Fast Company Honors Tractor Beam in 2026 World Changing Ideas Awards
17 June 2026, Denver: Tractor Beverage Company today announced that Tractor Beam has been recognized as an Honorable Mention in the General Excellence category of Fast Company’s 2026 World Changing Ideas Awards. The annual awards honor innovative projects, organizations, and ideas that are making the world better through creativity, impact, and bold thinking. This year’s program featured more than 1,500 entries evaluated by Fast Company editors and reporters for impact, innovation, scalability, and potential to improve society.
Launched in 2025, Tractor Beam is a seasonal speculative fiction publication: a future farmer’s almanac dedicated to soilpunk: radical visions of hopeful futures on Earth. Most almanacs tell you what to expect. Tractor Beam asks: “Which futures are worth growing toward?” Through original fiction, artwork, and expert commentary, the publication explores provocative, optimistic ideas about farming, food, soil, climate, and community.
Climate fiction is having a moment, but while many contemporary stories focus on collapse and catastrophe, Tractor Beam is an almanac for a more optimistic future.
“Farmers make a daily investment in a future they may never see,” said Duke Stump, Chief Brand Officer at Tractor Beverage Company. “That act of optimism is at the heart of Tractor Beam. If we’re serious about building a better food system, we need to cultivate imagination alongside healthy soil. Like a future farmer’s almanac, Tractor Beam charts a course toward a better planet.”
Tractor Beam reflects Tractor Beverage Company’s broader commitment to healthy soil and the people who steward it. Through storytelling, the publication expands the cultural imagination required to build more resilient food systems, communities and relationships with the natural world.
“Soilpunk views soil not as a backdrop but as the foundation of a thriving planet and a basis for worldbuilding,” said Lana Z Porter, co-founder and editor of Tractor Beam. “People don’t lack information; they lack hope. We created Tractor Beam because we felt there was space in the ecosystem to imagine futures rooted not in extraction or escape, but in regeneration.”
“We believe that the future is already here,” said Claire Gustavson, co-founder and editor of Tractor Beam. “Experts across disciplines annotate the stories, connecting the visions to real science and cultural developments today. When we say, ‘What if our brightest hope isn’t in the stars, but in the earth beneath our feet?’ it’s a call to both the dreamers and the people making those dreams a reality.”
Since its launch, Tractor Beam has published over fifty original works by award-winning and emerging global writers and artists. Guest editors include Jeff VanderMeer, Leah Thomas, Fatimah Asghar, Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian, and Sophie Strand.
For Tractor Beverage Company, the publication represents a belief that solving complex challenges requires both practical action and cultural imagination. Healthy soil may be the foundation of a thriving food system, but stories help people envision the future they’re working toward.
“Every farmer knows that today’s actions shape tomorrow’s harvest,” added Stump. “Tractor Beam is rooted in that same belief. The stories we tell today influence the future we’re capable of creating. We’re honored that Fast Company recognizes the importance of imagining a world where people, communities, and the natural systems we depend on can thrive together.”
The 2026 World Changing Ideas Awards will be featured on FastCompany.com beginning June 16 and in Fast Company’s Summer 2026 print issue.
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