Legacy agriculturist and La Plata County Farm Bureau President Jesse Lasater was selected to participate in the American Farm Bureau Federation’s selective Partners in Advocacy Leadership program.
The two-year program is meant to develop the next generation of leaders and advocates for American agriculture. Each state submits two applicants, and 10 of them are chosen.
Advocating and maintaining visibility for the agriculture community is important to Lasater for a numbers of reasons, the first being the dwindling numbers of the American population involved in the industry. It is less than 2%, he said.
“It’s important – in my eyes – to keep agriculture alive and thriving in smaller communities because it all plays a bigger role across the country. … Everyday, people consume agriculture products whether they know it or not,” Lasater said.
Consumers should also be better informed about labels and production practices, he said, pointing to one instance in which a company marketed and labeled its watermelons as “gluten free.”
All watermelons are gluten free, but some people may not know that, he said.
Helping facilitate direct connections between consumers and producers in smaller communities especially, where there are local producers, is especially important, he said.
“It makes you feel a lot more comfortable with your food choice,” he said.
Lasater grew up in Bayfield. When he was 7 years old, his family bought their first herd of sheep, and many years later, Lasater and his wife took over the business, Rambling U Ranch, from his aging father.
In 2013, when the Forest Service discontinued or reduced grazing permits on Missionary Ridge to economically unsustainable levels, the family dissolved the sheep operation and no longer run livestock.
Lasater remained involved in the local agricultural scene and has represented the La Plata County agriculture community for several years. He works for the Colorado Department of Agriculture as the Southwest Non-lethal Mitigation Specialist, assisting ranchers mitigate conflict with wolves.
The PAL program appealed to him because he had previously completed a leadership program through the Colorado Farm Bureau and saw significant personal growth, particularly in public speaking, by pushing through uncomfortable situations.
One of the program’s first assignments, he said, was to essentially “drop off” the 10 participants – many from rural communities – in New York City.
“You kind of feel like a fish out of water in the big city,” he said.
The cohort met with The Wall Street Journal editorial board after media training focused on agriculture. Immediately they were asked about the war in Iran and President Donald Trump’s actions, Lasater said.
Navigating those questions, especially when considering the national mood of deeply polarized politics, was challenging, he said. But everyone’s answers always returned the conversation to agriculture.
The rise in fuel and fertilizer costs, as well as tariffs, are negatively impacting America’s agricultural sector.
The PAL program is supposed to prepare the next generation of agricultural leaders to answer those types of challenging questions and communicate those realities “all the way up to the White House,” Lasater said.