Agriculture has always been a part of Megan Richner’s life. She was born into a farming and ranching family in Southwest Missouri.
She currently raises beef cattle with her family under the Red Cedar Ranch, LLC name. Located in El Dorado Springs, the ranch is about 300 acres with 50 herd of cows.
“I’m the fifth generation in my family to farm and raise livestock,” Richner said. “I’ve always found joy in being on the farm around the animals. As a young girl, I’d eagerly await the end of the school when my dad would pick me up and we’d go do farm chores.”
Learning about advocacy in college
With her passion for agriculture, it’s no surprise Richner chose to study agriculture in college. She graduated from Missouri State University with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications and a master’s degree in agriculture education in 2007 and 2012, respectively.
As a student, she participated actively in Collegiate Farm Bureau. She served as secretary for the organization and even visited Washington, D.C., with the Missouri Farm Bureau as part of their fly-in legislative visit.
“That got me hooked with the organization. I saw the value of advocating for agriculture not only at the state level, but in D.C. as well,” said Richner, who also teaches middle school science and agriculture classes in the Stockton School District.
Since her graduation, Richner has served on the local Farm Bureau county board and got involved with some ag in the classroom efforts on the county level.
Along with her husband, Jordan (also an MSU graduate from the agronomy program), Richner served on the bureau’s Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee. They both participated in several leadership building programs through the bureau.
Selected for a prestigious program
Last year, Richner was asked to apply for the American Farm Bureau’s Partners in Advocacy Leadership (PAL) program. It’s an intensive two-year training program designed to build top tier agriculture advocates.
She was one of 10 applicants from across the U.S. chosen for class 11 of the program.
“We started off in New York City with none of us knowing each other, and now we’re a close-knit group of people,” Richner said. “We’re all from similar but different backgrounds. Our issues vary a little bit, but ultimately, we’re united in the fact that we’re all trying to help feed the world.”
The program includes a lot of hands-on leadership and media training. Besides New York City, Richner has spent time in D.C. making connections with legislators on the Hill. In March, she goes to St. Louis to engage with industry stakeholders.
The program caps off with an international module, where the group members will visit a country of their choice in September.
“Our topic is climate change and sustainability, so we’ve been looking at different countries that have a major climate impact going on or a climate change policy they’re enacting or they’re implementing some cool sustainable practices to grow their food,” Richner said.
Sharing her experience
With all she’s learned through PAL, Richner says she wants to help others become better advocates. She also wants to share more about the good things farmers and ranchers do.
“We must share our stories better because they’re important and will help us to best connect with others.”