Junior Sam Turner has spent most of his life advocating for something we all know and love: food.
“The importance of agriculture is pretty simple,” Turner said. “People have to eat and people like to eat. Promoting agriculture is actually pretty easy.”
Now, Turner is setting his sights on becoming the Missouri Students Association president. He said he wants to bring a fresh perspective a new ideas into MSA.
Turner is an agricultural economics major from Bernie, Missouri, a town of just under 2,000 people, and remembers working long hours on his grandfather’s farm since the age of 5. He said one of his first jobs was pulling weeds, which he did for entire days at a time.
“That was something on the farm,” he said. “We worked from six in the morning till two or three in the morning. You get two or three hours of sleep, and you go back at it.”
Although some might resent having to work so hard every day, Turner said his experiences on the farm taught him hard work, responsibility and dedication.
Originally, Turner said he wanted to become a lawyer, but decided that job was best suited to someone who liked to sit behind a desk more than he did. He said he added economics to his agriculture major because he wanted to do something different during his time at college.
“After I graduate college, I see myself maybe being in the ag sector working for a policy person,” Turner said. “But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t mind seeing myself farm one day, just being able to raise food for the world and promote agriculture.”
When he came to MU, Turner said his first class at MU was larger than his entire elementary school in his hometown. He said that he has enjoyed meeting other students with many diverse backgrounds by getting involved at MU.
Turner has been in multiple positions within the agricultural sector since starting college. He served as an officer in the Collegiate Farm Bureau, interned as a seed salesman with an agriculture cooperative, and began work with the Agricultural Electronic Bulletin Board.
Turner said he loves his work promoting agriculture across the state. His favorite thing was to see other farmers taking pride in their work.
“Agriculture is sometimes criticized and looked down at (but) in my time as a Future Farmers of America officer traveling around the state, I really got to see how much people care for their livestock and different things like that.” Turner said.
Agriculture also helped Turner meet his fiancee, Samantha Gibson. The two met while serving as state officers in FFA and began dating when Turner followed Gibson to MU.
“I can’t put it into words,” Turner said. “She’s so supportive and she’s just so there for (me) all the time. She’s my best friend. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her.”
Gibson said that Turner is passionate about agriculture as well as Mizzou as a whole.
Both Turner and Gibson have multiple jobs and responsibilities in the College of Agriculture, but Turner said they try to spend as much time with each other as possible and always make time to sit down together for dinner.
Gibson said that support and friendship are a huge part of their relationship. She said that Turner has a passion for agriculture as well as MU as a whole.
“Sam does things with his whole heart,” Gibson said. “If he is interested in something he puts forward 150 percent of effort. He is very genuine and when you think of the word inviting that is Sam to a T.”
_Edited by Waverly Colville | wcolville@themaneater.com_