Investing in Tomorrow: WSMB Sows Seeds of Education Through Nourish the Future

Jul 22, 2024

While farmers are hard at work fueling a growing world, teachers are fueling the knowledge needed to grow it through the Nourish the Future program, funded in part by Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board (WSMB) checkoff dollars.

“Investing checkoff dollars in the Nourish the Future program is so important because we’re sowing the seeds of education and growth for tomorrow’s agricultural leaders,” said Patrick Mullooly, president of WSMB.

The program, developed by science teachers for science teachers, sets out to inspire a network of educators to foster critical thinking, connect students to modern agriculture and provide sound science-based resources that meet teachers’ and students’ needs in the classroom. The educational opportunity to connect the farm to the classroom is one that Kelly, a Nourish the Future Teacher Leader and Wausau middle school teacher, considers an asset for her and her colleagues.

“It’s a very important thing to be able to move forward to feed our growing population and all people need to help make decisions to progress forward,” Kelly said. “Helping my students make informed citizens is so important to me.”

During her five years of involvement in the program, Kelly says she has enjoyed utilizing the free materials provided through the Nourish the Future website to promote critical thinking among her students, including lessons that cover how to address various agricultural challenges with DNA technology.

Click here to see more...

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.