What began as a study abroad experience in college led to a career supporting international agriculture for Delaney Howell, president of Ag News Daily.
Howell attended Northwest Missouri State University for her undergraduate degree, and it was her study abroad experience to Bulgaria that sparked her interest in international agriculture. She learned just how diverse the agriculture industry is and how many different types of farming operations there are.
During her time abroad, Howell learned how she could use her farming and journalism background to help add to existing messaging and grow the network of international agriculturalists.
“We need to do more to help tell their [farmers’] stories,” Howell said.
Most recently, Howell traveled to Germany for the Global Farmer Network meeting, where she led a workshop providing interviewing tips to farmers. Her background helped give her a unique perspective, being both a farmer and a journalist. Howell also noted she believes it’s important for farmers to know how to best talk to reporters and journalists to get their messages across most effectively.
The goal of the Global Farmer Network is to amplify farmer’s voices. At their regional meetings, 15-20 farmers are selected to attend where they learn tips and tricks to help grow their business. Howell said there are typically more than 200 applicants, and those farmers go through different rounds of judging to narrow down the selected participants.
Selected participants who attended the meeting in Germany represented roughly a dozen countries, providing insight into different international farming capacities.
“I loved getting to interact with and see how the different facets of agriculture are represented by all of the different countries at the meeting,” Howell added.
Howell also shared the Global Farmer Network is a resource anyone can use to interact with and learn about agriculture in various countries across the globe. The network can be reached on Twitter (@GloabalFarmerNet) or their website, https:// globalfarmernetwork.org/.
