The Agricultural Communicators Network (ACN) will recognize several members with top honors next month during the 2026 Agricultural Media Summit (AMS), July 19-21 in St. Louis, Missouri.
ACN has announced that Den Gardner and Pam Smith will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, the organization’s highest recognition for members whose careers have left a lasting mark on agricultural communications. Dr. Albert Culbreath will receive the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award, which honors an individual outside the profession whose work has significantly advanced agriculture.
“Den, Pam and Dr. Culbreath represent the very best of what our profession and what agricultural communications stand for,” said Joy Crosby, ACN president. “Den and Pam have shaped agricultural communications for generations of members, and Dr. Culbreath’s research has made a real difference in the lives of farmers. We can’t wait to celebrate all three of them in St. Louis.”
Den Gardner has devoted more than five decades to agricultural and green-industry communications as a member of ACN (formerly the American Agricultural Editors’ Association) since 1975. He began his career as an agricultural reporter and editor, including serving as editor of Farm Industry News, Ag Retailer Magazine, and Minnesota Agriculture, before leading the Ag/Turf division of Ceres Communications and founding Gardner & Gardner Communications in 1995. He served as executive director of AAEA from 2000 to 2016 and served on the AAEA board during the development of the Ag Media Summit.
Pamela Smith, crops editor at DTN/Progressive Farmer since 2012, has spent nearly 50 years telling the stories that matter most to farmers. Her career began at Prairie Farmer in 1977 and continued at Farm Journal from 1983 to 2012. A member of AAEA/ACN for more than four decades, Smith has volunteered on numerous committees, served as a membership recruiter and participated in International Federation of Agricultural Journalists events.
Dr. Albert Culbreath, research plant pathologist at the University of Georgia, is recognized worldwide for his work on the ecology, epidemiology and control of thrips and tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). When TSWV threatened to destroy the Southeast’s peanut crop in the early 1990s, Culbreath helped lead the multidisciplinary team that developed the Spotted Wilt Risk Index — now known as Peanut Rx — an integrated pest management tool that is still updated annually and credited with saving the peanut industry.
ACN members and friends throughout the industry are encouraged to attend AMS next month and personally congratulate Den, Pam and Dr. Culbreath on these well-deserved honors.