Cornell senior awarded agriculture title

Cornell College senior Katelyn Folkmann is celebrating a new achievement after being named the 2021 Iowa Miss Agriculture Advocacy Ambassador during the Miss United States Agriculture Pageant in November.

The Newhall, Iowa, native says she earned the title through advocating for the program and volunteering. She held clothing, food, and book drives that supported organizations such as the Vinton Food Pantry, Shelter House of Iowa City, and various schools and libraries. 

“I was able to visit 70 farms and collected 20,000 pieces of clothing, over 4,000 books, and roughly 1,000 canned food items,” she said.

She did all of this while in classes at Cornell where she focuses on One Course At A Time, taking a single class for 3 ½ weeks before moving on to another.

“I am currently studying psychology, which is my major, and theatre, my minor,” Folkmann said. “My dream job would to have my master’s of clinical psychology and be able to help people in the agriculture industry as the job is ever-changing and can be really stressful and sometimes lead to farmer suicide.”

She hopes others see that hard work and dedication pays off. 

“I feel that this award is able to open avenues for helping the less fortunate as well as educating other individuals within and outside of the agriculture industry,” she said. “I hope to use my two platforms, bringing awareness to mental health in agriculture and showing the diversity of agriculture to highlight two parts of the industry that can be overlooked.”