Missouri
Farm Bureau gains CAFNR "voice"
Jena Thompson, posted Dec. 7, 2006
The Missouri
Farm Bureau has been known as, “the voice of Missouri
agriculture” for many years. Recently, CAFNR student
Kyle Allen was selected as a new part of that voice.
Missouri
Farm Bureau holds a competition each year at their Annual
Meeting to select two student Missouri Farm Bureau Ambassadors,
one male and one female. Allen, a sophomore agricultural education
major, received the 2007 ambassador title. “Farm Bureau
is an important organization to me, because my family grew
up with it,” Allen said. “It is the voice of agriculture
and the American farmer.”
Diane
Olson, director of promotion and education programs with Missouri
Farm Bureau, said the standards are very high for student
ambassadors. “The two selected as ambassadors must have
an understanding and passion for agriculture but are not required
to be pursing a career directly related to agriculture,”
she said. “They must possess strong communication skills
as well as social skills.”
All those
characteristics were judged throughout the competition. Students
presented a five-minute speech to a panel of three judges.
“This year the topic was 'Changes in Agriculture in
a Cyber Century,'” Olson said. The judges were then
given time to ask questions, and determined the top three
of each gender.
“The
process was very challenging,” Allen said. “They
asked questions about your speech, agriculture related topics
and just about you in general.”
The top
six are invited to give their speech again for the entire
group of Annual Meeting attendees. “There were about
500-700 people in the audience,” Allen said. After the
final presentations, the choices were made.
“This
was something I really wanted. So, I started preparing early,”
Allen said. “When I put my mind to something, I work
very hard.”
There
are many perks to being a Missouri Farm Bureau Ambassador.
“The two selected will each receive a $1,250 scholarship
to their respective college or university,” Olson said.
“They will join the FB Resolutions Tour to Washington
D C. March 12-15, and assist with Farm Family events at the
2007 Missouri State Fair as well other events that may arise.”
Meeting
new people is a big thing for me, Allen said. “There
are so many connections with people across the nation.”
Allen
is a part of the ninth set of student ambassadors. “The
first ambassadors were selected at the MFB Annual meeting,
December 1998 to serve during 1999,” Olson said. “One
was Kyle Malter, then a student at MU.”
Allen
is appreciative of all those who helped him along the way.
“I would like to thank Collegiate Farm Bureau for supporting
me throughout the competition and also the state of Missouri
for selecting me.”
Many
MU students participated in the competition, as well. They
were Danette Stumpe, representing Franklin County; Ellie Braungardt,
representing Lincoln County; Donna Drebes, representing Marion
County; Katie Voelker, representing Perry County; Ashley Noblitt
representing Polk County; Jared Liles representing Vernon
County; Matt Kahrs representing Pettis County; Jared Thomas
representing Monroe County; Justin Lueck representing Lafayette
County; and Tyler Francis representing Carroll County.
