I am a wife, mother, agriculture instructor, President of the Custer/Fallon Farm Bureau, and have direct contact with the future of agriculture daily.  My Husband Collin and I have two daughters, Morgan and Teagan. We live in Miles City and have lived here for 10 years.  I am not a native Montanan, as I was born and raised in Texas.  I attended Texas A&M for my Bachelors and received my Masters from Montana State University.   My Husband and I are actively involved in agriculture on a daily basis, though not how one expects you to be involved in agriculture on a daily basis.  My husband owns his own feed and auctioneer business and I am the Agriculture Instructor at Miles Community College.  I am about to complete Class III of REAL Montana.  This has been a great experience to learn about the natural resources and agriculture practices in Montana and the World.  I advise the MCC Young Farmers and Ranchers Club.  This is one of the most active clubs at Miles Community College and one of the biggest on campus.

Morning routine…You never know what will happen.  As a mother of a 2 & 4 year old, the mornings are unpredictable.  Everyone in my house is up by 6 am but the pair of pants may not go on the last person until 7:45.  I am usually at my office at 8am and getting ready for classes or working with students.  My office is always open and ready to help students if they have questions or if they need to visit.  Students will stop by to ask about classes, internships, or homework. 

The public sees people involved in agriculture as someone who owns cow or grows corn, however, there are many roles in agriculture that may not actually touch a cow or see corn grow on a daily basis.  I think the public needs to understand the many roles within agriculture and know that there are people working behind the scenes to make sure their food is safe as well as affordable. 

January 9th today included the start of meetings at the college. It also marks my 7th year at Miles Community College.  I also worked on getting my classes ready for the spring semester.  I would say the start of the semester is always exciting.  You get to work with new students and your previous students come back.

One thing that would have gone better, would be time management.  Getting back into the swing of things, can be a bit challenging.  As an Instructor at a college, I get about 4 weeks off and the ability to be home with Morgan and Teagan and the school year routine may not happen every day.  Getting everyone back into the school routine can be a bit challenging.   

January 14th-Started my morning getting everyone ready and out of the door by 7:45 am.  Teagan was not having it this morning, and pants, she thought, “should be optional this morning”.  At the office, I received a message from a new student to be registered for classes. 

Also, listened to a webinar about student retention at the college level.  It talked about getting students involved and creating a community of support.  I think the same could be applied to the future of agriculture.  Are we as Farm Bureau members creating a welcoming community to new people in agriculture?  Do we have workshops that serve as a support system for new individuals in agriculture?  When listing or reading articles, it is important to think, ‘how can it be applied in other sectors of my life.’  This is something I need to work on as an instructor, is to make students think critically about the information they are presented. 

Seeing students back on campus is always exciting.  They are usually excited about the classes they are taking and seeing friends from last semester. 

Later this week, the Young Farmers and Ranchers will have their first meeting of the year.  The students will make plans to attend Calling on the Capitol and make plans for their spring semester.  A group of students will be working on a poster to take to the Society of Range Management meeting in Minneapolis.   It is always exciting to come back to campus and be actively involved with the future of agriculture.