Agriculture student earns top prize, scholarship in national social media contest

Agriculture student earns top prize, scholarship in national social media contest

Northwest Missouri State University student Kaitlyn Ballard polished her social media creativity and received the Animal Agriculture Alliance's College Aggies Online top scholarship prize.

College Aggies Online connects college students, industry experts and social media-savvy farmers to engage online about current and emerging issues facing the animal agriculture community. Throughout the competition, students learn how to spread positive, factual information about agriculture and tell personal stories while actively developing their professional communication skills.

Through Northwest's agricultural advocacy course, Ballard, a senior agricultural education major from Marengo, Iowa, created captivating videos and infographics to spread awareness of agricultural practices.

"Winning that was crazy," Ballard said. "Posting on social media isn't something I do super often, so I was proud of myself for going outside of my comfort zone and apparently doing well at it."

Last fall's contest attracted 265 participants who shared nearly 1,670 total posts on social media about agriculture. Throughout the nine-week contest, students are tasked with using social media platforms to share information related to animal agriculture themes.

During one week, Ballard shared photos and videos on TikTok of dairy calves at Northwest's R.T. Wright Farm. During another week, she posted information about reading labels on egg products found in stores.

Ballard's goal to become a high school FFA advisor may include running social media pages, so the online program taught her how to effectively share beneficial information.

"It helped me be mindful about things that I'm sharing with others, making sure that I'm sharing factual information," said Ballard, who grew up with livestock and participated in 4-H and FFA. "Your story of agriculture could be the only one that someone hears, and it's important that you shine a positive light on it."

From her social media posts, she hopes people appreciate the time and care producers put into raising animals and become more educated on what they're consuming.

"There's a lot of misconceptions with the industry," she said. "The College Aggies Online program very much honed in on how we care for the animals and how that produces safe products."

Ballard will travel in May to Kansas City, Missouri, for the Animal Agriculture Alliance's 2026 Stakeholders Summit, where she will be recognized and receive a $3,000 scholarship.