Agriculture Future of America (AFA) is excited to announce that the 2010 AFA Leaders Conference will be held November 4- 7, 2010 in Kansas City, Missouri. This year’s conference theme, selected by our student leadership, Our Voice. Our Vision. is a reflection of the need for collegiate partners and universities to develop and convey both individual and unified voices for the future of agriculture.

The future demands that our agricultural workforce be talented men and women with strong credentials in education, leadership and work experience.  AFA is committed to being a value-added partner in the talent development process of your students. Helping individuals who are passionate about agriculture (or just finding their interest in agriculture), to nurture their talent and build the career skills necessary to complete in a global market place is AFA’s mission.

As AFA prepares to host over 500 students from around the country, we invite your university to take advantage of the opportunity and have students from your university participate. The AFA Leader Development model is intended to compliment a student’s formal academic experience. The conference agenda helps attendees build skills in the areas of personal assessment, career preparation, communication, managing change, and preparing to live and work in a global marketplace. Additionally, students will have the ability to interact with industry leaders on a 3-to-1 ratio, while building a lifelong network with other young people preparing for careers in agriculture.

AFA’s vision is to be a catalyst in the preparation of a new generation of leaders. We ask for your partnership in this endeavor.

In 2010, all AFA student participants, regardless of their funding into the program, will be eligible for pairing with an AFA industry partner. The pairing program allows for organizations to make direct connections with students interested in learning more about their respective organizations.

To learn more about AFA and its mission, please feel free to contact us at (816) 472-4232. We would encourage you to also visit www.agfuture.org to view our annual report and past conference programs. Updates will be made regularly on the 2010 agenda and schedule. Thank you for your time, and we look forward to seeing your students in November at AFA Leaders Conference.

The National ACT Critique and Contest is your opportunity to showcase your creative works and to get feedback from professionals. Entry forms are available by clicking on Critique & Contest link on the home page of this Web site. Entries must be sent to National ACT Vice President Jessica England and must be postmarked by April 2. Contact Jessica for more information: jre26c@mail.missouri.edu or (309) 371-7725.

AAEA summer intern to work for Farm Industry News

Each year, the American Agricultural Editors Association sponsors (through a Professional Improvement Foundation grant) one college student to work for 10 weeks at one of our member media companies. This year, the host media for the AAEA Summer Intern program will be Farm Industry News, under the direction of Karen McMahon.

In expressing her interest for hosting the AAEA summer intern, Karen wrote, “ Our magazine reaches 200,000 corn and soybean growers in the Midwest. We would be able to given an intern firsthand experience in writing, photography, and producing online material for the magazine. In fact, we are very involved in online video work and would be able to provide great experience in that area as well.”

If you’re a communications college student and you have an interest in agriculture, we urge you to apply for this invaluable real life ag communications internship for the summer of 2010. You can find the application form and instructions by clicking here. The postmark deadline for this program is Feb. 15, 2010. The deadline has been extended to Feb 26th.

Karen also mentioned that the Farm Industry News staff is eager to work with an intern this summer!

If you’re an AAEA member and you know a student who might be interested, please tell him or her about the AAEA Summer Intern program, and urge them to apply before the deadline.

Mindy Williamson can be reached at mwilliamson@iowacorn.org.

The Livestock Publication Council’s Forrest Bassford Student Awards application is due Feb. 15.

Please download it here.

Please visit the Web site for this year’s National ACT Professional Development Conference, February 25-28 at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas: http://www.tarleton.edu/ACT/act2010conf.html