The farmers and ranchers who this summer turned to the work of extinguishing the fires registered in different parts of Aragón will be the main protagonists of the second edition of the Aragon Agri-Food Awards. The regional government will pay tribute to them during the gala on September 9 and will award them the Special Prize of the Agri-food Sector of Aragon for their involvement on the ground in the face of the flames.
During the fires, numerous field professionals put their tractors, vats and agricultural machinery, in addition to their knowledge of the territory, at the disposal of the extinguishing teams. Their collaboration was key in tasks such as tilling fields and creating strips that acted as firebreaks, water supply, opening accesses or protecting crops, farms and population centres.
The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food, Arancha Simón, explained that the decision responds to the circumstances experienced this summer. «We have decided to pay tribute to all those farmers, ranchers and people in the sector who have been giving their time, their desire, their effort, their infrastructure for the issue of fires,» she said.
Simón referred to these professionals as «the guardians of the rural environment» and highlighted their involvement in particularly complicated times for different parts of the Community.
THE AGRI-FOOD AWARDS WILL BE PRESENTED ON SEPTEMBER 9
The tribute will be held within the framework of the Aragon Agri-Food Awards 2026, the second edition of which will take place on Wednesday, September 9, at 6:00 p.m., at the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Food.
The awards seek to recognize the excellence, innovation, sustainability and commitment of the people and entities that contribute to the development of the Aragonese agri-food sector. The jury decided this Thursday the winners of this edition, although their names will not be known until the gala.
The minister, who chaired the jury meeting, said that the choice was «complicated». «We have agri-food companies and very prepared people, fabulous artisans and a great product,» she defended. As she explained, it has been «small definitions» that have finally tipped the balance towards some candidates over others.
The awards have six categories: Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Product, Design or Packaging; Content Creation and Dissemination of the Agri-Food Sector; Aragonese Agri-Food Research; Best Artisan Food Company; Ecological or Sustainability Initiative; and Special Award of the Agri-Food Sector of Aragon, which this year will go to the farmers and ranchers who collaborated in the fight against the fires.
THE JURY OF THE AWARDS
The jury was chaired by Arancha Simón and included Adolfo Ballestín as vice-president and Aurora Cepero as secretary. On behalf of the Administration, Enrique Novales, Director General of Quality and Food Safety; Carlos Calvo, Director General of Common Agricultural Policy; and Ana Belén Martín, Head of the Rural Infrastructure Service, participated.
The meeting was also attended by Pilar Abad, head of the Food Promotion and Quality Service, representing the Directorate General for Food Innovation and Promotion.
External representatives were José Víctor Nogués, for Cooperativas Agroalimentarias de Aragón; Eva Lázaro, for Food and Beverages of Aragon; Dr. Mónica Bueno, researcher at the Agri-Food Institute of Aragon; Ovidio Ortín, for the Association of Food Artisans of Aragón San Jorge; and Fernando Martín, representing the Confederation of Hospitality and Tourism Entrepreneurs of Aragon.
The Aragon Agri-Food Awards were created to publicly recognise people, companies and entities that have stood out for their career or for actions of special relevance to the sector. The awards do not have a financial endowment and consist of the delivery of an accrediting distinction.
