Kyli Russell has excelled in 4-H and FFA over her 17 years and is this year’s Future Farmers of America president at Shelley High School.

With her parent’s input, she and her siblings, Kytri, 15; Jaxon,13; and Jedediah, 11; not only showed and raised market Boer goats, but also raised alpine and Oberhasli goats, which they use on family backpacking trips. Her parents are Race and Mistri Russell of Shelley.

Throughout her time in 4-H, Russell learned about raising animals and also how to handle various illnesses, like pneumonia.

“We started out buying goats to show in the Bingham County Fair 4-H fair and then start(ed) raising them ourselves,” she said. “I really like goats a lot. They are a lot like dogs, and it’s easy to get attached to them.”

Russell was in 4-H for around five years and was happy when her family joined in and started raising backpacking goats. Her siblings plan to continue raising goats for 4-H and for backpacking.

“It’s just fun and we can go further because the goats lighten the load,” she said.

Russell was encouraged to join FFA by SHS ag teacher Lyle Zaugg. She joined as a freshman and slowly got more involved. Her first competition was the Creed competition, a competition for freshmen.

“I didn’t know FFA even existed. I took an ag class because I just thought ag was cool, and then my teacher convinced me to start doing some competitions. I slowly got more and more involved,” she said. “The competitions helped me because I used to be really shy and didn’t talk to people a lot. It has been a good experience.”

Russell enrolled in horticulture classes for two years. The classes are taught by SHS ag teacher Kody Howells. She went on to compete in floriculture competitions where students are judged on the corsages and floral arrangements they create. Last year, she competed in ag sales. She found salesmanship is definitely a challenge, but a great learning experience on how to sell. Next, she learned parliamentary procedure, where she learned how meetings are done.

“It was really cool to see how school board and city council meetings are conducted and how that works,” she said. “Being president of FFA helped me get better at leadership and leadership and taking control of activities,” she said.

She plans to go to college and is interested in a career in psychology and social work.

“My experiences in 4-H and FFA have definitely helped me prepare for college, especially when filling out an application where I list all my experiences and achievements,” she said.

Also helpful has been organizing ag expos for children. During the event, FFA members plan a day where youth experience hands-on learning about nutrition, soils, and farm and ranching equipment.

Although her future goal isn’t agriculture, she recommends others get involved in 4-H, FFA and take some ag classes, regardless of their career choice.

“My career choice is not ag-based, but helping people is really important to me,” she said. “I want to make a difference, and you don’t have to be a farmer or rancher to love ag or to help others and have a desire to grow personally.”