KDA Photo Contest Begins June 1

Kansas agriculture has a beauty like no other, and we love to appreciate that beauty whenever we talk about Kansas ag. While that beauty can’t be fully captured with a camera, we encourage photographers to try, and then to share it with us in the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s annual photo contest. KDA will begin accepting photos on June 1, and will continue accepting entries through August 1.

This year’s KDA Photo Contest categories were selected to promote different aspects of Kansas agriculture: Picture Perfect Prairie, Farm Animals, Agriculture at Work, and Farm Fresh These categories allow you to showcase Kansas agriculture in many ways — the natural resources that make our state flourish; the farm pets and livestock which are our friends and partners at work; the various crops and produce that help feed Kansans; and the everyday activities in agriculture such as working cattle, fixing fence, and planting crops. As always, there is a separate Youth division, for young photographers age 18 and under. And a video category will welcome drone footage, harvest videos, or other short clips of under 30 seconds that showcase Kansas agriculture. Prizes will be awarded to the top two winners in each of the six categories.

KDA serves to advocate for agriculture, the state’s largest industry and economic driver. Photos which best capture the categories will be used throughout the year as we tell the story of Kansas agriculture. After submission, KDA is granted permission to use any photograph for publications, social media, websites, displays, etc. without payment or other consideration from the photographer.

Photo entries should be sent in .jpg format to KDA.PhotoContest@ks.gov. Videos should be sent in .mp4 or .mov format. Entries must include a title and brief description, where and when the photo/video was taken, the photographer’s full name and age, entry category, hometown, and email address.

Guidelines for the KDA Photo Contest, including deadlines, categories and prizes, can be found at agriculture.ks.gov/PhotoContest. Voting to select finalists will begin on KDA’s social media sites in mid-August. For more information, contact Heather Lansdowne, KDA director of communications, at Heather.Lansdowne@ks.gov or 785-564-6706.