2021 Iowa State Fair’s Way We Live award entries are now open

Submission deadline is June 1

Apr. 7, 2021 1:16 pm Updated: Apr. 8, 2021 2:02 pm

Four-year-old Byron Clark of Iowa City inpects an ostrich egg on display at the Iowa Ostrich Association booth in the Agriculture Building during the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines in 2019. The fair currently is seeking entries for the 2021 Way We Live Award. (Gazette file photo)

The Iowa State Fair, Pioneer and media sponsors Iowa Farmer Today and the WHO radio BIG SHOW are seeking entries for the 2021 Way We Live Award. The Way We Live Award, in its 13th year of recognizing outstanding farm families, will award six Iowa families who exemplify hardworking farm values and a love for the occupation of farming. So far, the Way We Live Award has been given to 69 well-deserving Iowa families.

To nominate your family or someone you know, submit an entry form that describes how living on a farm and choosing the occupation of farming has shaped the family's life. All entries must include a family picture that illustrates the family's commitment to their farming operation. Entry forms can be printed or filled out on the Iowa State Fair website: http://www.iowastatefair.org/participate/the-way-we-live-award/. All entries must be postmarked or submitted by June 1.

Winners will receive a prize package including $250 cash, fair admission, a parking pass, food vouchers, a one-night stay courtesy of the Holiday Inn Downtown Mercy Campus and recognition in the Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center during the Iowa State Fair, Aug. 12 to Aug. 22.

Eligible families must be residents of Iowa and the farming operation can be centered on any agricultural commodity. Families may be nominated by a member of the family or by others.

Nominations must be submitted online (www.iowastatefair.org) or postmarked by June 1, 2021, and sent to Iowa State Fair, Emily Wynn, P.O. Box 57130, Des Moines, IA 50317-0003.

Or email all materials to ewynn@iowastatefair.org

For a listing of previous winners, visit https://www.iowastatefair.org/participate/the-way-we-live-award/.