Motivating and Educating Agricultural Leaders (MEAL) was created by a group of Mammoth Cave Area Agriculture Agents to develop leadership skills for farmers.  The 18-month course provided farmers an opportunity to learn key leadership skills and network with others in south-central Kentucky and was scheduled around major farming tasks and didn’t take them away from the farm overnight.  Evaluation results after program completion indicated that 100% of the participants felt more confident in communicating ag issues and understood the legislative process better. One hundred percent also planned on utilizing skills learned to 1) get more involved in their local, state, and national organizations, or 2) continue to promote and educate others about agriculture.  Yet we had one participant that went above and beyond and attributes her leadership start to the MEAL program.  

After MEAL, Jennifer Tucker, with Tucker Farms, became a member of the County Extension Council and Agriculture Development Council.  She became more involved with Farm Bureau serving as Women’s Committee Chair, Young Farmer Chair, and is currently involved in the new leadership group Farm Bureau Generation Bridge.  Jennifer also signed up to participate in KALP (KY Ag Leadership Program) and is currently involved in KY Corn’s CORE Farmer Leadership Program.  Jennifer is also chairing the Warren County Ag Awareness Committee and has been involved in the planning/zoning discussions on behalf of Warren County Farmers.  Since MEAL she has had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC every year for the last 5 years to advocate for agriculture with various groups.  She states that the skills she learned in MEAL helped her feel more confident meeting with legislators.  She even started her own podcast and social media presence “Confessions from the Grain Cart” sharing her farming stories with the public.

Ten years have passed since Jennifer participated in the MEAL course, and we are proud of her accomplishments and are grateful she is a leader in our agricultural community.