As our utility member needs grow, our communications co-op has grown, too. Since we love building a community of utility communicators, we asked some of our staff to share their stories with you. Our next story comes from Social Media Content and Account Manager Kearsten Kirby, a storyteller with strong agricultural roots on our Pioneer Social team.

Community Support for Future Farmers Grows Student Trust and a Pioneer Storyteller

Growing up in Ohio, my family farmed soy beans and corn and I raised market goats. We had many goats come in and out of our barn, but one named Bumble made an impression on my heart. This obnoxious goat (named after the creature in Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer) screamed at the top of his lungs until he was blue in the face, but he ended up finishing in the top of his class and won us our first big title as a breeder in Ohio’s Miami County Fair.

FFA: Growing Cooperators

Identifiable by its members’ signature blue corduroy jackets, FFA is a student-led organization that teaches leadership skills while allowing students to explore agricultural careers. I owe a lot to my experience with the National FFA Organization. Without FFA, formerly known as Future Farmers of America, I would not have pursued a degree in agriculture or met my best friends. FFA is where you make lifetime connections that can help you grow in surprising ways. In my case, one of my FFA friends shared a Pioneer Utility Resources internship opportunity with me. Two years later, I have a career helping community-owned utilities tell their stories on social media.

In my time at Pioneer, I’ve learned there are a lot of similarities between the ag community and utilities. Like a cooperative, FFA is a member-run organization that thrives on the participation of tight-knit communities. Just as electric and broadband cooperatives are crucial in every state, so is FFA. The biggest thing I’ve noticed is that just like farmers and ranchers, the teams at electric utilities and broadband providers are resilient. I can remember a late-season snow storm in 2023 that had us scrambling to care for our does — almost all of whom went into labor due to the freak weather conditions. While farmers like us were dealing with the impact of the storm, I can appreciate now knowing the way people at our local utility (Pioneer Electric Cooperative in our case) were also hustling to respond to trouble caused.

With all of that in mind, I love to see utilities and ag programs work together, like the ways the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas supports FFA programs. The statewide group knows exactly how to live by the FFA motto:

Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, and Living to Serve.

In 2023, Utility Pioneers in the Wonder State donated FFA jackets to members of the Arkansas School for the Deaf chapter in Little Rock, prompting the students to spend the school year learning to sign new words relating to agriculture and leadership.

The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas is not alone. Carroll EMC in Carrollton, Georgia, holds an FFA Day for high school students every year, encouraging them to learn from professionals in agriculture-related industries. Close to 300 students participated in the co-op’s 2024 FFA Day.

“Over the years, we’ve had a wide range of guests spend a few hours with the students,” says Brittany Shadix, Carroll EMC’s communications specialist and FFA Day coordinator. “Even if just a few students out of a hundred spark an interest in a certain field, it is worth all the effort.”

In addition to FFA Day, the co-op holds agribusiness seminars in the spring and fall. Read about this storytelling focus at carrollemc.com/agribusiness.

Connect With Your FFA Community

I’m not the only one on our Pioneer Social team with an ag background, and everyone on the team brings valuable life experience to our jobs. I do think my rural roots and experience on the farm helps me connect with and understand the rural communities some of our members serve on a deeper level than I otherwise would. Based on that experience, here are some tips for making ag connections:

• Mark your calendar with local planting and harvest seasons, then plan social stories for farmers, agribusiness owners and laborers on efficiency tips and planting and harvest safety.
• Use FFA’s Chapter Locater to find groups near you and check ffa.org/localengagement for ways to support local groups.
• Target students and agribusiness leaders with relatable social storytelling. Farmers and rural members benefit from content that helps them stay safe and save money.
• The farmers you serve have inspiring stories to share. Use your online platforms to bring those stories to a wider audience.
• Facebook and X are great for telling parents and community organizations about youth opportunities and local events.
• Do you offer outdoor Wi-Fi? Find a local farmer using the service and highlight the impact it has on equipment reliability and staff communications.
• Reach younger generations on other social platforms like TikTok, which they use in their everyday lives. If you search #FFA on TikTok, you will see a huge community of kids across the nation creating content. These FFA TikTokers could be your co-op’s next Youth Tour delegates, interns, employees and leaders.

Sound overwhelming? Don’t fret.

Pioneer has a team of skilled social media professionals ready to help you plant deeper roots in your local ag community. We write content tailored to your audience so you can focus on other crucial tasks. I’m not the only person on staff with an agricultural background. There are several of us ready to help. And if any of your Facebook commenters start to sound like my obnoxious, title-winning goat, we have a team monitoring and responding to messages and comments around the clock.

Get in touch with us to see how we can help your utility plant ideas and grow stronger relationships with your agricultural community.