Vincennes Farmer is Finalist for America’s Farmers Mom of the Year

Farm Mom Susan Brocksmith

Indiana has another top 5 finalist in the America’s Farmers Mom of the Year contest, sponsored by Monsanto, and now she needs your votes up until May 10th to become the overall winner. Susan Brocksmith from Vincennes in Knox County is the Northeast regional winner.

“I just can’t get over the outpouring from the community of support, and that I was selected from a group of ladies and to meet the other four amazing ladies,” she told HAT. “It’s just such an awe-inspiring and humbling event.”

Brocksmith gets emotional when describing that outpouring of support from neighbors, but the administrator and ag teacher at Vincennes University is also excited about her chance to further her efforts to reach out to consumers about what happens in today’s agriculture.

“I love advocating for ag and we will get some other opportunities to go out here and tell our story and let people know that agriculture is concerned about health and wellness and making sure we keep the environment the best we can keep it. Just having those additional opportunities is where I want to be. I think that people don’t understand that we are human. I have children and I want protect my children as well as everybody else.”

Brocksmith received dual nominations from her husband and her daughters, and from now until May 10, 2017, eligible people can visit AmericasFarmers.com to vote for the 2017 America’s Farmers National Mom of the Year. Monsanto and American Agri-Women selected the five women as regional winners for the program. They represent the important and continually evolving role that women play in American farms, families, rural communities and the agriculture industry.

Each winner will receive $2,000 to direct to an eligible nonprofit organization of her choice in her community, as well as $3,000 for her personal use.

In 2011 Brocksmith was awarded Purdue University’s Women in Ag Leadership Award, given to a woman in an agribusiness or policy-making position. At Vincennes she is department chair of management and accounting and the program chair of the agribusiness program. Hear more from Susan:Susan Brocksmith

Her story on the Americas Farmers website:

Agriculture is deeply interwoven into the fabric of Susan’s life. She’s a third generation farmer who grew up working with livestock daily and in order to understand the meaning of family business. Agriculture is also the centerpiece of her formal career. Not only does she work alongside her husband everyday, she is also a professor of Agribusiness. Her teaching emphasizes hands-on experience and understanding of the evolution of farming. She takes learning far beyond the classroom, taking her students to Panama, the Caribbean, and the Dominican Republic to learn agriculture of different cultures and climates.

When she is not helping farm, or teaching the next generation of farmers, she is actively involved in leadership roles within the community. Within Knox County, Indiana, she volunteers on the county hospital board, served as a trustee of the church, and taught a course on the history and leadership in her local county. Perhaps her largest direct contribution to agriculture is her involvement with Ag Day, an annual event to educate community members on all that farming in Knox County has to offer.(Group picture of 2017 Farm Mom of the Year finalists, from left: Nancy Kirkholm, Sherri Sell-Baker, Cala Tabb, Becca Ferry and Susan Brocksmith)

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