Nebraska Corn Board & Strategic America Win First-Place National Award for Best Consumer-Focused PR Campaign

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (April 10, 2025) – The Nebraska Corn Board (NCB) and Strategic America (SA) — an integrated marketing and public relations firm based in West Des Moines, Iowa — won a National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) first-place award for Best Consumer-focused PR campaign on April 9, 2025.

“The Nebraska Corn Board is pleased to be awarded this prestigious NAMA award, recognizing the dedication and efforts of our state’s 22,000 corn farmers,” said Jill Bookhout, NCB director of communications. “As an organization focused on promoting and educating the public about the value of Nebraska corn, this award validates our commitment to engaging consumers and advancing our mission.”

The award was given for the Nebraska Corn Board’s “Del & Ed” campaign — characters created by SA, who educate Nebraskans about modern agriculture in their Kernel of Truth series.

“Del & Ed is an important campaign because even in a state like Nebraska, active farmers make up only a tiny percentage of the population,” said Associate Creative Director Greg Welch. “They act almost like a kind uncle or old friend to allow the Nebraska Corn Board to help all Nebraskans stay up to date on important issues like technological advancements, sustainability, and to see a point of view of what is really happening on modern Nebraska farms. We love having our chance to share ‘A Kernel of Truth’ with all Nebraskans.”

The Best of NAMA, sponsored by the National Agri-Marketing Association, honors the best work in agricultural communications. Companies and agencies first submitted their work on a regional basis for this competition and are evaluated in one of six different regions. Overall, there were 864 entries in the six regions and the awards were given in 62 different categories. All winners were then featured on AgriMarketing.

“Attending the NAMA conference was exciting. There was a great mix of general and ag-focused ad agencies. Coming from a traditional agency—based in the Midwest—it was encouraging for me to have Strategic America recognized for our work telling an agriculture-centric story,” said Welch.

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About Nebraska Corn Board
The Nebraska Corn Board is funded through a producer checkoff investment of a 1-cent-per-bushel checkoff on all corn marketed in the state and is managed by nine farmer directors. The mission of the Nebraska Corn Board is to increase the value and sustainability of Nebraska corn through promotion, market development and research.

About Strategic America
Strategic America (SA) is an employee-owned, integrated marketing firm specializing in multi-location marketing, brand building and customer engagement. Based in West Des Moines, Iowa, and representing a diverse set of clients that span multiple industries and geographies, Strategic America builds brands by using strategy and insights to power engagement and results. SA is a member of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As), the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and Association of National Advertisers (ANA).