Agriculture is a diverse world and even though I’ve spent the past 30 days highlighting the numerous ways farmers, ranchers, and consumers contribute to this diversity, there’s still so much more story to tell. I was excited to celebrate National Agriculture Day and the start of my 3rd year on Agriculture proud with a month of guest posts featuring different sectors of Agriculture. There’s still many more stories to come in the series, but I think it’s time I get back to my story as well.
To make things a little simpler I want to highlight all of the great people who contributed to my blog series and shared why they are Agriculture Proud. There’s a great collection of Agriculture diversity here, covering many walks of life. I hope you enjoy the unique thoughts each and every person has to offer. Let me know if you’d like to contribute a post, and let’s keep the story rolling and share with the world why we’re Agriculture Proud!
Mal The Beef Gal – Malorie Bankhead is from Livermore, California and a student at California Poly Technical State University in San Luis Obispo. She is a great Ambassador for the Beef community and as she puts it, great things can come in small packages.
California Sustainable Wood – Mark Lathrop works with tree farmers in Northern California and does a great job reminding us about a crop many can overlook even though it surrounds us every day.
In My DNA – Leslie Pierson grew up and lives in an urban setting, but that doesn’t keep her from being involved in Agriculture and having a passion for what her relatives once did.
Corn, Cattle, and Countless Hours – Bobbi Lorenz, along with her husband, raises corn and cattle in Nebraska and shows how living the farm life is truly reason to be Agriculture Proud.
Ontario Agriculture – Joe Dickenson joined the series to take us across the Northern border and have a glimpse at how Canadian Agriculture works with the community.
I am Ag Proud – On National Agriculture Day, I took a moment to reflect on my role in Agriculture as a graduate student and Animal Science researcher.
Chico Locker and Sausage – Jenny Dewey took us out to her folks place in California. The family does a great job working with the community, providing fresh meats, and opportunities to learn how meat travels from pasture to plate.
Family Roots – Daren Williams, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, takes us on the road up the family tree to DISCover how his family impacted row crop farming and even raised cattle.
Food Insecurity – Anthony Pannone, student at Texas A&M, works with I Love Farmers, They Feed My Soul. He takes time to point out a great passion for most farmers, feeding the hungry, and shows how opportunity lies right outside our doors.
Agricultural Law – Elizabeth Burns-Thompson is a law student at Drake University with a passion and understanding of policy making. She explains how she plans to utilize her love for Agriculture in a future career.
National Teach Ag Day – Robin McLean is an agriculture educator in New Jersey. She joined in to share a bit about Teach Ag Day and as she explains it, she became an Ag educator “by choice not by chance.”
Illinois Ag Education – Kathy Novotney, also an Ag educator, from Illinois took a moment to share why she is proud to teach future American agriculturalists and how much her background in Ag contributes to that.
Can An Outsider Be AgProud? – Aimee Whetstine wants her chance at the conversation. An urban mom who loves to learn about her food sources. This Wichita resident shares why consumers can be Ag Proud too.
Tennessee Dairy Farmer – Ryan Bright from East Tennessee is Ag Proud to be a 5th generation dairy farmer and takes pride in seeing his product on grocery shelves.
Quality of Agriculture – Erica Beck of Washington thinks highly of being raised in the Agriculture community, and it all boils down to quality. Quality of cattle, horses, and even crops.
Sunflower Farmer – March Rohrich lives in North Dakota, the leading state for sunflower production. He does a great job of letting us know just what all farmers can do with sunflowers!
Harned’s Drive-In – Celeste Harned was raised growing hogs, but married into a family restaurant. How does she mix the two? There’s a lot to be learned from both sides.
Louisiana Sugarcane – Wilson Judice is sugarcane farmer in Louisiana. Many don’t realize this crop is harvested multiple times a year. Wilson also shares some thoughts on farming for the future generation.
Family Dairy Farming – How about a family dairy in Utah! Farming on the same land since the 1800s and producing 90,000 lbs of milk every day, Trent Bown shares why he’s AgProud.
The Farm Vet – This Veterinarian in the big state of California is AgProud. How can one take care of animals, knowing they’ll one day end up as food on our plates?
Peanut Farming – Jillian Etress didn’t grow up on a farm, but learned a lot from her grandparents. Same goes for her husband. Now they raise peanuts, cattle and more on their farm in Alabama.
Meat Producers part of Global Food – David Hayden grew up on a farm, but has a passion for meat production. Now he helps others be better at getting meat to retail product. Learning from Pasture to Plate.
Certified Organic – Delvin Farmers is a Nashville area certified organic farm and hosts a Community Supported Agriculture. Some farmers find niche markets in these urban areas and make good on connecting urban consumers with food.
More Coming Soon!
THANK YOU to everyone who contributed guest posts to this series! It’s been so much fun for me to learn about different parts of Agriculture. Which was your favorite?
There are still more posts in the series to come, but we’re gonna space them out a bit. There’s a cotton loving gal, a military kid, a Louisiana Farm kid, and more lined up. Be sure to check back on this blog for them to show up. I’ll add em to this list later.
Do you have a story to tell? Would you like to see a specific part of Agriculture featured in this story? Send me your thoughts or leave em in the comment section below.
