I'm an agvocate, and proud of it. However, I didn't come about agvocacy in the usual way. My path was a lot more indirect and unexpected.
My dad was a farmer. At least, that's what he'd always wanted to be. When he was in his early teens, however, my grandfather passed away. With no one in the family old enough to take over the leases and run the farm, there was no choice but to shut down the operation. For years, my father worked as a farm hand; he even paid for my parents' wedding by working on farms. Eventually, families started, and dreams started to come true.
My father never got his own farm, but through some good luck and careful partnership with my uncle (his brother), they managed to start a very small cow-calf operation. They also began raising alfalfa.
I never had much exposure to this part of agriculture. I was young, and the farm was almost an hour away from home. However, back at home, we started our own little agricultural adventure. A good friend of my father's was the only dairy farmer in the county. He had bull calfs that needed to go somewhere. We had a neighbor with a barn and pasture. Suddenly, we found ourselves bottle-feeding bull calves, which then became steers. Before we knew it, we were finishing them for beef. I did get to be around these guys, and while that stage of my life ended relatively early, it stuck with me. We had great memories with those animals.
Life changes fast, and when I was 12, mine took an unexpected turn. My father had a very sudden heart attack, while baling alfalfa.
My exposure to agriculture stopped, then and there.
I spent a few years in blissful oblivion of farming. Then, in high school, I met Timothy...most of you know him as Farmboy, though. Yes, he's my boyfriend. Yes, we started dating when we were freshmen in high school. However, his significance in my agvocacy journey goes beyond puppy love: he allowed me to see the world that my father had been a part of. He showed me what it looks like to be around someone who is in love with what they do. He showed me, essentially, the heart and soul of the agriculture industry.
I think I fell in love with farming around the same time I fell in love with him.
So, following the start of my love story with Farmboy, I became involved. I joined 4-H, and took on leadership roles. I started raising meat rabbits, as well as fancy breeds for pet shops. I even served as the President of an FFA chapter in its inaugural year.
Needless to say, now I'm hooked.
As I move forward with my career, both in college and outside of it, I'm constantly looking for more ways to integrate agriculture. This blog started out as an internship for the Illinois Corn Marketing Board. I do a lot of work with the AgChat Foundation, which has become one of my greatest passions. So, as most agricultural communications folks study ag and learn more about comms along the way, I'm doing the opposite. I'm using my strong communications background, to shake up the ag world and get as involved as I can.
We'll see where it leads.
