Industry in the News

Education

Ag education more important than ever

New grant programs will focus on ag education, development

Communication 

3 consumer groups who want more info about their food

#WomenInAg Spotlight: Emily Buck

Community 

Bedford agriculture community plans benefit to help Midwest farm fire victims

Agricultural mediation program celebrates 30 years of helping farmers

Leadership

Bumpers College Introduces New Minor In Agricultural Leadership

Five inducted into Eastern Idaho Ag Hall of Fame

Industry 

As farmers age, agriculture industry tries to recruit, retain young farmers

The call to care for livestock

Industry in the News

Education

Changing world of ag education: Today’s experience beyond learning skills to run a farm

Book celebrates 100 years of ag education in Wisconsin

Communication

MSU to partner with Indian Media Giant, helping local farmers

Will sustainable agriculture feed our world? It depends on your definition

Community

Chamber hosts Ag Day; honors local farming community

Ag community shines after wildfires

Leadership

Governor’s top agriculture award goes to Miami mushroom farmer

FFA auction supports learning, service

Industry

SCHLAGECK: Agriculture is amazing

Burying Their Cattle, Ranchers Call Wildfires ‘Our Hurricane Katrina’

ACEL Students to Serve as 2017-2018 Peer Mentors

Eight ACEL students have been selected to serve as peer mentors for the 2017-2018 school year for the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). These students will be working with freshmen and transfer students who will be students at the Columbus campus . Peer mentors welcome new Buckeyes to the CFAES family and help them to navigate and find their place at Ohio State.

The following students will be serving as peer mentors next year:

Kaylee Reed, agricultural communication
Marlee Stollar, agricultural communication
Courtney Fulton, agricultural communication
Kristen Eisenhauer, agriscience education
Brittany Weller, agriscience education
Emily Bauman, community leadership
Mariah Stollar, community leadership
Katharine Stottlemyer, community leadership

We look forward to seeing all that you do to help our new Buckeyes and CFAES students. Congratulations and good luck!

Industry in the News

Education

FFA members meet with legislators

Agriculture interest ‘growing’

Communication

Oklahoma woman is champion for agriculture

Mahomet IGA owner recognized as Urban Ag Leader of Year

Community

Youth Fair program helps agriculture flourish into the next generation

Illinois Water Quality And Agriculture: Taking A Proactive Approach

Leadership

Young Johnston farmer wins innovation award

Montana ag, natural resource leaders experience REAL Montana

Industry

US livestock production has become more environmentally friendly

Agro-Terrorism Threats To Nation’s Food Supply Addressed In House, Senate Bills

Ramblings of a Super Senior

By Chaney Pavelka
community leadership

Hello blog post readers! My name is Chaney Pavelka. I’m a fifth…maybe sixth year senior here at OSU. Honestly I’ve lost count. I got my associate’s degree in 2012, took a year off, and have been at OSU for four years. So let’s just call me a senior senior.

Anyway, here I am. A complete stranger here to tell you all about my life. I’m here to entertain. Let me first start off by saying my current major was never something I considered studying. I, originally, was studying medical dietetics, a continuation of the associate’s degree I obtained in dietetics and nutritional management. I was one of those people who thought the fancier the title the more people will respect me. I thought if it’s not science or engineering or law studies then how will my family get their bragging rights?
Then I had a quarter life crisis, started having panic attacks, and had to really reevaluate things. I was taking chemistry for the third time and still could not grasp it or get the C- that I needed. In my defense I DID NOT FAIL…I just didn’t get a C. But once I felt like I had hit rock bottom I had this thought, why am I doing this to myself? Why would I put myself through all these classes that I hate if I can find something that I love? I have the power to make a decision and change that.

So, I met with an advisor in the exploration department and she mentioned community leadership. Honestly, my first thought was, “Okay. This lady’s just giving me ideas because she thinks I’m not smart enough for anything else.” Which, at this point, I had convinced myself was true. But, I told her about the things that I actually enjoy doing, like helping people, organizing things, and reaching out to people in the community, and it was an instant match.

I’m now proud to tell people that I’m studying community leadership with a leadership specialization and a minor in human nutrition. I fell in love with the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences my first day. I have the coolest advisor (Dr. Mary Rodriguez) and I love ALL of the classes I’m taking.

Chaney Pavelka, community leadership major.

After everything I went through last year, choosing this major was such a breath of fresh air. I haven’t had any field experience, studied abroad, or had my internship yet, but I have still loved everything about this school year. I’m taking a volunteer and human resource management class and it requires that I fulfill service hours. This class was the push I needed to get myself out into the community and start networking. I’ve loved volunteering and getting my name out there and being able to show people what I’m capable of as a young professional.

All of my rambling has a point, I promise.

Students go through a lot during their years in college, and sometimes people don’t realize that. But I’m rooting for you! My experience here at Ohio State, and in CFAES in particular, is proof that just because you fall off track doesn’t mean you can’t succeed at doing something you love. There’s always something out there for people to do. You just have to figure out what you really want and hope that your parents don’t shun you for changing your major (twice). It’s also proof that the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Services is awesome as is everyone who studies here.

Another Step in My Journey in Agricultural Education

By: Cody McClain
Agriscience Education

We have all had the moments when we have no idea what we want to
do when we grow up. Do I want to be a teacher, loan officer, police officer,
lawyer, or I don’t know? I experienced one of these moments when I was
riding home in an old international school bus, which struggled to reach
55mph on interstates, from State FFA convention during my senior year in high
school. As my Ag teacher was driving the bus, I asked her a million questions
about her life as an agricultural educator. She expressed her joys and
discomforts of being in the profession. Like for many FFA members, their last
state convention as a student is memorable and life changing. The challenges
in calculus made me rethink my decision in a future in math education. It is
not uncommon for many students to change their major in college. After my
experience at my last convention and a great deal of consideration I made
this change this switch to Agriscience Education only a few weeks prior to
graduation.

Throughout my college endeavors in Agriscience Education, I have had many
opportunities to explore the insights of the career. My Early Field
Experience (EFE) at Marysville High School was one of those opportunities
that provided me with the energy and motivation to continue pursuing my
passion in agricultural education. During my EFE, I had the opportunity to
collaborate and learn from three amazing agricultural instructors that
practice diverse and powerful leadership and teaching styles.

My experiences included teaching lessons in leadership, career building
skills, and agricultural safety. I acquired a variety of lessons in animal
sciences, agricultural mechanics, plant sciences, and much more. One of the
many experiences was the opportunity to expand my interest in agricultural
mechanics. In fact, this experience enhanced my desire to be a “shop
teacher” or in other words, teach topics in agricultural power, mechanical,
and technology systems. Every time I left my cooperating school, I felt more
inspired in being a future teacher of agriculture. The many early morning
drives to Marysville were very rewarding, in which, I received valuable
knowledge and skills that will help me be successful in an agriculture
classroom and FFA program. In the end, my experience created a vision for my
future career that I hope someday will blossom into reality.

 

Cody working with the students.

 

Cody working with machinery with the class.

Reflecting on Lessons Learned through 4-H

By: Dr. Tracy Kitchel
Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership Chair

As the youngest of four children, I could not wait to join 4-H like my siblings. Showing animals, completing projects, earning ribbons, and having your own t-shirt with a felt green 4-H clover on the back and your name on the front – who wouldn’t be excited?  I was an 11-year member of the Monroe Better Livestock 4-H Club in Preble County, Ohio and I can say without doubt that 4-H had a tremendous impact on my career success and life.

Dr. Kitchel was an 11 year 4-H member in Preble County.

In so many ways, I felt out of place through my elementary, middle and high school years. But, when I went to 4-H meetings or to the fair, those out-of-place feelings quickly dissipated. Through 4-H, I had the opportunity to demonstrate my life on a farm through showing animals. I also had the opportunity to explore my family and heritage through a genealogy project.  Beyond that, 4-H laid a foundation of hard work and character that are still present in my day-to-day life.

The first lesson 4-H taught me was hard work.  Growing up on a farm certainly contributed to that lesson, but with 4-H there was more.  In particular, I learned that what you put into something has a relationship to what you get out of it.  In most cases, I did better in showmanship the years I worked with my markets hogs more.  The more effort I spent on researching for my genealogy project, the more accolades I had earned for that project. But even further, I learned there were no shortcuts to hard work. As a good friend of mine says, “pay now or pay later.”  There were years where I may have spent many hours on my projects earlier in the summer, but not as much in the last month leading up to the fair. Instead of paying now and working hard through the entire summer, I paid later with an animal that wasn’t as prepared for the show as could it could have been.

The second lesson 4-H taught me was that life isn’t always fair and winning isn’t everything.  Although hard work and positive outcomes are linked, hard work does not always guarantee the outcome you want. I vividly remember a particular year in swine showmanship at the fair when I was about 14 years old. I had worked exceptionally hard that summer and was feeling good about my chances in winning showmanship.  My age group was large, so there were two or three classes before the final class where the age group winner would be selected.  The judge worked with me and my pig particularly hard (and in comparison to everyone else) and I remember how complementary the judge was over the microphone as I left the arena.  I returned for the final drive for my age group.  He had requested more people back than was in my first class.  Somehow, I ended up at the back of the line and literally walked in and out of the ring with my animal.  I barely had a chance to demonstrate my abilities and clearly the judge forgot about me.  It was reinforced to me that life isn’t always fair.  But I also learned that it was fine that I did not achieve the outcome I thought I deserved.  In the grand scheme of life, this one instance did not define me or my future successes.  The work, self-esteem and lessons learned are what you truly carry with you after the fair, not the ribbons, trophies or awards. I knew I had worked hard and I knew I had done well. That was the better award to have won that day.

 

Tracy Kitchel (middle right) 1993 Preble County Fair Royalty Court. He was the 1993 Preble County Fair King.

The third lesson 4-H taught me was being a part of something bigger is much better than focusing on only you and your goals. Later in my 4-H career, I joined the Junior Fair Board. In many ways, I became more excited about my work with the fair board than my individual 4-H projects. From developing a sense of ownership over the junior fair to working with my fellow board members, and from setting up stalls to running a livestock show, I found reward in accomplishing something that was bigger than me and something that was more than just me.  Being a part of something bigger also meant that winning became less important and putting on a great fair experience for others became more important. When I lifted others up, I myself was lifted, too.

I have carried these and many other lessons learned through 4-H throughout my life and career.  As my life continues to intersect with others outside my background, I continue to learn how fortunate I was to have 4-H in my life and the advantages I had from having participated in it!

 

 

ACEL students are new CFAES Ambassadors

Five ACEL students where selected to represent the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences as CFAES Ambassadors for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Students selected from ACEL are:

Brianna Gwirtz, a junior majoring in Agricultural Communication from Shelby, Ohio

Wyatt Jones, a sophomore majoring in Agriscience Education from South Salem, Ohio

Micah Mensing, a sophomore majoring in Agriscience Education from Oak Harbor, Ohio

Sydney Snider, a sophomore majoring in Agricultural Communication from Moscow, Ohio

Kayla Walls, a sophomore majoring in Agriscience Education from Mendon, Ohio

We look forward to seeing all of the work that each of you do as you represent CFAES! Congratulations and good luck!