Next Gen Ag is a year long series that will run on our In The Field blog, Facebook page, Instagram page and Twitter account. Each Wednesday, we will highlight a young person pursuing a career in the agriculture industry. Individuals can be in high school, college, or recent graduates who are working to establish a career in agriculture. Stay tuned each week to meet some of our industry’s future leaders!
Agriculture is not only important to North Carolina, but across the world. Danielle Trimbur grew up in a rural area of Pennsylvania where she was immersed in agriculture from the time she was born. Not only did agriculture impact her life greatly in Pennsylvania, but even more so once she started college at the University of Mount Olive. Today, she can’t imagine her life without agriculture and looks forward to making a difference in the industry through her future career.
As a child, Danielle was surrounded by a variety of farms and crops, including corn, soybeans and dairy cattle. Although her parents were not directly involved in the agriculture community, they were truck drivers for many farms in the area. Danielle also had many family friends who owned their own farming operations. “Between the ages of ten and twelve, I worked on a family friend’s farm helping,” she said. “It was in that moment that I realized how awesome agriculture is due to the process, hard-work and difference made across the industry.” Danielle’s high school had a very active FFA program that also ignited and fueled her passion for the industry.
While attending her local high school in Pennsylvania, Danielle became involved in the FFA. She learned many leadership skills, gained hands-on experience through the program and competed in many competitions, including public speaking. “I learned a lot through the FFA program, especially the competitions that challenged me to represent the industry well,” she said. “In fact, I went to State Convention one year for Public Speaking and fell in love with the art of teaching.” Although for many years Danielle had planned on going a different route in the agriculture industry, public speaking made her fall in love with education and totally shifted her career path. “I realized that public speaking and teaching others about agriculture is something that I simply can’t live without,” she said. “If I didn’t pursue agriculture education as a career, it would be like giving up a part of myself.” This passion and drive led Danielle to North Carolina to attend one of the top agriculture colleges in our state.
The University of Mount Olive is well-known for its agriculture program and the hands-on experience given students that prepares them for a job in the industry. This past semester, Danielle wrapped up her Senior year of college by student teaching at Hobbton High School in Sampson County. “Just like a full-time teacher, I worked five days a week at the high school and taught horticulture, agriculture mechanics and animal science,” she said. “In total I worked with about 68 students. The agriculture program is phenomenal at this high school, and I truly loved getting to watch the kids learn and flourish in their knowledge of agriculture throughout the semester.” Danielle graduated from UMO in May with a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Education and a minor in Plant Science. “Our origins go back to agriculture, so without it we are nothing,” she said. “People have to eat, clothe themselves, fuel their cars, travel, and all those things tie back into agriculture. I am very excited to start my professional career making a difference in this industry and teaching others why agriculture matters across the world.”
Danielle is currently seeking a job teaching agriculture either at the high-school or collegiate level in North Carolina. Ideally, she would love to focus on teaching Horticulture classes, but is open to any ag education opportunity that comes her way. “I hope to gain a few years of experience teaching agriculture in the classroom before pursuing my dream job of running my own nursery operation,” she said. “Eventually I would love to have at least two greenhouses where I could not only grow a variety of plants, but have people come out to the nursery and take tours, participate in workshops, and other things that would teach them about horticulture and give them hands-on experience in growing things of their own.” Danielle’s skills in leadership, public speaking, humility, passion, and education have all prepared her for the industry and will propel her through the years as her ag career grows.
Although Danielle loves the people and community found within agriculture, her favorite part of working in the industry is seeing the process from start to finish. “I love being out in nature and being a part of God’s creation,” she said. “Agriculture allows me to do that every day in a way that I can get my hands dirty and immerse myself in the work. Even on the agriculture sciences side, it’s amazing to see how everything in this industry comes together and the hard work truly pays off.” Another passion of Danielle’s is tissue culture, so she hopes to be able to delve more into that study when she is able to own a greenhouse and research her own plants.
To those interested in pursuing a career in the agriculture industry, Danielle recommends exposing yourself to as many areas of the industry as you can. “Get out of your comfort zone and put yourself out there,” she said. “People in this industry want to pass out knowledge to you and help you succeed, so take it because it will benefit you in the future.” We are so proud of Danielle for completing her agriculture education degree and look forward to seeing where the future takes her!
