American Family Farmer

MICHELE PAYN is known as one of North America's leading experts in connecting farm and food. Her lifelong passion for agriculture stems from childhood and she has been breeding and judging dairy cattle as a registered Holstein breeder since the age of nine. She now resides on a small central Indiana farm, where she enjoys working on the farm with her daughter.She knows agriculture because she lives agriculture. Payn holds degrees in Agricultural Communications and Animal Science from Michigan State University. She is past president of College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Alumni Association. Career highlights include a Regional Directorship for the National FFA Foundation, where she sold over $5 million in corporate sponsorshipsand led campaigns to develop community support for various Foundation expansions. She has also marketed and sold dairy genetics to more than 25 countries, managed e-business accounts and presented training programs in developing countries. CAUSE MATTERS challenges people to meet