Sarah Hill from Brookings, South Dakota, USA and Julienne Isaacs of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada  have been honored as two of this year’s 2016 IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism Award winners. These representatives from North America competed with some of the best throughout the world and will now participate in the International Federation of Agricultural Jounralists (IFAJ) Congress.  They will also have the opportunity to attend a boot camp-style workshop in July with winners from around the globe.

Sarah Hill is a freelance journalists who began her own communications company just this year.  She handles projects from Dairy Business and Holstein World magazines, as well as the American Angus Association.  She grew up on a 60-cow dairy in Missouri and received her degree in ag journalism from the University of Missouri.

Julienne Isaacs is a freelance writer for Top Crop Manager, Grainews, Country Guide, Manitoba Co-operator, CAAR Communicator, Potatoes in Canada and other publications.  Her focus is crop production, especially in the area of research and technology for improving crop sustainability.

“Year after year, we continue to see the best and brightest in agricultural journalism from around the globe receive this award,” said Dr. Pearse Lyons, president and founder of Alltech. “Congratulations to these two exceptional candidates from our North America region as they exemplify the skills and dedication needed to communicate and connect farm to fork.”

This is the 11th year for the program, which has assisted nearly 100 journalists strengthen their communication skills in agricultural journalism.