Collinsville Woman Serving As National FFA Officer Returns Home For State Convention

A young woman from Collinsville is one of six Future Farmers of America national officers.

While her calendar is full of traveling all over the country, she was in town this week for the State FFA Convention.

Thousands of Oklahoma FFA students packed the Cox Convention Center this week, beaming with energy and excitement for agriculture.

National FFA Central Region Vice President Karstyn Cantrell gave a keynote speech.

"Each and every one of us have a moment in life where we need to fear less. We don't have to be fearless; we need to learn to fear less,” she said in her speech.

But things are a lot quieter at home, on her brother's ranch in Collinsville. It has been in the family for four generations, and takes her back to her roots.

As a national officer, Cantrell’s commitments involve traveling 300 days a year, including a trip to South Africa.

"We spent a ton of times just really in the grass, in the roots of farming industry within South Africa, which is very different from what agriculture looks like here in my own backyard,” Cantrell said.

Cantrell was in Tennessee, Minnesota and Rhode Island last week. She is heading to Texas in a few days, and Washington, D.C. later this month.

"At the end of the day I get to serve on an ambassador team that serves 850,823 students and the heart of what we do is at that chapter level. And so if this means that the conversations that we start at the White House can trickle down, then that's our main goal,” Cantrell said.

The 21-year-old's goals include finishing up her agricultural communications degree at OSU, then getting into policy and legislation.

"At the end of the day, I just want to bring honor to the agricultural industry and if that means coming back to the family ranch, then that's what I'd love to do,” she said.

With a heart for agriculture taking her all over the world, home is still on the map.