LANSING, Mich. — She didn’t grow up on a farm but that way of life is certainly in the blood now of a Michigan woman named as one of the state’s young faces of agriculture for two years in a row.

Leah Engler of Sandusky is among the six members in this year’s class of Michigan Grown, Michigan GREAT Ambassadors, a young adult leadership program through the Michigan Ag Council 

“I love agriculture.  I can talk about it all day,” she said.

The other ambassadors are Thomas Brewer-Brown of Flint; Lilly Nyland of Holland; Kendal Valentine of Richmond; Anna Woller of Montague and Zoey Zupin of Ithaca.

According to the Michigan Ag Council, ambassadors are selected from a pool of applicants with a wide range of agriculture experience in the industry ranging from pig to beef production, agricultural education and FFA to agronomy.

The 21-year-old Engler graduated last year from Grace College in northern Indiana with degrees in agriculture business and business administration. She’s now employed by a partnership between Max Agronomy, P & C Ag Solutions and Johnson’s Pumpkin Farm, all in the Thumb area of the state. 

Engler said her job responsibilities range from soil sampling, working with spray drones to growing and selling pumpkins.

She described her feelings as “super excited” when learning she was named again as one of the ambassadors. “I think I’m going to get to learn even more and take what I learned last year and really apply it this year,” she said. 

Ambassadors are given tasks that include making personal connections with consumers and others in the industry while expanding their knowledge about the state’s diverse agricultural sector.

Those duties seem to be a perfect match for Engler, a former 4-H member whose projects in the youth program started with things like photography and crafts. It wasn’t until high school when her first big taste of agriculture came from showing dairy cows during the Sanilac County fair and joining FFA. 

After that, Engler said it wasn’t long before she was milking cows and learning how to do things like run a planter and combine at a farm. Her new found calling in life seems to come from her mother, Sandy, who grew up on a dairy farm and her father, Luke, a math instructor.

Initially, Engler said she planned on becoming a teacher and earned a substitute teachers license to help get her started.

Brewer-Brown, an agriculture education major at Michigan State University minoring in horticulture and environmental sustainable studies, was also not raised on a farm.

His introduction to agriculture came during his junior year in high school when he joined FFA following a presentation about the program during a veterinary science class. “I dove head first into FFA,” he said.

His FFA experience included competing in horticulture and being in charge of posting all of the information about the FFA state convention on social media. 

Currently, he’s pursuing a long-time dream of becoming a teacher. What to teach didn’t become clear, though, until his senior year while taking a class in agriculture science.

“I knew that was the spot for me.  It clicked instantly,” he said.

Brewer-Brown, 20, said his goal is to work at a career institute teaching children from urban areas “where their food comes from and how they can get involved in the Ag industry.”

He also reacted with excitement about his selection as an ambassador.

“I don’t think I’ve stopped talking about it for the last, like, two weeks,” he said.

Ambassadors undergo training to sharpen their advocacy and story-telling skills to instill trust among consumers they meet in places like farmers markets. 

They will also participate in various initiatives to raise awareness about the importance of supporting local agriculture in a state where farming is the second largest industry.

“We are excited to see how participants will utilize their creativity, leadership skills and team working ability to share the story of Michigan agriculture,” said Hailey Gilbert, Manager of the Michigan Ag Council.