Bill Smith, strategic marketing manager for Helena Products Group, is the host of the FieldLink podcast, which was recognized as the Best of National Agri-Marketing Association – Podcasts.

The podcast aims to explore industry topics relevant to farmers and other agricultural audiences.

“We cover content related to things like plant diseases, new technologies, and hot topic subjects,” Smith said. “We want to cover a broad spectrum of topics within the industry.”

The winning episode featured NAFB members Courtney Kibblewhite and Amelia Siroky from the Northern Broadcasting System.

“It featured their podcast on mental health in agriculture called Beyond the Weather,” Smith said. “We talked about Courtney and Amelia's work to bring awareness to the issue, and the judges felt that our podcast episode was timely. We also discussed how important this challenge is for farmers and ranchers and some resources available to struggling people.”

Beyond the Weather is a joint effort between the Montana Department of Agriculture and the Northern Broadcasting System to break the stigma around mental health, especially in agriculture.

Smith was honored to be recognized for the podcast episode, but he was more excited about its impact on the industry.

“It was a great sense of accomplishment to be recognized at that level, but I was also very proud of the content of that episode,” Smith said. “We were proud of the increased awareness we fostered in our audience. That was the real winning factor to me.”

Other individuals were key players in the FieldLink podcast production and promotion.

“I would like to thank Grace Hall and Stacey Swain for helping me to promote this podcast,” Smith said. “I would also like to recognize Courtney Kibblewhite and Amelia Siroky for being guests on this episode and bringing awareness to mental health in agriculture. Lastly, I thank Trilix for producing this podcast for me.”