CAFNR made a lasting impression at the 2013 Missouri Farm Bureau Annual Meeting Dec. 8-10 at the Lake of the Ozarks.  All six ambassador finalists and scholarship winners were Mizzou students. They included: Samantha Gibson, sophomore in agricultural education; Jesse Fowler, sophomore in agribusiness management; Miriam Martin, sophomore in animal sciences; Cameron Locke, sophomore in animal sciences; Mason Kiehl, sophomore in agricultural systems management; and Sam McDonald, freshman in plant sciences.

The 2014 Missouri Farm Bureau Ambassadors are Samantha Gibson and Mason Kiehl. To become an ambassador, you must go through an application process and be nominated by your county.

The annual meeting provides an opportunity for members to come together to discuss and debate issues ranging from agricultural regulations to water management. Speeches and contests are the backdrop for business sessions where members hash out the organization’s policy positions for the coming year.

A Farm Bureau Ambassador must be a member of Missouri Farm Bureau or have parents who are members. These members are usually very active and take an integral role in being that effective voice at the county level. Applicants must apply and be selected in their county as an ambassador. The process requires you to submit an application and resume, then prepare a speech and answer interview questions at the Missouri Farm Bureau Annual Meeting. After the speech and interview, judges select three finalists. The finalists compete on stage in front of Missouri Farm Bureau’s members. Two ambassadors are selected, a male and a female.

As ambassadors, Gibson and Kiehl will represent Missouri Farm Bureau and Missouri agriculture. They will travel to Washington, D.C., to learn more about legislation and be an effective voice for Missouri agriculture. The program is to help build leadership, professionalism and knowledge of agriculture.

Collegiate Farm Bureau provides excellent opportunities for college agriculture students, who will become the agriculture leaders of tomorrow. The first Collegiate Farm Bureau chapter in the nation began in 1986 at the University of Missouri.

Clarissa Brown, junior in agricultural education, was the 2014 Discussion Meet Winner.

Both the ambassadors and Discussion Meet Winner receive scholarships.

There are 46 MU students enrolled in the MU Collegiate Farm Bureau organization.