So today, I'm going to speak from a different angle today. I won't be sharing any recipes or why my house is so dirty or even why the Weather Man lied to me this morning. But anyways, let me get on my way on hoping to make an impact.

Through my whole life, I have been impacted by one thing–agriculture. I have been impacted by agriculture through many different aspects, if it was through the cattle industry and being part of a wonderful cattle organization or through the FFA and 4-H programs. The experience I gained through the many organizations I have been involved has allowed me to have a voice for the best industry–agriculture.

I speak about agriculture today, not only because its my job but there is a meaning. I don't know what spurred the idea to blog about this, but after being somewhat in tuned with social media and hearing how agriculture has impacted many people, I thought I would do my part and share my story.

Agriculture has been the backbone for my family's operation. I love hearing stories how our farm used to be and how my mom showed horses and pigs with much dedication. (That's probably where I got my dedication from!) Or, about how grandpa's parents made a living in agriculture. The information I learned from my family has benefited me, as well as them to educate others about cattle or how crops grow. The people we have told about how a calf is born or what causes bloat and let me tell you, they find a new appreciation for the term agriculture and want to learn more.

To help me share more of my agricultural stories, I just recently applied to received my Masters in Beef Advocacy. It's a free program that after 4-6 weeks of online training, I will be able to serve as an everyday advocate for the beef industry on issues such as animal care, environmental stewardship and the role of beef in healthy diets. I'm very excited to learn more information to help educate others about the beef industry!

Like I said before, I love my social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Twitter has allowed me to connect with other agricultural enthusiasts from afar! One thing that I wish I got more actively involved with and I know I need to do this, is to be a regular on AgChat. The AgChat Foundation is designed to help those who produce food, fuel, fiber and feed to tell agriculture's story from their point of view. Well on Twitter, every Tuesday night they have a chat night where everyone over the nation joins on Twitter to conquer agricultural topics and bounce ideas off one another.

One topic that I was hoping to join, but didn't, was about mentoring in agriculture. A very good topic! Mentoring has been the focal point in my life. I love the mentors that I have and I hope the mentorees that I have feel the same way. I enjoy teaching others about agriculture if its from how to show a lamb (my personal favorite) to a calf being born.

Check out this website for the AgChat discussion on mentoring: http://agchat.org/2010/06/archives.html

Anyways, I hope I was able to shed some light on how agriculture has impacted me. Many people don't know the importance of this wonderful industry and people need to let them know why it is so important. I know that this blog isn't necessarily called for agriculture but trust me, I will be talking about it more as I have been impacted by my fellow ag friends to have a voice and share!