The Guild of Agricultural Journalists is inviting entries for its 2022 Agri Guild Awards ahead of the application deadline of Friday 11 November 2022.

The awards, sponsored by FBD Insurance, will take place this year at the Killashee Hotel in Kildare on Friday 9 December. The event occurs every two years and is aimed at encouraging excellence in the reporting of farming, food and rural life on the island of Ireland, says the guild.

Journalists in national and local media, as well as consultants in the communications sector, can enter the awards and each submission will be assessed and scored by an independent judging panel from across the industry.

This panel will be chaired by former head of RTÉ Radio One Tom McGuire. He will be joined by former BBC Northern Ireland agricultural correspondent Richard Wright, Kepak Group head of sustainability Margaret Berry, Teagasc head of education Anne-Marie Butler and UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science professor Tommy Boland.

Categories

The Guild of Agricultural Journalism Awards will feature nine categories this year, including the ‘Rising Star’ award, which returns to recognise an outstanding individual under the age of 35. Individuals can nominate themselves or be nominated by a third party for this award.

There is also a new category for the ‘Best Climate Change Reporting’. This category is open to entries which can include written, audio or visual media reports capturing accessible and informative content relating to climate change.

Other categories include ‘Best News Article’ and ‘Best Feature Article’. These are open to entries which were published in print or online.

A ‘Best Visual Report’ category will include visual reports created for TV or online broadcast. Similarly, a ‘Best Audio Report’ category will acknowledge audio reports created for radio, podcast or online broadcast.

A ‘Best Technical Article’ category will see technical articles written for print or online considered for the award.

The ‘Best Targeted Campaign’ category will award a targeted PR or marketing campaign of relevance to the sector and the ‘Best Photograph’ category is open to entries which include photographs captured to illustrate a story in print or online.

Prizes

There are cash prizes for the winners in all categories and the overall award, 'The Bull' bronze trophy and a cash prize, is presented to the category winner deemed to be of exceptional merit by the adjudicating panel.

Speaking about this year’s awards, chair of the southern section of the Guild of Agricultural Journalists, Amy Forde, said: “We are delighted to be able to return to an in-person awards this year, with the support of FBD Insurance.

"For the first time, we will have a Climate Change Reporting Award which is aimed at reflecting informative stories relating to the climate change challenge.”

Each entry for the 2022 Agri Guild Awards must have been published between 1 September 2020 and 31 August 2022 and there is a limit of two entries, per person, per category.

For more details, or to submit an entry, readers can visit www.agriguild.ie/awards.