2020 Spring Farm Outlook

2020 Logan County Farm Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 19, 2020 Page 35 parts, toys, apparel and tools are available online.” CIA ships all over the USA and to other countries. Ashley Zinser rounds out the trio making an impact at CIA. A 2017 Hartsburg-Emden grad, she balances full-time Ag Business studies at Illinois State University with a full- time workload at CIA. Zinser is no stranger to hard work, “I have a passion for agriculture because of my roots. The community that impacted me the most are my mother’s family and father’s family, both farm. I was introduced to both livestock and grain when I was young and knew I wasn’t going anywhere. Both of my grandpas and my father truly taught me the definition of hard work. “I chose this career path mostly because the importance of agriculture was always number one. It’s so fun to be able to go to trainings and learn on behalf of Central Illinois Ag as agriculture is changing and we get to learn continuously,” Zinser said. In addition to starting the online store on eBay in June of 2017, Zinser is also a Warranty Administrator, “I submit claims and work with the technicians to assure all work was properly done and the claim gets submitted on time.” So why do these young women enjoy working at CIA? “This seriously is the best job ever because as being so young when I started, my co-workers really helped me and honestly led me to my position now,” said Zinser. “The atmosphere here is so positive and uplifting that it makes it fun to come to work. We all work together because if we didn’t, we wouldn’t be successful.” “I think getting to know the farmers is really cool for me, and then also when I get to interview them I get to know more about them,” said Coers. “Getting out and about, I love being in the field during the seasons. I like that hands-on, but also that everyday is different.” Irwin agrees, “Everyday is different, you can be in the office or you can also be outside... Also we are doing what we go to school for. It’s kind of hard to find a job that’s exactly what you want to do so it’s awesome that we get to do that every day.” Smiling, Coers said, “Going to work is like going to play. This job is a mixture of everything we went to school for. It’s advertising, writing, taking pictures, all of it.” With the popularity of FFA growing among females, it was interesting to discuss how FFA played a part in shaping the careers of these three women. Coers’ high school career interestingly did not include FFA or Ag classes. Her older brother Andrew was in Ag and she said her mom wouldn’t really let them take the same classes. “I really don’t think I would have chosen Ag at the time anyway,” said Coers. “I just thought it was a way of life that everybody lived.” Zinser, however, was influenced by her high school Ag teacher. Now retired Hartsburg- Emden Agriculture teacher, Betsy Pech, “led me to agriculture and she led me to my career path,” said Zinser. “She always was getting me involved in FFA judging contests like Continue 4