Agricultural communications exchange

Over this past week, the Canadian Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (CanACT) club from the

University of Guelph, welcomed Oklahoma State University’s Agriculture Communications

students to Southwestern Ontario. This was part two of an exchange initiative between the two

universities. The focus of the exchange was to learn about agriculture communications similarities and

differences between Canada and the United States. Building future rural leaders who understand the

relations between Canada’s biggest agricultural trading partner, the United States, is vital if we want

to maintain strong ties to the industry. The CanACT club is fortunate enough to have friends in

 agriculture who understand the importance of this educational exchange. A big thank you to six

sponsors who supported this initiative: The Ontario Cattlemen’s Association, The Grain Farmers

of Ontario, Dairy Farmers of Ontario, OAC Alumni Association, Student Federation of the

Ontario Agricultural College, and Kubota. The CanACT students will be communicating their

experiences in several upcoming media publications including the Ontario Beef magazine.

Oklahoma State University's Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow exchange group learning about dairy genetics

Students communicating about agriculture win first prize

This past weekend, the Canadian Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (CanACT) Club and the Students Promoting Awareness of Research Knowledge (SPARK) collaborated to create a display entitled “Students Communicating Agriculture.” The display was showcased at the College Royal. College Royal, a tradition at the University of Guelph since 1925, is the largest student-run open house in Canada. Over 60 clubs participated in the Open House weekend providing displays to inform the public about their club and how they are serving the student body. The judges were impressed by the various displays but CanACT was awarded first prize for best Ontario Agricultural College club display.

OSU’s pride and joy: Agriculture communication students produce magazine

CanACT members proudly displaying the Cowboy Journal Magazine

The University of Guelph’s Canadian Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow Chapter (CanACT) embarked on an exchange program with Oklahoma State University’s Agricultural Communications Chapter during reading week. Not only did I learn about the activities of their chapter but also about their agricultural communications’ undergraduate degree program. This was of special interest to me because the University of Guelph does not currently offer an undergraduate program in agricultural communications.

One of the courses that all of their fourth year students are required to take in order to graduate is called “capstone for agricultural communications.” This course is designed so that the students can demonstrate the knowledge that they have learned throughout their degree program with the creation of the Cowboy Journal Magazine. This magazine is the pride and joy of the agricultural communications graduating class and they made sure that each of the visiting CanACT members left home with a copy.

Our trip began with introductions to the faculty and students from the Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Leadership. We learned a lot about OSU Cowboy spirit and toured their beautiful campus.

One of the most impressive aspects of their undergraduate program is the result of a capstone course taken by seniors in their final semester, the Cowboy Journal magazine. The magazine is published bi-annually and each article, advertisement and layout is created by students.

A major goal of our trip was to learn about farming practices and communication techniques in rural Oklahoma. We were indeed able to learn a lot about many aspects of American agriculture and brought home many interesting facts and new ideas from our southern neighbours.

One of the most eye-opening farm tours was to Lazy E Ranch in Guthrie, OK. Lazy E Ranch is a world leader in horse breeding and breeds over 900 mares each year. We were able to meet with Sarah Gammil, a communications specialist at Lazy E, who told us about her career journey in agricultural communications and the responsibilities of her current position.

Sarah works on writing, advertisements and promotional materials for horse sales at Lazy E Ranch and also communicates with their clients on a weekly basis. Sarah credits her education in writing for her career success.

“If you can write, you can do anything in any kind of business,” Sarah told the student group.

As young communicators, it was interesting to learn that some Oklahoma farms and ranches offer communication staff positions, unlike the size of farms we are accustomed to here in Ontario. The OSU students were also able to make connections with Sarah that could lead to future internships.

The OSU ACT chapter also booked tours of the Cowboy Hall of Fame and other museums in our itinerary so we were able to get a complete cultural Oklahoma experience.

Student agricultural communicators from OSU will be visiting the CanACT club at the University of Guelph in early March. Stay tuned to Food and Farming Canada for another post about this part of the trip!

Rebecca Hannam was raised in a farming family and is now a member of the Ontario Agricultural College Class of 2012 at the University of Guelph. You can find Rebecca on Twitter @rebeccahannam.