By Whitney Baxter
Sterling (Schnepf) Meyer (’14 animal science) and her husband, Tyler (’14 ag studies), have a passion for connecting younger generations to agriculture. From farm tours to bringing lambs for show-and-tell at school, they see the value in opening northwest Iowa youngsters’ eyes to ag opportunities.
Sterling, who lives near Ireton, Iowa, knows first-hand the opportunities the ag community can provide. During her senior year at Iowa State, she was set to pursue graduate school. However, a connection to Terry Main (’76 ag and life sciences education) led to a sales position with Merck Animal Health. Sterling has been with the company ever since and works on the swine sales team.
She returns to Iowa State’s campus each fall to attend the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Career Day and recruit interns.
“It’s always a great time to meet with students and do recruitment in one-off events with Block and Bridle and Sigma Alpha,” Sterling says.
Outside of work, Sterling is a Plymouth County Pork Producers member. Earlier this year, she received one of the state Belle Ringer Awards from the Iowa Pork Producers Association in recognition of her efforts to promote and educate about pork.
Those efforts include coordinating the Adopt-A-Pig Project for local 4-H and FFA members, supervising the Queen and Little Miss Pigtails contest and serving on the IPPA Youth Committee. Sterling also helped launch the Plymouth County Pork Tenderloin Trail, an annual event that kicks off during Pork Month in October to promote pork menu items at county restaurants.
Sterling says she wouldn’t be where she is today without the internship at Merck and the connections made on campus. One of those connections was with her academic advisor, Curt Youngs, professor of animal science and Ensminger Endowed Chair of International Animal Agriculture.
Youngs describes Sterling as a “dynamic individual” who “exudes enthusiasm and positive energy.” She was a great student leader among her peers.
“We can teach people technical skills and even basic personality traits, but Sterling was blessed with the ability to interact with people from all walks of life,” Youngs says. “The only strangers to her are people she has yet to meet.”
Reflecting on her time in CALS, Sterling says the college became “home” for her.
“The investment is well worth it because of the many opportunities to get involved in your major and make connections,” she says.