Download Rules Here.

 

Purpose: 

The purpose and objectives of the Ag Awards is gathering information and sharing with fellow member Fairs. The 2025 IAFE Agriculture Contests purpose remains:

• Strengthen agricultural education and awareness programs.

• Identify ways to be of service to exhibitors, the fair-going public and agriculture industry.

• Recognize fairs which excel in agriculture programing and promotion.

 

How To Enter: 

All entries must be submitted in digital format on www.iafecontest.com. Please read the following rules and the category submittal forms carefully for entry format and file size limits.

Deadline: 
All entries must be uploaded by October 1, 2025, by 11:59p.m. CST! 

Procedures: 

Visit www.iafecontest.com for detailed instructions and to view an instructional video on how to submit your entries. Be sure to have the following two pieces of information before visiting the site:

1. E-mail Address (use to login or signup)

2. 2024 Fair Attendance

Fairs which participated in the 2024 Agriculture Awards program already have an account established. If you need assistance, please contact Anna Wilson at annaw@fairsandexpos.com or 417-605-3582.

Guidelines: 

1. Entries in all the categories are a result of or took place during your 2024 or 2025 fair season.

2. Each entry must be a customized concept or program produced by the fair submitting the entry. (Education, exhibits, or entertainment that are paid for, but not produced by the fair, are not eligible for this contest.)

3. Each fair may submit only one entry per category (unless otherwise noted). A specific program/event/theme/exhibit may only be submitted in one category.

4. Entries must be submitted using the appropriate category form and may not exceed space allocated on form.

5. Supporting material and photos are limited to three pages. No maximum number of photos. 

6. In the supporting materials, there is no maximum number of photos, but they must be inserted into the three-page maximum. *All photos must have a caption and must be in .jpeg or .jpg format. 

7. Entries must be submitted in digital format for judging. Compress photos and files to meet the file size limitations.

8. *Category Eight (A-F): Only one photo per sub-category allowed, all photos must have a caption and be in .jpeg or .jpg format.

9. Previous winning submissions that won their category are not eligible to be resubmitted. If the entry involved in a winning submission has evolved and can showcase the new impact due to the evolution, they may enter in Category Four.

10. The IAFE monitors the contest awards and tires to identify incomplete entries; however, the responsibility lies with the submitting organization to ensure their entry is complete. After the contest deadline, the IAFE, and/or committee member will not contact an organization to make revisions or additions to an entry. Entries will be judged in the category entered and will not be moved to another category or contest. 

Divisions: 

(Based on 2024 reported Fair attendance)

Division 1: Fairs with an attendance of up to 100,000

Division 2: Fairs with an attendance of 100,001 - 250,000

Division 3: Fairs with an attendance of 250,001 - 500,000

Division 4: Fairs with an attendance of 500,001 - 1 million

Division 5: Fairs with an attendance over 1 million

 

If your fair changed divisions from 2024 contest, please let Anna Wilson know immediately at annaw@fairsandexpos.com so she can adjust your division so your entries are correctly entered. 

Judging: 

All categories will use the criteria specified under each category and will be scored by at least three judges using a 100-point scale. Rankings will be determined by score, and all ties will be broken by the judges and/or committee chair.

Entries will be judged in October by a panel consisting of the Agriculture Committee and others the IAFE may appoint. Entries will be judged online using the criteria outlined with an evaluation scoring form.  Entries in noncompliance with specific instructions and/or entries not meeting minimal standards will be reflected in judges' final scores and placing or may be disqualified. Entries will be judged in the category entered. 

 

Judging Criteria for Categories 1-7                                 Judging Criteria for Category 8

Program Description (30 points)                                         Promotion of Agriculture (25 points)

Goal or Objective (25 points)                                                Representation of Event/Activity (25 points)

Outcome (25 points)                                                                 Caption (25 points)

Promotion of Agriculture (10 points)                                 Photo Quality (15 points)

Overall Achievement (10 points)                                        Overall Achievement (10 points)

Awards: 

JUDGES’ CHOICE AWARD (1):

Judges will select a "Judges’ Choice Award” from all winners. Category Eight entries are not eligible for the Judges Choice Award. The winning entry should be exceptionally original, creative, and innovative. An ideal winner would be a program or concept which may be easily replicated (larger or smaller format) by any fair or exposition. All winning entries will be available to IAFE members for view and download on the IAFE website.

DIVISION WINNERS (5):

The entry in each division with the highest score automatically receives this award. Category Eight entries are not eligible to be Division Winners. 

CATEGORY AWARDS:

First place winners will receive a plaque; 2nd and 3rd place winners will be able to download certificates off the IAFE contest website after the announcement of winners. The category winners will be contacted immediately after results are official (late October/early November).

 

CONVENTION:

All qualified entries are invited to showcase their entry or entries at the Annual IAFE Convention in Denver. You do not need to have placed in the competition to participate. If you are unable to attend in person and wish to ship your entry, it must arrive at the IAFE Office no later than November 1. Please note that disqualified entries are not eligible for display. 

DESCRIPTION: Entrants will describe an innovative exhibit, event, program, theme, or competition designed to communicate an agricultural message(s) in an entertaining and/or educational format to the fair guests. Entrants should also explain relevance and detail partnerships involved, resources used, and the success of the program.

Examples include: messages on specific animal health issues, animal wellness, human/animal biosecurity, climate change, cannabis, GMO’s, family farms, changeovers (i.e., keeping animals in the barns for fairgoers to see them, educate on why animals go home and not stay the entire fair, safety methods used to keep animals and people safe during load in or load out) or other event or activity presented to allow people to see agriculture or animals besides the animals in competitions. 

DESCRIPTION: Entrants will describe a program and explain its relevance in telling the story of food as it relates to consumers. Resources used and the fair going public’s response to the program/event/exhibit should also be included.

Examples include messages on food products, supply chain, food processing, food handling and safety, how food items relate as an agriculture product and more.

SUBMISSION RULES/REQUIREMENTS: Photos must be submitted digitally on the contest website and cannot exceed 1MB file size. All photos must be in .jpeg or .jpg format. Fairs may enter one photo in each subcategory. Each photo must have a caption. Photos will be judged on promotion of agriculture, representation of event/activity, caption, photo quality, and overall achievement. The caption will be judged on description of photo and relevance to agriculture. Judge comments are not required in this category.

SUBMISSION RULES/REQUIREMENTS: Photos must be submitted digitally on the contest website and cannot exceed 1MB file size. All photos must be in .jpeg or .jpg format. Fairs may enter one photo in each subcategory. Each photo must have a caption. Photos will be judged on promotion of agriculture, representation of event/activity, caption, photo quality, and overall achievement. The caption will be judged on description of photo and relevance to agriculture. Judge comments are not required in this category.

SUBMISSION RULES/REQUIREMENTS: Photos must be submitted digitally on the contest website and cannot exceed 1MB file size. All photos must be in .jpeg or .jpg format. Fairs may enter one photo in each subcategory. Each photo must have a caption. Photos will be judged on promotion of agriculture, representation of event/activity, caption, photo quality, and overall achievement. The caption will be judged on description of photo and relevance to agriculture. Judge comments are not required in this category.

SUBMISSION RULES/REQUIREMENTS: Photos must be submitted digitally on the contest website and cannot exceed 1MB file size. All photos must be in .jpeg or .jpg format. Fairs may enter one photo in each subcategory. Each photo must have a caption. Photos will be judged on promotion of agriculture, representation of event/activity, caption, photo quality, and overall achievement. The caption will be judged on description of photo and relevance to agriculture. Judge comments are not required in this category.

SUBMISSION RULES/REQUIREMENTS: Photos must be submitted digitally on the contest website and cannot exceed 1MB file size. All photos must be in .jpeg or .jpg format. Fairs may enter one photo in each subcategory. Each photo must have a caption. Photos will be judged on promotion of agriculture, representation of event/activity, caption, photo quality, and overall achievement. The caption will be judged on description of photo and relevance to agriculture. Judge comments are not required in this category.

SUBMISSION RULES/REQUIREMENTS: Photos must be submitted digitally on the contest website and cannot exceed 1MB file size. All photos must be in .jpeg or .jpg format. Fairs may enter one photo in each subcategory. Each photo must have a caption. Photos will be judged on promotion of agriculture, representation of event/activity, caption, photo quality, and overall achievement. The caption will be judged on description of photo and relevance to agriculture. Judge comments are not required in this category.

DESCRIPTION: Entrants will describe an innovative exhibit, event, program, theme, or competition designed to communicate an agricultural message(s) in an entertaining and/or educational format to the fair guests. Entrants should also explain relevance and detail partnerships involved, resources used, and the success of the program. Must specifically outline how the program has changed/evolved from its inception to present.

Examples include: Messages on specific animal health issues, animal wellness, human/animal biosecurity, climate change, cannabis, GMO’s, family farms, changeovers (i.e., keeping animals in the barns for fairgoers to see them, educate on why animals go home and not stay the entire fair, safety methods used to keep animals and people safe during load in or load out) or other event or activity presented to allow people to see agriculture or animals besides the animals in competitions.