Harvest PR was recently recognized by the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA) with five prestigious MarComm Awards during the 12^th annual Agricultural Media Summit held in St. Paul, Minnesota. The team competed against more than 700 award entries for the program, taking home top honors in the New Product/Service Release, Feature Release, Web Content and Writing for Special Projects categories.

The five new awards trail Harvest PR’s 2009 acknowledgment, which included 2^nd place in the News Release category for “Sharply Reduced Cotton Plantings will Shrink Cottonseed Supply.”

Listed below are the 2010 awards, divided by category:

News Release – New Product/Service Release

1^st Place: Harvest PR for Cotton Inc. – “AgPro Industries introduces all-in-one cattle feed as cost-effective alternative to conventional hay”

News Release – Feature Release

1^st Place: Harvest PR for National Cottonseed Products Association – “Jazz up your Mardi Gras with piping hot beignets”

2^nd Place: Harvest PR for Cotton Inc. – “A million more tons of cottonseed”

Public Relations Web Content

1^st Place: Harvest PR for National Cottonseed Products Association – “Jazz up your Mardi Gras with piping hot beignets”

Writing for Special Projects

3^rd Place TIE: Harvest PR for Cotton Inc. – “HydraMatriCx Resource Guide”

At Harvest PR, we love celebrating June Dairy Month, but did you also know that it’s National Turkey Lover’s Month? In celebration of your favorite bird, why not make a special feast sure to be enjoyed by all! Partake in the longtime tradition of deep frying turkey in our favorite cooking oil, cottonseed oil – it’s perfect for enhancing the natural turkey flavor while maintaining the moisture that makes turkey gobble-worthy. For more information about cottonseed oil and for great deep-fried recipes and safety tips, click here.

After a nationwide call for entries, we are pleased to announce the winner of our second annual Seed to Succeed nonprofit PR grant! The AgChat Foundation, Inc. is an organization dedicated to empowering farmers and ranchers to connect and tell their story through social media platforms. The start-up nonprofit will tap Harvest PR’s “seed money” - $20,000 in PR services – to help spread its “agvocacy” message and share news of its core program areas, including Agvocacy Training and Technology Scholarships. AgChat’s mission resonated with our team, as it has with thousands of grassroots supporters across North America that make up the backbone of this farmer-led organization. Stay tuned for more updates on how the AgChat Foundation is giving farmers a voice. And… be sure to join #AgChat on Twitter every Tuesday night, from 8p-10p EST, for lively convo on food and farm issues!

First day on the job!

Please meet the newest member of our team, Amy Abt! A recent University of Minnesota grad, Amy is a walking encyclopedia on such topics as cold-hardy grape varietals and the University’s unique list of agricultural inventions (e.g. the beloved Honeycrisp apple). She doesn’t hide her passion for the wine and farming industries. In fact, she played an active role in her family’s vineyard in southwestern Wisconsin, helping plant and establish several acres of grapes. And, on the weekends, you’ll find her at Saint Croix Vineyards, an award-winning winery in Stillwater, Minn. where she works as assistant manager. In her free time, Amy likes discovering different restaurants, and enjoys traveling and exploring new places across the country.

As our PR intern, Amy will provide media relations, social media and event-planning support for food and agriculture clients. She’s a great fit for our team – we look forward to when you have an opportunity to work with her!

“Information is the seed for an idea, and only grows when it’s watered.” –Heinz V. Bergen

At Harvest PR, we believe big ideas can sprout from the smallest and unlikeliest of places. And, with a little nurturing, those ideas can grow and thrive. That’s why we’re offering our second annual “Seed to Succeed“ Nonprofit PR Grant! We’ll be awarding $20,000 worth of PR services to one deserving nonprofit that is making strides in the food and farming industries and shares our passion for positively promoting agriculture.

In 2009, we awarded the grant to Southern Peanut Growers, Canton, Ga., to help the organization develop a consumer promotion to create positive awareness of peanut butter. The “PB&J My Way” consumer recipe contest was born, netting hundreds of creative recipe submissions and also helping fight hunger.

All U.S. nonprofit organizations connected to the production and/or marketing of food, fuel or fiber, or committed to the cause of promoting general agriculture or rural development, are invited to apply for the grant by May 14. In the meantime, follow our effort by joining our Facebook fan page.

Lee Peters of Fowler Farms, Allison Parker, RD, of U.S. Apple and Chef Robin Asbell delivered apples and apple products to the Big Apple

During a recent New York City media tour on behalf of the U.S. Apple Association, we visited with some of the nation’s top food editors and were reminded of a core PR truth: No matter how you slice, dice or tweet it, corresponding with editors in the flesh is one of the most valuable investments an organization can make.

A conversation with a young PR pro about this topic hit me like a bushel of apples. She declared that “these days you don’t have to see the whites of people’s eyes” to forge a meaningful relationship. Our team certainly has done its fair share of courting journalists, uncovering opportunities and developing relationships in the Twitterverse. And, like many, we tend to measure an organization’s worth by its legions of followers or fans. However, at the end of the day, I strongly believe the most fruitful successes stem from personal relationships.

Social media allows us to quickly align with people and brands with like-minded values and interests. And, I’m a fan of that. But, when it comes to serving today’s editorial gatekeepers who are pressed to churn out more content than ever with smaller staffs and shoestring budgets, spending a little extra time developing a highly personalized approach remains an important best practice.

It’s like comparing apples and oranges. Both are good for you; they are just different.

My Green Cottage spokesperson and actor Ed Begley Jr., and his wife, pose with a guest in front of walls covered with JaDecor Natural Wallcovering. Photo Courtesy of MyGreenCottage.

Eco-friendly JaDecor, a petroleum-free wallcovering alternative containing natural cotton fibers and minerals, recently showed off its greenest features – including sound and energy efficiency – in MyGreenCottage’s GreenLiving Show Home tour, which will be featured on HGTV this fall. The luxe wallcovering graced a Church Falls, Va. home’s formal dining room and is among a portfolio of floor-to-ceiling green building solutions highlighted on the tour. JaDecor’s extensive green values and low carbon footprint from locally sourced cotton align with MyGreenCottage’s dedication to educating the public on practical green building and remodeling practices.

The makers of “Modern Marvels” are cooking up a delicious new food show, “Food Tech,” airing this summer. On behalf of client National Cottonseed Products Association, Harvest PR recently worked with the show’s host Bobby Bognar and film crew to help produce one of the ten episodes slated for the show’s first season. Titled “Southern Fried,” the episode begins in a restaurant – on a plate of quintessential Southern fried cuisine (fried in cottonseed oil, of course). Host Bognar, a former chef and self proclaimed “food nerd,” then deconstructs the dishes, skillfully bringing viewers on an adventurous farm-to-plate journey. One of the featured ingredients in the episode, cottonseed oil, is revered for its high smoke point and neutral flavor, which enhances – never masks – the flavor of foods. Stay tuned for those air dates!

Host Bobby Bognar, left, of the History Channel’s new food show, “Food Tech,” interviews employees of Lubbock, Texas-based PYCO Industries, the largest cottonseed crusher in the United States, about making cottonseed oil.

To generate lift for a media event in Chicago for Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport (MKE), Harvest PR created an eye-opening and experiential invitation. Custom View-Masters took targeted reporters on a 3D tour of the convenient alternative to Chicago’s O’Hare, while enticing them to RSVP for a special MKE event: the “Have a Ball with MKE” media rooftop party. The invitation was a home run: 80 percent of targeted media attended the sold-out Cubs/White Sox game, where MKE launched skymailme.com via skywriting over Wrigley Field. Corporate Event magazine took note, mentioning our strategic thinking in its Working Ideas section, alongside campaigns from Ben & Jerry’s and Harley Davidson.

Pear Panache is an award-winning program that honors chefs who create delicious recipes using fresh Northwest pears. Now in its third season, Pear Panache has recognized chefs coast-to-coast and tasted the delicious fruits of their labor, yummy pear-inspired cocktails, soups, salads, appetizers, entrees and desserts.

This season, Harvest PR and Pear Bureau Northwest decided to mix it up and add a new feature to the Web site. Instead of just reading a recipe, visitors to the site can actually watch some of the award-winning chefs prepare their original recipes via “PearCast.”