A focus on youth is a focus on the future.

Each year, as high summer rolls through, a quote from Will Rogers comes to mind: “There’s no better place to learn about the common sense of the American people than at a county fair.”

Late summer provides a welcome beat between busy seasons for farm families—it’s a time for fairs and time together as we can see the demands of harvest and the rhythms of school on the horizon.

From my perspective, county and state fairs are more than just summer events. They’re part of what makes rural culture. At the fair, we watch youth learn responsibility and perseverance, a couple of the more potent ingredients of common sense.

So, to all who took part in these events this year, I offer congrat- ulations. While earning that grand champion or award ribbon is an honor, the real wins are in the journey. Good work on the prepara- tion, participation and learning.

MFA is committed to supporting youth and rural communities more than just at fair time. As this magazine goes to press, we are wrapping up the Ag Experience, MFA’s summer internship program.

Ag Experience seeks to bring more than just a business and skills perspective, though. We want to teach cooperative values. Along with gaining valuable professional experience, this year’s interns contrib- uted to our community service tradition. You can see some of their efforts on page 18 of this issue, highlighting the Ag Experience team at work helping to build a playground in Leon, Iowa.

It’s all part of a bigger picture. Some of the funding for that park project came through a grant from the MFA Charitable Foundation. The foundation supports community projects in rural communities where MFA Incorpo- rated operates. In fact, at fair time, you can see some of that community support at work. For the past three years, the MFA Charitable Foundation has partnered with Missouri FFA to provide grants that support individual students’ supervised agricultural experiences. Whether it’s in the show ring or in project displays, it’s great to see those students’ efforts show up at county fairs.

At the beginning of this column, I mentioned late summer as a preview for fall, and for many, by the time you read this, school time will be here. The MFA Foundation Scholar- ship program, highlighted on page 28, once again will help with tuition bills for first-year college students. Since 1965, this program has provided financial assistance to over 15,500 college and university students from rural communities. 

I highlight the points above because, especially in agriculture, the investment we make in youth will pay dividends to our industry and the family farms we depend on. What’s harder to highlight individually are the many MFA members and employees who volun- teer their time and expertise at county fairs, helping build pens, judging competitions and generally supporting local events.                    

Thank you for your investment.

-Ernie Verslues
MFA President and CEO

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