While 2020 presented plenty of tests for agriculture, it also offered valuable lessons to young people pursuing careers in the industry. For students in Farm Credit Mid-America’s Scholars program, the pandemic confirmed that agriculture is exactly where they want to be.

Despite the pandemic, Farm Credit Mid-America fulfilled its commitment to our summer interns and continued to offer them valuable hands-on learning experiences.

Akiliyah Sumlin, then a senior at Tennessee State University who also spent two summers interning with the Association, said COVID-19 affirmed her desire to be a role model for people of color in agriculture and to help farmers market themselves and better use technology to improve their businesses.

“I posed the question to myself ‘How can I change the world from my home?’” said Akiliyah. “There’s more to agriculture than growing the product."

Adam Lansing, then a senior at Purdue University, also took note that jobs in agribusiness weren’t going away, even as unemployment continued to rise during the pandemic.

“This has solidified what I want to do,” says Adam, who plans to launch a career in ag finance after graduation. “I’m ready to start experiencing the industry.”

Adapting & Overcoming

When COVID-19 caused the cancellation of in-person learning and other experiences, Farm Credit Mid-America Scholars also found creative ways to educate themselves and others.

Chaela Minor, then a junior at Purdue University, was in charge of recruitment for the university’s annual Ag Week. When the in-person event promoting Ag Education on the school’s campus was cancelled, Chaela and her team took it online.

The Ag Week Committee used social media to post daily quizzes, photos, games and panel discussions designed to inform and educate a broader audience about agriculture. One educational video of a student holding a baby calf on her lap on “Milk Monday” generated more than 1,000 views on Instagram, including one from Chaela’s younger sister, a first grader.

“Emma loved it,” says Chaela. “She did the quizzes every day.”

As a result, the virtual event reached more people and a more diverse audience than ever before.

“While our target didn’t change, our reach did,” says Chaela. "The goal of Ag Week is to educate others unfamiliar with agriculture and that goal was met."

Fellow Purdue student and Scholar Claire Baney also found herself pivoting when her esteemed internship with the National FFA Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. was cancelled. While Claire was disappointed, she decided to refocus on what she could do and took on a marketing role for her family’s growing operation, Remedy Farms. As its newly appointed Agricultural Communications Manager, Claire set out to build the farm’s brand from the ground up.

“I’m a double major in agricultural communication and agricultural economics. I’m taking what I’m doing now and using it at home,” says Claire.

For Farm Credit Mid-America, fulfilling our purpose means more than supporting the farms of today. It also means growing the agricultural leaders of tomorrow, even amid the challenges of the global pandemic. The stories of these Scholars (and others) demonstrate the perseverance and broad thinking needed to secure the future of rural communities and agriculture.