Agriculture Future of America conference cultivates leadership

by Megan Graves, posted Dec. 16, 2009

The 13th annual Agriculture Future of America Leadership Conference hosted more than 400 undergraduate college students from across the country and provided them with new knowledge ranging anywhere from how to read body language to how to dress for success. 

AFA was held  Nov. 6 through 8 at Crown Center in Kansas City, Mo.

The theme, “Agriculture: Many Sparks. One Fire.” encouraged students to step back and reflect on what person or experience sparked them into agriculture, and what type of impact they wanted to make in their future fields. 

AFA had three tracks aimed at cultivating a different aspect of leadership.  Track one focused on personal assessment and career preparation. Track two focused on communication and relationship building skills. Track three was dedicated to teaching students how to manage change and preparing them to live and work in a global marketplace.  

Julia Shuck, MU agricultural jounalism major was the leader for track three.

“What AFA provided for me, and what I hope it provides for others, is the ability to go from a small, rural community background to a place where you experience real world business situations that also gives you opportunities you may not have had the chance to have before,” Shuck said.

The separate tracks broke apart each day, and students attended different sessions. In these sessions agriculture industry leaders spoke on topics that pertained to their track focus. 

An opportunity fair encouraged students to create networking opportunities. Companies present included John Deere, ADM, Monsanto, and more.

Many students were sponsored by companies to attend the conference, and during a banquet held to thank the many supporters of AFA, they were able to sit down with their sponsors, personally thank them for the opportunity and talk in depth about the company.  

Throughout the conference, students had numerous occasions to interact and network with leaders in each facet of the agriculture industry.

“Being able to talk and listen to different leaders in the agricultural industry was one of the best parts of the conference,” said Wes Delaney, MU junior.  “I feel more prepared to head out into the working world knowing what they are looking for.”

See Yang, an Agribusiness Management sophomore has attend AFA for the past two years. 

“AFA is more than just a conference,” Yang said. “It was a door of many opportunities and lifelong friendships. The skills you learn will carry with you into your career. It was truly amazing to see how many people cared about the future of young adults like me.”

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