CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance has announced its class of finalists for Faces of Farming and Ranching. Eight individuals will vie for the opportunity to tell the story of how food is produced on their farm and ranching operations to a national audience.

The alliance is comprised of more than 80 farmer- and rancher-led organizations. This is the second year the group has conducted a nationwide search for candidates to help put a face to the public on behalf of U.S. farmers.

Thomas Titus of Elkhart, Ill., is one of the finalists who hope to help bridge the information gap between Millennials and the meat counter. He was inspired by last year’s class and the excellent job they did in communicating their stories, to make a run for the honor himself this year.

“As social media becomes more prevalent, it becomes more and more important to step out of our comfort zone of day-to-day work on our farms and tell the story of how we are doing the actual job of being stewards of the land,” said Titus.

He and his wife, Breann, returned to her family’s diversified operation after six years in corporate work. “We wanted our kids to grow up in agriculture and have the same experiences as we did,” Titus said of their decision to return to the farm, which raises 1,700 acres of grain, a 750-sow herd and 45 head of cattle. The couple have a three year-old daughter, Reagan, and are expecting their second child any day.

If selected, he hopes to put some of the trust back into agriculture that he feels was lost in the marketplace. “I believe some of that trust was lost because there wasn’t a face representing agriculture. One bad story that misrepresents facts goes viral and trust in food producers goes away,” he said.

Another message he hopes to convey is the fact farmers are incorporating technology that will help improve the long-term sustainability of their farms and the environment, a goal his farming operation has embraced.

Carla Wardin of St. Johns, Mich., is a sixth-generation farmer on her family’s dairy farm where she and her husband, Kris, milk 400 cows using a rotational grazing and seasonal calving system. The couple purchased the 850-acre farm from her parents two years ago, raising corn, alfalfa and pasture crops.

“People today are so interested in where their food comes from,” Wardin said. “If they don’t know someone who has a farm, they have no way to get onto a farm and experience how food is raised.”

She has been sharing daily farm life and what really happens on a small Midwest farm through her blog, “Truth or Dairy.”

“The blog has given me a chance to reach people worldwide with our farm’s story. I want the public to know that we farmers are real people with real jobs and real lives. We want the best for our families and our farms and our cows, just like they want.”

The Wardin family includes three sons, Max, 3, and seven-year-old twins, Ty and Cole.

Erin Brenneman of Washington, Iowa, came into farming through marriage, falling in love not only with her husband, Tim, but also with working in the farrowing houses on the family’s 20,000-sow farrow-to-finish operation.

“I come from the city,” Brenneman said. “That gives me a very unique perspective on agriculture and farming. I understand the confusion and disconnect that consumers have. My goal is to hopefully bring a different perspective to the platform.”

Brenneman also uses blogging to share the family farm with the public. Initially, the project began as a pictorial of a family pork farm but has grown into an educational resource about modern hog farming.

“I love sharing what I do and people love to hear about farming. Being a finalist is very exciting for me and opportunities to share our story have opened up just by becoming a finalist.”

Other finalists include Darrell Glaser and Brian Jones, both from Texas, Jay Hill of New Mexico, Jessica Potter of Colorado and Carrie Mess of Wisconsin, author of the popular “Dairy Carrie” blog.

Beginning Oct. 24 through Nov. 2, people can visit USFRA’s Facebook page or www.fooddialogues.com/Faces to learn more about each finalist, the work they do and a short video of their farm operation. From there, the public may vote on who they believe will best represent the breadth of agriculture to media and consumers on a national platform. The votes will be factored in to the final decision on Faces of Agriculture.

Winners will be announced Nov. 12, at a press conference during the National Assoc. of Farm Broadcasting Convention in Kansas City.