Mizzou Ag Communicators of Tomorrow hosts ag journalism forum

by Brooklyn Shearer, posted Dec. 21, 2009

On Nov. 19, the Mizzou Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow hosted an agricultural journalism forum with a panel of four speakers. The speakers ranged from a director of a large radio corporation to a senior dairy territory manager for an animal-health business.

Sharon Wood-Turley, MU agricultural journalism program chair and faculty adviser for ACT, was very pleased with the forum and is appreciative of the panel speakers and their time.

“Every student in our program would have benefitted from hearing what this group had to say. I would encourage them all to make an effort to attend these types of functions,” Wood-Turley said.

Nina Furstenau, food editor for Missouri Life magazine, got the conversation started by describing her experience in the journalism field. Furstenau graduated from the Missouri School of Journalism in 1984 and went to the Peace Corps after graduation. After returning to the states, she started her career as a writer. She and her husband launched five magazines soon after her arrival.

“We had a great time producing great editorial,” Furstenau said.“We got to know customers and advertisers via phone.”

The Furstenaus sold their publishing company in 2000. It gave her the opportunity to return to the part of journalism that she loves — writing. She went back to get her master’s degree in creative writing and is currently working as a freelance writer.

Furstenau will be offering the agricultural journalism program's first course in writing about food and wine next fall.

Scott Kington was another speaker that evening. Kington is an executive vice president for strategic planning and brand development on agricultural accounts with Woodruff Sweitzer in Columbia, Mo. Kington earned his marketing degree at Iowa State University. After earning his degree, he went to Chicago for a year and worked for an entrepreneur company.

“I wanted to learn about every aspect of a business,” Kington said.

Kevin Yaeger, senior dairy territory manager for Pfizer Animal Health, spoke about his time at Mizzou and the important things he has learned. Yaeger attended the university and graduated in 1981 with a degree in animal science. He originally thought he wanted to go back to his family farm and raise hogs, but a couple of months before graduation his father encouraged him to work off the farm where he would receive a good salary and benefits.

“My job has evolved over the years, but always has involved animal health,” Yaeger said.

Yaeger spends most of his days calling on dairy producers in Missouri and talking to them about animal health products. He also works with local veterinarians to get the products to farmers.

Yaeger discussed classes he thinks are beneficial for any student to take, which included Spanish and finance. For agriculture majors, understanding the jargon of farmers that they work with is key as well.

Cyndi Young, farm director/manager for Brownfield Radio Network, was the last to speak. Young said she always enjoyed writing, public speaking and communicating in general. She attended college at Western Illinois University and received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education with an emphasis in animal science.

After graduation, she worked for a radio broadcasting company in Jacksonville, Ill. During her time there, she was the weekend disc jockey, made coffee, answered phones and learned many of the basics of the radio world.

“The strongest stone in the structure is the foundation, and our foundation is radio,” Young said.

From there she went to work for Oklahoma Agrinet for five years, and then had an opportunity to work at a news-talk station in Springfield, Ill. Following these experiences, she took a job with her current employer, Brownfield Radio Network in Jefferson City, Mo.

“People go a lot of places to get their information today and we want to be in as many of those places as we can,” Young said. “We put content information together that individuals want. Programming specific to dairy famers, horse owners and commodity markets and agribuisness news just to name a few.”

After the four individuals made their introductions students asked questions.

All four panelists discussed time they had spend traveling abroad, so students were interested in knowing some of the benefits of international travel.

“I don’t think there is a field you can be in or a life you can live that it wouldn’t be beneficial to understand how other people live,” Furstenau said. “It broadens your world and makes you care about other people. Eventually you’re working with other people and if you work with people from other cultures that’s a really great thing.”

“International experience helps you stand out, and gives you a lot more experience to draw on,” Yaeger said.

Members of the panel all agreed that writing skills are the key to being a good commucator, no matter what your job description.

The last question was, “What have been goals in your career?”

“Everyday goals for me are about bringing value to my client and getting them someplace where they couldn’t get without me,” Kington said.

“Do some things that get you out of bed in the morning, attainable goals, you’ll feel good about yourself,” Yaeger said.

Jessica England, junior from Oquawka, Ill., is a member of Mizzou ACT. England attended the forum because she wanted to learn more about the agricultural journalism industry.

“They may also lead to potential internships and jobs someday by mingling with the professionals,” England said.

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