Trade winds/ Class of 2006: Spreading the word about agriculture

By NANCY KIMBALL

The Daily Inter Lake

There's positively a future for agriculture, and Molly Fisher wants to communicate it.

"It's a viable career, definitely," said the 17-year-old Flathead High School senior, "because agriculture's always going to be around. Where else are we going to get our food?"

Fisher has had farm and ranch life running in her blood since she was a baby, and she has no intention of changing that DNA now that she is graduating from high school.

In fact, she plans to amplify it.

After another summer of working on the Thompson River Ranch, the 86,000-acre spread her stepdad and mom, Martin and Linda Andersen, manage near Marion, she heads to Montana State University in Bozeman next fall to begin studies for a degree in agricultural communications.

She spent her earliest years on the Whitefish farm where her dad, Hal Fisher, still lives.

"I like working with people, I'm passionate about agriculture," the bright young woman ticks off reasons that compelled her to choose the profession, "and communication is my strong point."

She sees a real need to provide a tangible link between agriculture's grass-roots producers and the public who depends on them more than they may realize.

"It's an awesome opportunity to give back," she said.

Fisher has made a good dent in that mission.

This spring, she was elected state president of Montana FFA, an organization of 2,500 students from 74 chapters. Chosen from a slate of 18 or 19 candidates, her eight-member team from all corners of the state will conduct district leadership schools for Montana's FFA chapters during the coming year.

She begins her FFA tour just days after Flathead's graduation, when she makes a presentation at the June 6 "Blast Off" meeting that's designed to build strong leaders and state officers out of her team.

Next, she's anxious to set about the work of talking to business people and advisers in her travels.

"And I really look forward to working with kids at the chapter level," she said.

Her state presidency caps off a robust involvement in FFA, the career and technical student organization that accompanies Flathead High's agricultural education curriculum.

She joined as a freshman but really got involved as a sophomore. She was elected chapter reporter at the end of that school term and served throughout her junior year.

Also as a junior, she found her strength by working with the FFA Sales and Service professional development team. She competed successfully enough to make it to state in her junior and senior years, placing as the 10th-high individual in the state as a junior.

She also competed on the district level with the Flathead Livestock Judging team that year.

Fisher was elected chapter president at the end of her junior year, and she served in that capacity this past school year. Early in her term, in June 2005, she traveled to the Washington, D.C., leadership conference. As state president this year, she receives a scholarship for a repeat trip.

Being a state officer is a huge opportunity, in Fisher's estimation.

"FFA has been such a big part of my life," she said, "and I want to give back."

It will take dedication, but she knows what it is to work hard.

Not only did she maintain a 3.4 cumulative grade-point average - and earn an academic letter for her 4.0 last semester - she's been involved with high school rodeo, and races in National Barrel Horse Association events outside school.

Each summer, she helps hay, move cows between pastures and clean the ranch hands' cabins on what used to be the Hargrave Guest Ranch. It since has been bought by Gary and Clydene Bultman. Clydene grew up in the Sydney area, Fisher said, later moved to California and, with her husband, was successful enough to start a Wagyu cow-calf operation back in her home state.

The Wagyu is a Japanese breed that has developed a small but loyal following in the United States. Prized for its meat with internal marbling of Omega 3 fatty acids, the Wagyu has virtually no external fat. Black Wagyu look something like small black Angus, with other distinguishing features.

Thompson River Ranch sells its calves in Omaha, Neb., and has a market in Texas, but still none in Montana.

Fisher is enthusiastic about the agricultural technology used in their operation and elsewhere.

"Biotechnology is huge, it's the future of agriculture," she said, and efficiency is the bottom line. "That's the only way you can make it in farming or ranching. Use technology, increase your production, make sure you have a good record-keeping system."

The National Animal Identification system, which uses microchips embedded in animal ear-tags, provides exhaustive data storage and retrieval so producers and buyers instantly can track an animal's birth date and location, breeding history, vaccinations and more. Thompson River Ranch has found it invaluable, Fisher said.

"We sell to a niche market that wants that type of meat," she said, so the microchip verifications are a crucial marketing tool for them.

"Marketing, that's where you can make the money," she said. It means "always coming up with new ideas. If something doesn't work, try something new. It might be something that's not done now, but it might have to be done.

"You've got to cater to the consumer, their needs and their wants," she said.

With her career in ag communication, Fisher hopes to be a key player in that process. She doesn't know whether she will be in print or broadcast, but she expects to work within the agriculture industry instead of the general media.

And, with her background in FFA, she is moving into that industry with a competitive edge.

"FFA in general is great for leadership," she said. "If you work with it, it will give back to you ten-fold."

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com.