By Holly Martin, AAEA 2009 Past President
Years ago, I distinctly remember being on vacuum duty while my mom grumbled about the stack of farm and dairy magazines on my dad’s end table. It must have been summertime and the stack was large because he hadn’t had much reading time.
I remember thinking that whatever those magazines held, it must be important, or she would have thrown them out without a second thought. My dad is a lifelong learner. He’s retired from farming and milking cows now, but he is always on the hunt to learn something new. On a recent visit, he carried a four-inch thick war history book of some sort and spent his TV time watching the Discovery Channel.
I suspect that a good chunk of farmers and ranchers are the same—learners at every opportunity. As fast as the agriculture industry is changing, they must be constantly learning or they wouldn’t be successful. And thank goodness. It keeps us in business. As communicators, our role is education in some shape or form. We’re educating our readers, viewers and customers about something—the newest product on the market, the best way to improve soil health or the latest genetic research.
Little did I know while watching my mom dust around High Plains Journal, Hoard’s Dairyman, and Kansas Farmer, that I’d one day be editor of one of those publications. It was a responsibility that I often thought about. What is a topic important enough to earn the real estate on coffee tables across the High Plains?
I’ve tried to adopt that same philosophy of learning in my own career. I sat in a management team leadership training the other day. Around me were team members with a wide range of leadership experience. Some of the folks in that room would be considered accomplished leaders. They could have just rested on what they know. But they didn’t. They engaged. They were working to become better managers. They were learning.
It was invigorating to me. Learning new skills makes me better. That thirst for knowledge means I’ll always be challenged. And it means that each day will never be the same as the next.
One of the great things about the Ag Communicator’s Network is that it unlocks lifelong learning for an ag communicator. There’s not been an Ag Media Summit that I didn’t come home with a notebook full of ideas. There’s not a Byline that doesn’t inspire me with a member’s award-winning work. And just today I participated in a webinar that gave me some helpful tips.
No matter where you are on your career journey, there’s always an opportunity to learn more. Use the resources that AAEA provides to you. Network with the smart people in this organization. If you make the effort, I guarantee the reward will be earning that coffee table spot for years to come.
Holly Martin is currently co-chair of the AAEA 100 Committee. Holly is the director of communications with the American Angus Association, including Angus Media, Angus Genetics Inc. and the Angus Foundation.