Secretary Naig Invites Students to Enter the 2023 Choose Iowa Calendar Contest
Contest winners to be honored at the Iowa State Fair
DES MOINES, Iowa (April 4, 2023) – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig is encouraging school-age students to participate in the 2023 Choose Iowa Calendar Contest hosted by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Artwork submitted should feature at least one aspect of Iowa agriculture, with an emphasis on food, livestock or crop production. Submissions will be judged on both creativity and the connection of agriculture to everyday life. Entries are due June 1, 2023, and winners will be announced at the 2023 Iowa State Fair.
“Iowa farmers have a longstanding tradition of producing high-quality food. Choose Iowa is all about connecting consumers to the great products that Iowans are growing, raising, processing, and marketing every day,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. “All Iowa students are positively impacted by agriculture in their daily lives and the Choose Iowa Calendar Contest is a fun way to showcase agriculture while giving recognition to some of our state’s most creative students.”
Secretary Naig will honor the winning artists during a special awards ceremony on Tuesday, Aug. 15 in the Agriculture Building at the 2023 Iowa State Fair. Winning submissions will also be included in the 2023/2024 Choose Iowa calendar distributed at the Department’s booth in the Varied Industries Building during the Iowa State Fair and online at ChooseIowa.com all year.
School-age students up to 18-years-old are invited to participate in the contest. Pictures should be drawn on plain white, 8.5 by 11-inch paper in a horizontal orientation using only black lines. The pictures should not be colored in. For creative inspiration, previous calendars may be viewed here.
Entries can be emailed to chooseiowa@iowaagriculture.gov or mailed to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Attn: Choose Iowa Calendar, 502 E 9th St., Des Moines, Iowa, 50319. Each submission should include basic information about the artist (on the back of the entry or a separate sheet), including the artist’s name, age, grade, school, and hometown, as well as the name, email and phone number of a parent or guardian. For consideration, entries must be postmarked or e-mailed to the Department by June 1, 2023.
About Choose Iowa
Choose Iowa will be an easily recognizable brand used by farmers, producers, processors, farmers markets, grocery stores, restaurants and many others in the supply chain to connect directly with consumers. The Choose Iowa program is administered by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Choose Iowa brand will launch later this year.