She wanted to combine her loves of agriculture and teaching, so it only made sense that she became an agricultural educator in Sanilac County.
For Jasmine McNary, winner of Michigan Farm Bureau’s 2025 Young Agriculture Employee Award, agriculture has a specific community.
It’s always been one she wanted to serve.
“I’m a huge people person. Plus, I love all things agriculture,” said McNary, a member of the Sanilac County Farm Bureau. “It’s super satisfying to watch God’s great creation grow, especially while sharing this display with students.”
Every year, young farmers (ages 18-35) face off in categories geared toward measuring their agricultural involvement, leadership and achievements.
The Young Agriculture Employee Award recognizes farm employees and ag professionals for their contributions to the success and long-term profitability of their workplace. Nominees are also judged on their leadership involvement in Farm Bureau, agriculture and the local community.
A biotechnology instructor at the Sanilac Career Center, McNary maintains a 10-acre pasture that holds five head of cattle, five ewes, five goats, 10 rabbits, 15 chickens, 16 pigs, and 150 broiler birds, among other animals. She and the high school students use the land to manage cows and ewes for fair projects, giving students true hands-on learning.
“In our county, we get kids who grew up on the family farm since day one and kids who live in the city and haven't really been exposed to where their food comes from at all,” said McNary, who grew up on a hobby farm near Marlette. “I had one student last year who thought bunnies laid eggs, which they don’t. It became a funny joke when it came to Easter, and we learned that bunnies don’t lay eggs at all. This is all important: We need to be able to pass on what we do in agriculture in order to eat, live and feed the world.”
By using hands-on learning, McNary allows her students to have an agriculture experience. It’s partly why her classroom herds have expanded — including adding two breeding beef, one ewe, doubling the breeding rabbit does, and doubling the egg laying hens over the last three years.
“I don’t want them to share just one animal,” she said.
“It’s one of the reasons we’ve expanded so that students can each have a memorable experience.”
Another educational tool is Michigan Farm Bureau, according to McNary, including her students participating in county Farm Bureau Project RED (Rural Education Days), Discussion Meets, and March is Reading Month.
“We’ve also been incorporating our board members so students can partake in job shadowing them, attending Farm Bureau Board Meetings, and various Farm Bureau events as volunteers and participants,” McNary added. “One of my goals is to bridge the gap between FFA and what we do here in high school, and how that can transition to Farm Bureau. Because once you graduate high school, there’s not a lot of FFA involvement that can come except for volunteering and being part of your alumni.”
Currently Sanilac’s Young Farmer co-chair, McNary credits Farm Bureau for helping her mold young minds.
“I joke that I am an opportunity provider,” said McNary, who lives in Marlette with her husband and their two children. “If I try to teach everything under the sun in agriculture within a year, I would either go crazy or I would never be able to get to it all. And so, we try really hard here at the career center to provide our students with those career exposure opportunities, whether it be through FFA, whether it be through Farm Bureau, or whether it be through job shadows at the farm.
“Farm Bureau definitely provides me with the resources that I need in order to be a better ag teacher.”
It only made sense McNary became a teacher.
You see, agriculture and students are her two loves.
