Along with trying to get some truth about agriculture out there for everyone, I like to acknowledge people I feel are doing a good job in agriculture.
I am always looking for topics to write about — that is the hardest part for me.
It was recommended to me that I do an article on a young lady as she was a proponent of eating healthy food — one of my “hot topics.”
So, I did a little research and attended a function to get a peek at who she was. I went to the Field-to-Future Farm-to-Table Dinner organized by Riley Martin, Miss Lewis County runnerup for 2026.
What I learned was that she is vying for Miss Washington in July and working to earn the funds needed. Her platform is “Field to Future.”
I still did not have a total picture of what she hoped to accomplish, so I made arrangements to get together to learn more about her and her initiative.
I asked her to tell me about herself.
Riley describes herself as coming from a small farm family. She feels farm-to-table is a healthy way to live and hopes to help others learn how they can accomplish that in their lives.
Riley gave me a little background on her pageant career. Her first title was in fifth grade when she was crowned “Little Miss” of the Onalaska Apple Harvest Festival. She later added the title of Queen of the Apple Harvest Festival when she was a freshman at Onalaska High School. As a sophomore in high school, she earned the title of Lewis County Dairy Ambassador and was able to work with then Miss Lewis County Kaitlyn Guenther.
She says she learned a lot from Kaitlyn, who was a proponent of teaching youth about agriculture. Later, Riley was runnerup to Miss Lewis County Teen and now runnerup to Miss Lewis County Hannah Murphy.
Riley plans to attend Washington State university as a pre-dental student with the goal of becoming an orthodontist. She wants to minor in photography and currently owns her own photography business (similar to her mentor, Kaitlyn).
So, I had to ask more questions — none of this told me about a desire to promote agriculture knowledge or the belief in eating fresh from the farm, or farm-to-table.
So, what is her “Field to Future” all about? Where did it come from?
She said it started in her agriculture leadership classes at Onalaska High School. She attributes it to her FFA adviser. I pushed her to explain her plans. Running for Miss Lewis County and Miss Washington requires a community service initiative. Hers is “Growing the Next Generation Through Agriculture.”
It all comes from her FFA involvement. She and a group of fellow FFA members worked with fourth grade students at Onalaska Elementary School. They went to the younger students’ classroom once a week for four weeks and helped with hands-on activities to expose them to agriculture. They focused on dairy as it has historically been an important part of Lewis County agriculture.
The curriculum Riley and her teammates followed covered Week 1, an explanation of what dairy is including dairy products, cow breeds and anatomy; Week 2, an explanation of how cows make milk including their nutrition, examples of feeds, how cows are cared for and the actual milking procedure; Week 3 was about getting milk from the farm to market, including how it is transported and the processes of pasteurization and packaging; Week 4, they discussed the responsibilities of farmers, caring for animals and careers in agriculture.
The culmination of their mentoring the younger students was a tour of the Iverson Dairy in Onalaska followed by ice cream at D9 Country Market.
Riley said she really enjoyed working with the younger students and teaching them about dairying. She plans to continue her efforts in Onalaska with second and fifth graders and now has a goal for reaching 150 young students, hopefully reaching out to other school districts. She is also writing a children’s book she is calling “Little Book of Farming” that is aimed at kindergarten-aged kids.
Riley is working toward her Miss Washington attempt and furthering her outreach to young students to show them the benefits of both having knowledge about and being involved in agriculture.
She is hoping the Onalaska program will become an annual class of older students helping younger students learn about agriculture.
It is building her confidence and allowing her to build confidence in younger students and see their smiles.
It all takes time, money and effort.
If you want to reach out to Riley, you can at rileynmartin.14@gmail.com.
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Maureen Harkcom grew up on a Lewis County dairy and operated a beef and native hay operation and developed an equine competition facility. She can be reached by email at maureen.harkcom@gmail.com.
