Missouri’s youth agriculture groups prepare kids for the ‘long haul’

Ty Murphy brushes his hog's hair at the Missouri State Fair (Jana Rose Scheise/KBIA).

SEDALIA — On a hot and humid afternoon in the Swine Barn of the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, brothers Cole and Ty Murphy keep watch over their two hogs.

Ty, 14, said he likes the hard work caring for pigs requires.

“Every night we’re walking them for five to 10 minutes, working hair, cleaning pens. It’s kind of like a full-time job with having livestock,” Ty said.

Every summer, the brothers show pigs, cattle and goats together. Cole Murphy, 21, said they also plan to spend their careers together on the farm they grew up on in Houstonia.

“The main goal would be to come back home and to help grow and diversify the family cow calf operation,” Murphy said.

The career the Murphys are pursuing is a tough one. Missouri agriculture appears to be consolidating. According to the federal agriculture census , the number of farms in Missouri has been consistently decreasing since at least the mid-1990s. At the same time, the average acres per farm has been rising in the last decade.

U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows the average age of farmers across the nation continues to climb, reaching 58 in 2022. Agriculture leaders hope that as baby boomers retire, a new crop of enthusiastic and skilled young farmers are able to take their place.

Cole and Ty Murphy are two of the thousands of Missouri kids who, by participating in youth agriculture organizations 4-H and National FFA Organization, get firsthand experience preparing them for a future in farming.

Organizers of youth agriculture groups say they’ve been intentional about responding to the stresses the industry is experiencing. In addition to agricultural experience, the groups now offer more financial tools aspiring farmers need to start their careers.

Ty Murphy received a Supervised Agriculture Experience, or SAE grant , from his Sweet Spring FFA Chapter. SAE is an FFA program that provides funding and guidance for young agriculture entrepreneurs to start a business project.

“I have just recently built a barn at the house … that is for my show goats,” Ty said. “So that has been one big step.”

Rachel Augustine is the senior director of advancement for MU Extension and the executive director of the Missouri 4-H Foundation , the philanthropic arm of the organization that raises money to fund programming. She said knowing farm skills is important for youth, but so is understanding a farm’s finances.

“They have to know how much to feed the animal … they have to know how much that animal is going to be worth at market … they have to be able to manage not only the health of the animal while they’re raising it, but also how much it costs to care for the animal,” she said.

Showing an animal at a state or county fair is a crash course for developing financial management skills — and for the labor required in agriculture.

“The experience of showing livestock for young people gives them at least some context for the amount of work that’s required to actually live and work on a farm,” Augustine said.

4-H leaders point out that the group isn’t just about showing animals. The programming includes educational and career development experiences for youth. But as Ty’s experience demonstrates, showing animals is a pretty realistic trial for young people interested in farming.

“Even though I don’t get to do as much as what other kids would get to do in the summer, as in, hanging out with friends or going to the pool and stuff like that, what I have is way more important than that … to me,” he said. “I really do enjoy what I put into these (pigs) and my goats and my cattle.”

When he’s not showing livestock at the state fair, Cole Murphy is studying animal science and agriculture sales at Kansas State University. He wants to use what he learned at school and in 4-H and FFA to grow and adapt his parents’ farm.

“Finding different ways to market our product to where we can find other niches, whether it be … home-raised beef programs, or whatever it is to just continue to grow income so that we’re able to sustain and go on for mine and Ty’s kids and grandkids and other generations beyond,” he said.

In an era of consolidation, where there’s pressure to get big or get out of farming, the Murphy brothers say being able to pursue new projects now — before they’re out of school — gives them a head start on diversifying and continuing their family farm.

Finding the ‘spark’

Alana Kimmons has participated in 4-H for eight years and served on the state council this year — an ambassador-type role that travels to events and aims to recruit new members.

The 16-year-old had two projects displayed in the Missouri State Fair 4-H building — her ‘Best in Show’ bug collection and a swine by-products informational display.

The poster board showcases what the general public gets from hogs in addition to pork. Or as Kimmons puts it, “everything but the oink.”

“Fabric dye, footballs, linoleum tiling even, and buttons,” she said.

Through 4-H, Kimmons has been able to explore potential careers through field trips and projects helping her learn “the skills that I do and do not have.”

“It has also been an outlet of creativity,” Kimmons said. “So if I don’t like a project, I can know like, ‘Hey, I’m not very good at that yet, but I want to get better … or that’s not really my thing.”

There are over 53,000 young people enrolled in 4-H across the state of Missouri and 748 community clubs.

For decades, the organization has adhered to a creed where members pledge their “head to clearer thinking, heart to greater loyalty, hands to larger service, and health to better living.”

Kellie Seals is the Missouri 4-H state specialist in college and career pathways, and she has a background in education and human development. She said 4-H takes a holistic approach in its programming, focusing on helping kids cultivate their “spark.” 4-H groups do this not only by introducing them to career options but by offering hands-on experience in that type of work.

“These critical skills … are translatable and transferable across this experience with raising an animal and showing that animal, all the way to going to college or having a job, starting a career, managing your personal life,” Seals said.

Here in the Show-Me State, 4-H and other youth organizations aim to show members what a variety of careers in agriculture would look like.

“We believe that youth have the power to make their own decisions and that we are here to present them with a multitude of opportunities and help them become aware of decisions that they can make as they transition into adulthood,” Seals said.

Augustine with the 4-H Foundation said whether it’s raising an animal for the fair, going on a field trip or crafting an art project, 4-H programming hopes to teach young people how to go about pursuing a career path and along the way, arm them with the social, emotional, and financial skills they’ll need.

“The reason that 4-H has been so successful over the last 120 years is because it really does incorporate research-backed sort of models for ensuring that youth have the support, the structure, and the curriculum to help them be successful,” Augustine said.

‘On My Own’

Wendy Loges is a chief marketing officer at BTC Bank, a financial institution with 22 branches throughout Missouri. BTC Bank primarily serves rural communities and calls itself “the number one community Ag bank in Missouri.”

“We take a lot of pride in that … being able to help ensure that rural communities thrive,” Loges said.

BTC Bank provides a variety of services specific to the agriculture industry, such as crop insurance, equipment loans and a staff member, who specializes in farm succession planning.

“As baby boomers are retiring, they need a way of passing on their legacy and today, many children of farmers are not staying on the farm,” Loges said.

BTC Bank donated $87,500 to the Missouri 4-H Foundation to fund a program called “On My Own” for five years.

On My Own was developed by youth education specialists at the University of Tennessee. It’s a six-lesson simulation where students develop a budget based on a chosen career and lifestyle.

“They choose a home, an apartment, they choose a vehicle, they choose cell phone and communications, and they’ve got to use their checking account to purchase these monthly expenses,” said Kellie Seals with Missouri 4-H. “They learn so many things from that activity.”

Missouri 4-H rolled out the program two years ago. So far, over 300 Missouri youth have gone through the personal finance training. Augustine said Missouri 4-H leaders saw how successful the program was in Tennessee and wanted to bring it to Missouri.

“Missouri 4-H saw a need to improve the personal financial management skills of young people across the state,” Augustine said.

Loges with BTC Bank not only supports farmers in their financial planning, she lives it. She and her husband run a farm and her son recently graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in agriculture.

Loges hopes programs like On My Own help teach youth that farming is a business.

“It’s not just getting in the tractor and planting corn,” she said. “There’s so much more to it.”

Agriculture is always evolving, Loges said, the learning never stops. Her advice to youth interested in a career in agriculture is to be open to change.

“We live in an ever-changing society and that’s okay … You don’t always have to know what’s coming down,” said Loges. “You just have to be open and willing to adapt and grow and always learn.”

‘The long haul’

Outside the cattle barn at the Missouri State Fair, 16-year-old Beau Ann Graves tends to this year’s grand champion steer.

“His name’s Preacher. He is a Holy Ghost Sugar Bear,” Graves said, introducing her steer.

Graves shows Preacher through her high school FFA chapter. She grew up on her parents’ cattle company in Chilichothie and received a Supervised Agriculture Experience grant that helped launch her own livestock business, BB Cattle Company, where she raises Hereford steers and heifers.

Graves wants to be a large animal chiropractor when she grows up, a job she thinks will allow her to work with animals and continue her cattle business and participate in shows on the side, an activity she’s passionate about.

“I don’t know what I’d do without the cattle industry. It’s really, truly a part of me, and it takes a big part in my heart, and I hope to just enjoy it for as long as I live, because the cattle industry has really shaped me to the person I am today,” she said.

Graves said she’s learned the responsibility that comes with raising animals, as well as the communication, marketing and sales skills required to run a livestock business by working with her customers.

According to the Missouri Department of Agriculture , the $93.7 billion industry is the state’s No. 1 economic driver. Missouri agriculture employs nearly 460,000 people on 95,000 farms across the state.

Samantha Graves is supportive of her daughter Beau Ann joining the agriculture industry’s ranks. Samantha Graves encouraged her to participate in 4-H and FFA.

“It’s doing the work yourself. She gets so much ownership,” Samantha Graves said. “Every accomplishment she makes is hers.”

Samantha Graves said through 4-H and FFA, her daughter is learning key lessons about what it takes to make it in agriculture — hard work, persistence and endurance.

“My dad always told me that if you’re in agriculture, one year you’ll lose money, one year you’ll break even, and if you’re lucky, the third year you’ll make money,” she said. “You definitely have to be in it for the long haul.”

This story first appeared in the Columbia Missourian . It can be republished in print or online.