The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is celebrating the graduation of nine young agricultural leaders from their Partners in Advocacy Leadership class— and if AFBF isn’t celebrating, I am. That’s because my husband, Brian Marshall, was one of the participants who studied the four learning modules designed to develop leadership skills and understanding of theories and philosophies, mostly by traveling to New York, Washington D.C., Brazil and Hawaii over the last two years without me.

Jeremy Barron, Jennifer Bergin, Emily Buck, Cameron Edwards, Chris Pollack, Terisha Driggs McKeighen, Derek Sawyer, and Julie White also put in many hours learning to tell their stories in an effort to shape our nations food and farming policies and I’m guessing their families are excited to get to see them again too!

While I missed my husband I’m also excited about the things he learned. He and his classmates made web pages, learned to be interviewed by members of the press, and created content to link consumers to farmers. Below is a sample of some of that hard work.