During the 25th Anniversary of World Pork Expo, I had the opportunity to meet one of the up and coming young women in agriculture – Kourtney Determan. She is an Iowa native who grew up on a farm in Northwest Iowa as well as a recent graduate from Iowa State University with a degree in Ag Communications. In mid-May, she began her summer internship with Novus International where she is working with Dr. Karen Lehe to build out the company’s youth outreach program.

In her role she is helping educate youth across the country about both where our food comes from, as well as about the great jobs in the ag industry. She notes that many think the only job in ag is to be a farmer, but she is proof that there are hundreds of different opportunities to work in the industry.

Before summer is out, she will be bringing more interactivity to Novus’ FREE youth curriculum that includes a brochure as well as a game developed for iPad that demonstrates the diversity of the ag industry. The toolkit also includes videos, word searchers, and more. Having grown up in the age of social media, she notes that online is the best way to reach these kids.

Learn more about Kourtney’s work with the youth outreach program here: Meet Kourtney Determan - Up & Coming Aggie

Visit the 2013 World Pork Expo photo album.