The Rural Voice, 2006-01, Page 32Mix
A PASSION FOR AGRICULTURE
Jennifer Christie is onlg 22 but alreadg she's made a mark
pitching for agriculture
By Heather Crawford
v
Tara native Jennifer Christie's latest triumph was being crowned Ontario
Queen of the Furrow at the 2005 IPM at Listowel.
Jennifer Christie is the kind of
dynamic personality that gives
young people a good name.
This past September the 22 -year-
old Tara native was crowned Queen
of the Furrow at the International
Plowing Match in Listowel.
Earlier in the year she was awarded
one of four Ontario Dairy Youth
Scholarships. She was also part of a
team that placed first at the North
28 THE RURAL VOICE
American Intercollegiate Dairy
Challenge.
Now in her final year at the
University of Guelph, Christie feels a
future in agriculture does not
necessarily mean toiling under the
hot sun and caring for crops. She'd
like youth in rural areas to realize the
various opportunities that
involvement in agriculture can bring.
Christie credits the lessons she
o Plowmen's Associa
.learned in 4-H for helping her realize
the importance of agriculture and the
many opportunities available to her.
Her title as Ontario Queen of the
Furrow will allow her to travel
around Ontario next summer
promoting the 2006 IPM in
Peterborough to various other
plowing matches and farm shows.
She's passionate about the future of
agriculture.
"I think a lot of people don't
realize all of the opportunities
available with agriculture," she said.
"Even kids who grew up in rural
communities tend to think of
agriculture as just farming but there's
more to it than just farming."
Christie is studying agriculture
business specializing in marketing
and hopes to own her own
agricultural marketing business one
day. She took part in the Canadian
Agri -Marketing Association
(CAMA) Student Chapter, which she
says gave her a hands-on opportunity
to learn about the actual process and
work required to launch a new
product into the marketplace.
Christie has worked for ABS
Global as a Market Support
Coordinator where she helps with
° advertising and marketing projects
for the firm.
o With all of her involvement in
agriculture, Christie isn't short of
a career choices. She said she isn't sure
yet which direction she will take after
graduation and whether or not she
will decide to work full -tine for
ABS.
A career in marketing is where she
seems to be headed, however.
"Marketing is my main area of
interest," she said.
Christie said her interest in
agriculture began when she was too
young to remember.
"I grew up on a farm and my
parents were both involved in 4-H,"
d