Farm Foundation recognizes people, organizations, and ideas whose leadership, innovation, research, and service strengthen food and agriculture. Explore each award below to understand its purpose, meet the latest recipient, review past honorees, and see what is required to submit a nomination.
Explore the Awards
- R.J. Hildreth Public Policy Award
- Transformational Leadership Award
- Emerging Leader Award
- Innovator of the Year Award
- Book of the Year Award
R.J. Hildreth Public Policy Award
Established in the mid-1990s, the R.J. Hildreth Award for Career Achievement in Public Policy recognizes exceptional contributions to agricultural public policy through government service, education, or research.
Past recipients
2025: Dr. Keith H. Coble, Vice President, Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University
2024: Dr. Jayson Lusk, Vice President and Dean, Oklahoma State University, Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
2023: Round Table Honorary Life Fellow Joe Outlaw, Regents Fellow, Professor, and Extension Economist, Texas A&M
2026 Recipient
Dr. Andrew Muhammad
Dr. Andrew Muhammad is Professor and Blasingame Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Policy at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. His work helps stakeholders evaluate opportunities, policies, and programs related to international trade.
More About Dr. Muhammad
See the Agricultural Trade and Policy for more information on Dr. Muhammad Research, Outreach, and Teaching, as well as blog posts on emerging agricultural trade issues.
Research Focus
Demand Analysis, International Trade, Agricultural Policy, Global Food Demand, U.S. and Tennessee Export Competitiveness, Applied Time Series Analysis
Selected Professional Experience
(Feb. 2018 – Present) Professor and Blasingame Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Policy, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Knoxville, Tennessee (June 2016 – Jan. 2018) Associate Director, Market and Trade Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC (July 2013 – June 2016) Chief, International Demand and Trade Branch, Market and Trade Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC (Jan. 2013 – April 2013) Economic Policy Analyst, Resources, Science, and Industry Division, Congressional Research Service, Washington, DC (rotation assignment) (Sept. 2012 – Dec. 2012) Economic Policy Advisor, Bureau of Food Security, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington, DC (rotation assignment) (Jan. 2010 – Jan. 2018) Senior Research Economist, Market and Trade Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC
Emerging Leader Award
The Emerging Leader Award recognizes an individual under 40 who is already making an impact in food or agriculture and is on a trajectory to create transformational change across the sector.
Past recipients
2025: Dr. Shandrea Stallworth, Senior Agronomist, Global Resource, SME – Regenerative Agriculture, Nestlé Purina North America
2024: Dr. Yangxuan Liu, Professor and Interim Department Head, University of Georgia
2023: Emily Metz, President and CEO, American Egg Board
2026 Recipient
Dr. Mya O. Price
Dr. Mya O. Price serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Social Impact Officer at Creating Healthier Communities, where she leads the organization’s national social impact strategy. In this role, she oversees programs, partnerships, policy engagement, and leadership initiatives designed to strengthen community well-being and advance lasting, measurable change.
More About Dr. Price
A nationally recognized social impact leader, Dr. Price brings extensive experience building and scaling cross-sector initiatives that unite philanthropy, corporate partners, government, and grassroots organizations. She is known for translating community-informed insights into actionable strategies that deliver measurable outcomes and sustained investment.
Prior to joining CHC, Dr. Price served as President and CEO of the Root Cause Coalition and held national leadership roles at Feeding America, where she founded and scaled a multi-million-dollar impact fund supporting more than 75 community-based organizations across the country. She also served as a founding Assistant Professor at The George Washington University Global Food Institute, where her work focused on policy, systems transformation, and sustainable community solutions.
Throughout her career, Dr. Price has built theory-of-change frameworks, evaluation systems, and donor engagement strategies that align mission, measurement, and investment. She is widely respected for her ability to convene diverse stakeholders, center community voice in decision-making, and move complex initiatives from vision to execution.
Dr. Price holds a Ph.D. in Urban Leadership & Entrepreneurship from the University of the District of Columbia and a master’s degree in Community & Leadership Development from the University of Kentucky.
Innovator of the Year Award
This award recognizes an individual, company, or organization whose ideas and action help solve influential challenges facing the agriculture and food industries.
Past recipients
2025: Robbie Dye and Tyler Speer, Our Farms — a growing online directory of more than 3,000 farms and ranches across America
2024: Dr. Stephen Adejoro, Director, Livestock Industry Foundation for Africa
2023: Philip “PJ” Haynie III, Owner and CEO, Haynie Farms/Arkansas River Rice
2026 Recipient
Joel Harris
Joel Harris is an active member in Iowa’s biotech industry through both of his roles; CEO of Genvax Technologies and Executive Director of the Ag Startup Engine. As co-founder and CEO of Genvax Technologies, Joel is leading his team to develop mRNA + nanoparticle vaccines for livestock.
More About Joel Harris
Joel Harris is an active member in Iowa’s biotech industry through both of his roles; CEO of Genvax Technologies and Executive Director of the Ag Startup Engine. As co-founder and CEO of Genvax Technologies, Joel is leading his team to develop mRNA + nanoparticle vaccines for livestock. The Genvax team is targeting multiple diseases, most notably swine influenza and the foreign animal disease African Swine Fever. This work requires unique and extensive collaborations that Joel has initiated with state and national leaders in the human and animal biotech space, government groups such as the USDA Center for Veterinary Biologics and IEDA and supporting stakeholders like United Animal Health, Iowa Corn Growers Association and Johnsonville Ventures.
As Executive Director of the Ag Startup Engine, Joel is instrumental in supporting Iowa-based biotechnology companies. Biotechnology companies that Joel has led investments in are Leah Laboratories, Mazen Animal Health, GW Nutrition, Gross-Wen Technologies, Skroot Laboratories and Pyrone Systems. Joel has served on the boards of IowaBio and Mazen Animal Health. He and his father founded Harrisvaccines (a livestock vaccine company later acquired by Merck Animal Health) that still operates in the ISU Research Park today. During his tenure, Ag Startup Engine was presented with the LWBJ Impact Award for the 2021 Prometheus Awards. Joel is deeply involved in the biotechnology industry in Iowa and continues to bring talent, jobs, and new technologies to the state.
Book of the Year
Open to non-fiction books published within the last 24 months, published in English, and focused on food and/or agriculture.
Past recipients
2025: Land Rich, Cash Poor by Brian Reisinger, an award-winning writer, rural policy expert, speaker, and consultant
2026 Winner
Agribusiness Management, 7th Edition
By: Jay T. Akridge, John C. Foltz, Elizabeth A. Yeager, Brady E. Brewer and Trey Malone
About the Book
This leading text has been restructured and revised for this edition to make it even more relevant and accessible. Offering a contemporary focus that reflects the issues that agribusiness managers face today and are likely to face tomorrow, the book presents conceptual material in a pragmatic way with illustrations and examples that will help the reader understand how a specific concept works in practice. Its decision-making emphasis provides contemporary tools that readers will find useful when making decisions in the current and future business environment. Examples and case studies are used extensively, including new vignettes throughout the text to help students understand how to apply the material in an industry setting. This seventh edition includes a new chapter on strategic management, as well as more emphasis on supply chain management, and new agricultural technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and its use by agribusiness firms.
Transformational Leadership Award
A lifetime achievement award for transformational leadership in food and agriculture.
Past recipients
2023: John Foraker, Co-Founder and CEO, Once Upon a Farm
Latest Listed Recipient
Dr. Robert Fraley — 2024
Dr. Robert Fraley is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Monsanto Company.
What It Takes to Nominate Someone
Choose the award that best matches the nominee’s accomplishments, confirm the award-specific eligibility requirements above, and prepare the required supporting materials.
- Select the appropriate award.
- Prepare the nominee’s résumé or CV.
- Secure at least one supporting letter that explains the nominee’s impact.
- Confirm any award-specific requirements, including age or publication eligibility.
- Submit all materials through Farm Foundation’s nomination process during the announced nomination period.
