This question was answered when my judging team earned a spot on the international judging trip to Scotland and Ireland. We spent almost two weeks visiting dairy farms, and it was like growing up at home all over again! I learned that these farmers shared our mission to provide a nutritious product and care for their land and animals, yet they reached these goals in their own unique ways. Just when I thought there was a system for successful dairy farming, my mind was opened to the possibilities of how culture and geography blend together with agriculture.

Just when my world got bigger, it quickly shrank as I went off to college after this trip. I made friends with many other like-minded agriculturalists from the Midwest and across the country, but I also got to know more people who had never visited a dairy farm. In fact, I met several people who thought that animal agriculture was the enemy to the future of the population and our planet. I wasn’t completely surprised, as many of these thoughts had been introduced to me through social media, which encouraged me to study agricultural communications. These experiences in college grounded me and reaffirmed my decision to become an agricultural advocate.

To accomplish this goal, my world once again grew bigger as I traveled to Greece and then to California and visited more farms. My understanding of raising livestock and growing crops kept expanding, and I was reminded how agriculture is everywhere and done in so many ways, and this work will continue one way or another.