OFI 1417: Starting An Agricultural Podcast Business In High School | FFA SAE Edition | Kyleigh Render | Belgrade FFA Chapter

I am always happy and honored when a listener reached out and requests to be part of the show.  Sometimes it is a fit, and sometimes it is not, but I am always thrilled that they want to be part of what we are doing here.  Our guest today is one such listener.  Kyleigh Render is a very impressive FFA student.  She will be "graduating" from high school in one month, but there is a twist to her story.  Kyleigh is homeschooled, so her experience has been a bit different.

During Kyleigh's freshman year of high school, she actually did attend school on campus with other students.  This was in Michigan.  She took an agriculture class that semester, and thus, she was automatically enrolled in the FFA.  This stuck.  She relished the group and the roles that she could play.  Soon, her parents decided to move to be by family just outside of Belgrade, Montana and she went back to homeschooling.  However, she took it it upon herself to seek out the Belgrade FFA Chapter and inquire about membership.  They were very familiar with having homeschool students in their chapter, and she was welcomed right in.

Today, as Kyleigh looks forward to her career after high school, she is very motivated to educate others about and advocate for agriculture.  As a result, she started "The Farmer's Story Podcast" this previous February, and she has been telling the stories of how food gets grown and produced in the U.S. ever since.  Her long term goal is to interview a farmer from every state in the U.S.

Kyleigh wants to build "The Farmer's Story Podcast" into a full-time career, and she is ready to launch!  Just as soon as her high school career ends, she will be off to the races!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: The Farmer's Story Podcast

HIGH SCHOOL: Homeschooled and part of the Belgrade FFA Chapter; Belgrade, Montana

MASCOT: Panthers

FFA ADVISOR: Kyle Gavin

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR KYLEIGH RENDER:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Belgrade High School website:

Kyleigh's FFA Advisor's Email Address: [e-mail]

Belgrade High School Telephone Number: 406 388 6862

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

Donate to FFA - One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start - pay it forward.

REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA:

• Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world.  FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
• Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation.  The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.
• Farmers, ranchers and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

“The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue

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