On May 9, at the 2023 Sirloin Gallery of Grands, the Sirloin Club of Oklahoma announced their five award winners for the 2023 agriculturalists under 40. The Sirloin Club of Oklahoma is a group of agriculture enthusiasts who gather each year to support Oklahoma’s 4-H and FFA students. The Sirloin Club supports exhibitors at the Oklahoma Youth Expo and Tulsa State Fair in their premium sales and also sponsors the National Land and Range Judging Contest.
Over the next few days, we will be showcasing the five award winners from five different categories: agricultural education, agricultural business, agricultural professional, crop production agriculturalist, and livestock production agriculturalist.
Today we will spotlight the first of the five- Alisen Anderson of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, who received the 2023 Agricultural Education Award.
Anderson teaches a wide variety of courses at NEO, including plant and soil science, soil systems, agricultural leadership, pasture and range management, agriculture capstone, freshman year experience, and many more.
“It is an incredible honor to be recognized with this organization, and I am just so humbled,” Anderson said.
Additionally, Anderson sponsors the Collegiate Farm Bureau Club and the Agricultural Education Club. Through her teaching and club sponsorship, Anderson said her goal is to keep students engaged and ignite their passion for agriculture.
“We either try to get them ready for the university road or get them ready to farm and ranch,” Anderson said. “We think it is extremely important for those kids that want to go back to the farm and ranch. We want to give them all the tools in their toolbox to go back and do that with land prices like they are and input prices like they are. We want to make sure they have every tool they need to be successful as a farmer or rancher.”
Anderson is a senator on the faculty senate governing body, committee assignments that include academic advisory, NEO Women and Friends, and more. She has also secured two NIFA USDA grants with Oklahoma State University. Both grants, the Agricultural Leadership grant, and the Paths to Provide grant, aid students in reaching their educational goals.
Among other things, Anderson is also active in the Oklahoma Farm Bureau and the American Farm Bureau Federation.
“It is an incredible opportunity for my husband and I to be the state YF&R chairs,” Anderson said. “We have just loved every minute of it, and we are so excited to be able to get back on the state and the national level.”
In 2019, Anderson helped to raise over $100,000 for a new greenhouse at NEO. Along with the greenhouse, they were able to partner with the city of Miami and local farmers and ranchers to secure 22 acres of farm ground where the greenhouse now resides.
They have also partnered with OSU to implement field studies to help students learn real-world solutions to feeding the globe.
