrounded’ the topic, covering a variety of viewpoints and enriching the story,” judge Tim Anderson, news-editorial lecturer at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said in evaluating Richert’s magazine story. “The writing, too, was first-rate.”