Coryell County Farm Bureau member Erika Archie is among the young farmers and ranchers selected by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) to the organization’s 10th Partners in Advocacy Leadership (PAL) class.
AFBF created the PAL curriculum as a high-level, executive training program to prepare participants to represent agriculture in the media, public speaking events, congressional testimony and other advocacy areas.
Program graduates are given opportunities to step forward and promote awareness about topics important to farmers and consumers.
“Farm Bureau is equipping young leaders for effective engagement,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said. “The members of the new PAL class are already elite leaders. We look forward to seeing them progress to the highest levels of agricultural advocacy.”
Archie is the Public Information Officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Rural Development in Temple. She manages a small cattle ranch and two other cattle operations in Central Texas with her husband, Cody. They have two children who are active in 4-H and other extracurricular activities.
She served two terms on TFB’s Young Farmer & Rancher Advisory Committee. Archie and her husband were named TFB’s Excellence in Agriculture winner in 2015. She’s also active with Coryell County Farm Bureau and manages the organization’s Facebook page.
“Advocating for agriculture and sharing a glimpse into our ranch life is important to me,” Archie said. “Connecting with consumers and others in agriculture helps us build relationships and really opens the gates to share more information with each other. We can always learn something new.”
And Archie hopes to learn and network with other PAL participants.
“I’m excited to meet others from across the nation who were selected to be in this leadership program,” she said. “Agricultural practices are constantly attacked, and I want to do my part to ensure this lifestyle remains for my kids and future generations.”
PAL training will help Archie and other participants achieve that goal. The training involves four learning modules designed to develop specific advocacy skills while exploring components of leadership and its theories and philosophies. The modules build on one another over the two years of the program and include intense, in-person, hands-on training.
PAL graduates emerge with the experience and confidence—in everything from legislative policy-making and issues management to social media and media relations—to effectively engage all critical stakeholders.
Other members of PAL Class 10 include: David Hafner, Florida; James Henderson, Colorado; Beth Hodge, New Hampshire; Jenny Holtermann, California; Sarah Ison, Ohio; Bryan Jones, Florida; Matthew McClanahan, Tennessee; Derek Orth, Wisconsin; and Kyle Wilson, Utah.
To be eligible for the PAL program, candidates must be between the ages of 30 and 45 with demonstrated leadership skills. The program is sponsored by AFBF, Farm Credit and Bayer Co.