But you’d be wrong.

The 17-year-old didn’t even know what the FFA organization (formerly Future Farmers of America) was until about three years ago. Now, agriculture is a major part of Swanson’s life. In fact, for 2021, she will be representing the state of Iowa in the Miss Agriculture USA queen organization.

Miss Agriculture USA is a national nonprofit that focuses on celebrating and promoting agriculture, according to the organization’s website. Miss Agriculture USA “is much more than just about agriculture,” the website says. “It’s about building confidence, promoting self-esteem, developing public speaking skills, shaping strong leaders, networking and forming lasting friendships and so much more.”

Swanson applied to be the Iowa Miss Agriculture USA earlier this month and was selected and began her reign on Saturday. She will travel to Ohio next June to compete with the other 49 state-level Miss Agriculture USA candidates to be crowned the 2021 Miss Agriculture USA for the whole nation.

-Messenger file photo
Emma Swanson, then 16, a member of the Pilot Creek FFA, changes out the water bottle in her poultry cages at the 2019 Pocahontas County Fair. Her poultry also got dishes of frozen fruit to help keep them cool in the heat.

Swanson said her purpose as a Miss Agriculture USA representative is to help keep a spotlight on the agriculture industry.

“I’m focusing mine on just bringing agriculture to Fort Dodge and to our school district and around our schools,” she said. “We are the only school district in our area that does not have any ag classes or anything like that and just focusing on getting the younger and upcoming generations an insight into agriculture.”

Swanson’s introduction into the world of agriculture came when she started ninth grade in Pocahontas, where she was living with her dad at the time.

“It’s not really something I planned,” she said. “I was a freshman in high school choosing classes and I thought it was just going to be an easy A class, but I ended up falling in love with it, gardening and learning all the different parts of agriculture.”

She remembered walking into her first ag class for the first time and realizing she was the only girl and that she had no idea what she had gotten herself into.

“I was so scared to go out in the greenhouse, but then I learned how to work the hydroponics table and started taking a lot of gardening classes,” Swanson said. “Then my sophomore and junior years, I started taking the fish and wildlife classes and the animal science classes.”

It was her ag adviser who encouraged her to step out of her comfort zone and get involved in FFA and 4-H. Swanson hopes to use her platform as Iowa Miss Agriculture USA to help bring more attention to the 4-H and FFA organizations.

“I feel like a lot of kids think FFA is just farming,” she said, adding that the club is so much more than that.

FFA has taught Swanson respect and responsibility, gave her a place to expand her public speaking skills and exposed her to animals.

“I’m very big on animal science and poultry,” she said. “We watched a video in class on artificial insemination and I was like, ‘I want to do that.'”

After her sophomore year of high school, Swanson began raising and showing poultry and ducks for 4-H. With many of her competitors being lifelong animal exhibitors, Swanson wasn’t sure how well she’d do picking up the hobby at 16.

“I went to the Pocahontas fair thinking that I’m going to do terrible at showing and I ended up with the senior showmanship and grand champion waterfowl awards,” she said.

She continues raising chickens and has a thriving flock right now. Swanson credits her mother, Tanya Rosendahl, of Coalville, for encouraging and supporting her animal showing efforts, and for buying the feed and animals she needs.

When Swanson moved back to the Fort Dodge area earlier this year, she was disappointed to learn that FDSH did not have much to offer in terms of agriculture classes and did not have a school FFA chapter. Even before she became Iowa’s ag queen, she had been working hard, advocating for an FFA chapter to be started at FDSH.

She plans to use her role this year to help continue this effort with the hopes of establishing an FFA chapter at FDSH before she graduates next spring.

Swanson hopes to give presentations to students and clubs, speaking at fairs and other events — anything she can do to help introduce others to the vast offerings of the agriculture industry.

“I want to show kids that agriculture isn’t just farming — there’s mechanical and engineering and animal science,” she explained.

Prior to her introduction to agriculture, Swanson thought she’d go into nursing as a career. But now, she plans on a career path following animal science. After she graduates from Fort Dodge Senior High in May 2021, she plans to attend Iowa Central Community College and then Iowa State University, where she will study agriculture and animal science.

Whether she’s wearing a crown or baseball cap, Swanson is dedicated to educating everyone around her on just how paramount agriculture is to everyday life.

“If the ag world shut down, basically the rest of our world would shut down,” she said.