Benefits of Participating in Leadership Program

Last month Colorado Corn Administrative Committee President and Longmont-area farmer Mike Lefever traveled to Washington D.C. where he completed his final phase of the National Corn Growers Association's Leadership At Its Best Program. He shares a relevant example of what he has gained through the program that happened while he waiting in Senator Gardner's office.

Lefever: "These four ladies happened directors of food banks from Fort Collins, Pueblo,, Colorado Springs and Boulder. The lady from Boulder asked me right off the get-go, 'Corn ... you are one of those people that are using our food for fuel.' I said, 'Excuse me.' She proceeded to tell me what she knew about it. All the stuff that I had brought to give to Senator Gardner, I gave her. To her credit, she was very receptive and very thankful of what she learned and realized there were two different types of corn and one doesn't not take anything from the other. That by itself made the trip to Washington, D.C. worthwhile, because I was able to convince four people that will now go back and spread that word to their people and hopefully they understand agriculture a little bit better."

He adds that the leadership program really helped him to have those type of conversations.

Lefever: "I understood her position a little bit more and I was able to just say, 'Hey here is what we are doing and why we are doing it for you.' What we are doing to make the American economy strong. As long as we can provide the most food and provide it for everybody in the world, we'll always be the strongest economy as long as we are the strongest economy we will be one of the most powerful nations."