Hi! My name is Kaitlin Farver and I am from Scobey, Montana.  I grew up on my family’s farm and ranch where we grow wheat, durum and a variety of pulse crops and run a black angus cow-calf operation.  I am the 5th generation to live and work on the family operation.  I am currently studying Agriculture Production and Accounting at Miles Community College in Miles City and will graduate in May with my A.A.S in Agriculture Production and a Certificate in Accounting.  After graduation I plan to continue my Accounting education online through MSU Billings while working on the farm in Scobey. 

My advisor, Kim Gibbs, told me about the club when I visited MCC for orientation.  I joined YF&R right away my freshman year and immediately jumped into a leadership role. I was a 4-H secretary in high school so naturally, I ran for secretary of the YF&R club. When this year rolled around, I knew I wanted to run for president.  MCC’s former YF&R president had graduated and was a great leadership role model for me to follow.  I love the club and thought that being the president would be a great opportunity for me at the college level and going forward with Farm Bureau.  Being president also always me to help and give back to the club. 

Being involved with CYF&R has been a great experience for me in college.  I have met and made connections with so many people associated with Farm Bureau since coming to college.  I think that being involved has really encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and do things that I wouldn’t necessarily chose to do if I wasn’t encouraged by my advisor and peers.  This fall I participated in the local discussion meet at MCC and was one of the top two competitors, so I got to compete in Big Timber at the state level. Although I was not the top spot there, I still did it and faced my fear of public speaking and I think that is a great accomplishment that Farm Bureau helped me achieve. 

Currently our club is gearing up for a fun and busy spring semester.  Before the Christmas Break, we decided to do a “Recycle Drive” so members have been collecting aluminum to recycle.  A group of students will be heading to Calling on the Capital in Helena at the end of January and are excited for that.  Three students will be travelling to Minneapolis, Minnesota in February to compete in the National Rangeland Cup and have been working on their project.  Many of our members have been busy fundraising for the trip to Milwaukee in March for the National YF&R Convention.  Our club is always looking for ways to get involved around campus and in the community and can’t wait to see what the Spring Semester brings!  

Since the MCC campus is quite a bit smaller than the other YF&R clubs in the state, recruitment and enrollment numbers are recurring battles for our group.  One of my goals this year as president has been to increase our numbers and recruit more people to join the club.  I am a big believer in “Agvocavy” and want to make National Ag Day/Week a big deal on campus and have a few ideas for what to do that week!  Our group is full of really fun and unique individuals and my main goal for us has been to have fun while being productive, learning, and advocating and so far, I think we have done a great job of that. 

I think students can benefit tremendously by being a CYF&R member on our campus, in many ways.  The first weeks of a new semester can be overwhelming and joining a club made up of members that share similar interests can make the semester a little easier on a person.  This club offers students the ability to become more involved on campus, in the community and in agricultural groups around the state. 

Since I will be graduating in May, I have begun thinking about my future involvement with Farm Bureau.  Scobey is in Daniels County, where we currently do not have a County Farm Bureau.  After graduation I would love to work on bringing Farm Bureau into our county.  I am very excited to continue my membership and involvement with Farm Bureau and look forward to all of the State and National level interactions and conferences that this organization will present to me in the future!