The Agricultural Relations Council met last week in Des Moines and (ARC) inducted two members into the Agricultural Public Relations Hall of Fame during the Golden ARC Awards Banquet.

The new members are Janice Person, Grounded Communications CEO/founder and Deron Johnson, Curious Plot executive vice president, chief brand & culture officer. This award is given to agricultural public relations professionals who have made lifetime contributions to the industry. The Agricultural Public Relations Hall of Fame is sponsored by ARC and Agri Marketing magazine.

The winners of the 2023 Golden ARC Awards contest were also presented last week, recognizing the stellar work created by public relations professionals in the agricultural industry this past year. OBP won the Golden ARC de Excellence Award for its “DEKALB Brand + Field Of Dreams” created for client Bayer DEKALB.

This year’s Golden ARC Awards contest drew 75 entries from 26 organizations, including individuals, agencies, companies, commodity groups and ag associations/checkoffs. In addition to the Golden ARC de Excellence Award, ARC presented 27 Golden ARC awards. Multiple awards were received by Kansas Farm Bureau, Purina, Bayer, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, State Fair of Texas, OBP, Padilla, AdFarm, and Curious Plot.

Others receiving Golden Arc awards were Agoro Carbon Alliance, AgBiome, Merck Animal Health, TELUS, American Royal Rodeo, FMC, United Soybean Board, EarthOptics, Cargill, Missouri Soybean Assn and Farm Credit East, Filament and Cultivate.