Colton Spencer constantly looks for opportunities to tell his story. Whether he knows the person or not – he’s ready to strike up a conversation about agriculture and his life growing up on a farm.
“It doesn’t matter if you are in the elevator or in the grocery store – anywhere like that,” Colton explained.
As this year’s Missouri FFA president, the 18-year-old desires to make his mark in the agricultural industry. Colton spent his summer honing his speaking skills and teaching other FFA students how to promote agriculture in their communities.
“We have done a lot with Missouri Beef Council and Farm Bureau in terms of learning how to share our story and combat the agriculture issues or the misconceptions that other people lead consumers to believe,” Colton said.
Colton beams with pride as he shares his story. He reflects about his first Gelbvieh heifer show calf his parents bought him when he was 8 years old. He fondly explains how he raises, shows and sells registered Gelbvieh and Balancer cattle on his family’s farm in Aurora, Mo.
But the part of Colton’s story he treasures the most is his family’s heritage of farming and involvement in FFA.
Colton is a third-generation Missouri FFA member. His grandfathers and father all participated in FFA as youth. His mother, Janella, grew up on an “everything farm” in Central Missouri, spending much of her youth involved in 4-H.
Colton’s sister, Courtney, who is four years his senior, flourished in FFA and held a state office position as well.
Janella Spencer’s eyes well up with tears when she talks about how her once extremely shy children have thrived due to FFA. “When they both got in 4-H and FFA, it was like a flower that blossomed,” Janella said. “Literally they just blossomed when they started doing public speaking. They just started to come out of their shell.”
Colton’s father witnessed his son’s success firsthand as a father and also as a teacher. Jim Spencer taught agricultural for 26 years. During his years as an ag advisor at Aurora High School, Jim cherished the chance to have Colton and Courtney in some of his classes.
“As a teacher you work to make all kids successful. And then when you have a chance to have your own within the program it is awesome to see them have the same successes that you have seen other students do in the past,” Jim explained. “And then to take it a step further, as he (Colton) has done, was a bit unexpected,” Jim added.
Colton quickly points out he felt no pressure from his dad to join FFA. His passion for farming fuels his desire to be an advocate for agriculture.
Colton knows well the challenges facing farmers today and the battles they will face in the future. He sees his generation using social media as an avenue to combat misconceptions consumers have about farmers.
“There are a lot of times there are articles shared that are not necessarily true or there are no facts behind them, it’s all opinion-based,” Colton explained. “Consumers see that and maybe they don’t even read the article they just see the headline and they automatically believe the thought.”
Colton wants to counteract the untruthful stories and social media posts with accurate information.
“Combating that with our own articles that are made up of complete facts that nobody can really argue against is a good way to start spreading the good message,” Colton said.
As president of Missouri FFA Organization, Colton works to train other FFA members how to share their stories about the positive aspects of farming. He travels the state putting on public speaking seminars for high school students.
Colton hopes to inspire his generation to be activists for agriculture.
But the bigger challenge Colton sees facing his generation is the declining number of kids who choose to stay on the farm as adults.
His solution to the decreasing farm population is teaching youth about the importance of agriculture.
“More education is always a good answer in terms of educating kids on the benefits of staying on the farm and what it can do for our word,” Colton said.
As Colton starts college this year, he plans to start working toward a degree in agriculture education. Therefore, after his stint as Missouri FFA president ends, Colton will still be creating programs and teaching youth about the importance of agriculture.
And that is just the legacy Colton wants to leave. It’s his way of honoring his passions and the generations of family farmers who paved the way before him.
