For the past year, a group of first-year medical students at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, has been learning directly from Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) members about how to connect with and meet the needs of people living in rural communities. This education around rural healthcare, called the Rural Medicine Initiative, is offered through the medical school, in partnership with the Minnesota Foundation for Agriculture and the Zumbro Valley Medical Society (ZVMS).

Starting last year, this group of medical students had several touchpoints with MFBF members in southeastern Minnesota. Through field trips to farms and implement dealers, panel discussions and conversations, these students gained an intimate perspective on what farmers and ranchers face daily—from the occupational hazards and ag-related injuries to the rural mental health crisis, healthcare accessibility and even the social and emotional barriers that can keep farmers and ranchers from visiting or trusting doctors. They also conducted health screenings at the MFBF annual meeting.

First-year student Liz Palmi, along with fellow student Grant Welk, helped shape the seminar based on their desire to learn more about rural healthcare. “I’ve been so appreciative of the energy behind the people who have been willing to engage with me, with Grant, with our students,” Palmi says, noting how meaningful it is to be invited into spaces she wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to engage with. “The passion that these leaders in the community have for serving the people in their community and identifying the needs behind that has been really inspiring to me and helped me see the need through their eyes as well. … I’m really grateful for all the time and energy they’re giving to this.”

This partnership is especially impactful considering that the United States is facing a critical shortage of primary care physicians in rural areas—with the proportion of medical school graduates choosing to serve rural areas declining by 28% between 2002-2017. The Minnesota Foundation for Agriculture team is hopeful that developing programs such as the Rural Medicine Initiative will help recruit and train a future rural healthcare workforce. It’s one reason why the Foundation donated $5,000 toward this program in 2024 and is in the process of writing grants to help with continued funding.

The Rural Medicine Initiative is just one of the many ways that the Minnesota Foundation for Agriculture (MFA), formerly the Minnesota Farm Bureau Foundation, supports farmers, ranchers and rural communities across the state of Minnesota. Since its founding in 1986, the Foundation has focused on agricultural education, research and leadership development. And while approaches may change as new opportunities present themselves, the mission remains the same.

Supporting Leadership Development and Ag Education

A big part of the Foundation’s work is investing in people and programs that support and expand agricultural education and leadership. This includes supporting farmers and agriculturalists through development opportunities and issue literacy training—including hosting farm safety trainings to reduce on-the-job injuries—and providing leadership development opportunities for youth. One major venue for this is Discussion Meet competition held at the MFBF’s annual Leadership, Education, Advocacy and Promotion (LEAP) Conference.

Providing resources to rural communities is another area the Foundation staff care deeply about. The organization financially supports hunger initiatives and rural health and wellness programs—the Rural Medicine Initiative being one such program—all with the goal of seeking to improve and serve rural communities.

The Foundation also focuses on connecting consumers more directly to agriculture—helping provide accurate education around food and farming and addressing misinformation around agriculture. Sometimes this is as simple as providing books about farming to school libraries. Other times, it’s facilitating opportunities for consumers to connect with farmers, like hosting farm tours, to build personal connections and put a face to the industry.

“These are all programs that will help us continue to put people in leadership roles in agriculture and also educate not only farm families but consumers about the value and the importance of agriculture in their communities and in the state and the nation,” says Ruth Linkenmeyer-Meirick, the MFA director.

Financially Supporting Farmers Across the State

Each year, the Foundation awards approximately $40,000 in Ag Promotion grants to county Farm Bureaus to build programming locally around ag education or leadership development and to support outreach efforts.

“This is a great investment that we make into our county Farm Bureaus. It is just a really good way that we can give back to those that give to us,” Linkenmeyer-Meirick says. “This is putting our donor dollars to use for the good of agriculture, for the good of our mission and our focus.”

Through the Al Christopherson Scholarship and the Paul Stark Memorial Scholarship, financial support becomes more personal for students across the state. Awards are based on scholarship, leadership and agricultural interest to students pursuing degrees in agriculture.

The Foundation also supports multiple statewide organizations, most of which have an education and/or leadership component to them. This includes the Minnesota Beef Expo, the Minnesota 4-H program, the Minnesota FFA, Minnesota State Fair events where kids are learning and developing skills, and more.

Furthering the Foundation’s Work Through Fundraising

Through grant writing, building personal relationships with donors and hosting fundraising events, the nonprofit raises money to continue to pursue its mission. Two of the most notable annual fundraising events are grilling pork chops at Farm Fest each summer and hosting the Minnesota Ag Day Gala each spring.

For the Minnestoa Ag Day Gala, Linkenmeyer-Meirick says, “We try to tie every detail back to Minnesota. People come to the gala and they'll say, ‘I didn't know that this was a Minnesota product.’”

The team’s attention to detail has paid off, as the event continues to grow in attendance and donations each year.

Building relationships through fundraising and events is one of Linkenmeyer-Meirick’s favorite aspects of her role as Foundation director. “Number one is absolutely the people and the relationships that I get to form from all over the state and nation,” she says. “The second thing is the programming that the Foundation does. I firmly believe in it. And I think that is what makes me really enjoy my job. I believe very strongly in the work that we do.”

New Name, Same Drive

In late 2024, the Minnesota Farm Bureau Foundation adopted a new name: The Minnesota Foundation for Agriculture (MFA). Along with the new name comes a new governing board, which is now separate from the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) board of directors.

The new governing board met for the first time in January and began developing a strategic plan to help guide the Foundation moving forward. “We’re looking at how we do things and where our focus should be, and then we’ll set mission, vision and goals,” says Ruth Linkenmeyer-Meirick, who has served as MFA director for nine years.

While there likely won’t be any sweeping changes—Linkenmeyer-Meirick feels the Foundation has experienced a lot of success in their existing education and research work—how those pillars are approached may look different.

These changes came out of a peer review that was conducted in 2024 by a committee formed of other state Farm Bureau leaders. The goal was to identify strengths and strategically assess how to grow the foundation, increasing its visibility and the awareness of its work.

“We’ve gone through some strategic changes, and we’ve gone through some peer reviews to really help the Foundation look at how we operate and how we’re structured,” Linkenmeyer-Meirick says. “We looked at governance, we looked at structure, we looked at mission and value and where we think our goals should be. And we just really formalized some changes that we feel will help us grow.”

While the strategic plan is still in development, Linkenmeyer-Meirick is looking forward to what is ahead. “We have fantastic programs, and this will help us really tell our story,” she says. “It’ll help with donor relations … and to help us be better stewards of the Foundation.”