-Submitted photo
Emily (Brewer) Wynn is proud to be part of Brewer Family Farms near Dallas Center. She and her family direct-market meat from their farm to local consumers. Shown here (left to right) are Joe Brewer, Brenda Brewer, Jeff Wynn, Emily Wynn, Dan Brewer and Linda Brewer.

Sometimes it takes years for someone to discover the right career path.

That wasn’t true for Emily (Brewer) Wynn, whose rural roots and love for the Iowa State Fair led her to a job she’s enjoyed since 2007.

“I’ve always been a fair girl and have never missed an Iowa State Fair, except for 2020 when the fair was canceled,” said Wynn, the agriculture education coordinator at the Iowa State Fair. “After I interned at the fair at a job that combined my passion for education, agriculture and communication, it was an easy choice to work here.”

It’s an important role, especially as more Iowans have no direct connection to production agriculture, she said. The Iowa State Fair helps people experience Iowa agriculture at its finest.

“We don’t want to educate you at the fair; we want you to experience ag with us,” Wynn said.

-Submitted photo
The Iowa State Fair offers many opportunities to see agriculture up close. “We don’t want to educate you at the fair; we want you to experience ag with us,” says Emily Wynn, the agriculture education coordinator at the Iowa State Fair.

That includes Little Hands on the Farm, which teaches children the importance of agriculture and how it affects their daily lives. While the fun, interactive programming is aimed at kids ages 10 and younger, parents get just as much out of it as the kids, Wynn said.

Priceless memories are also created at the Animal Learning Center, where visitors can see baby calves and piglets being born.

“When families see how well farmers care for their animals, that’s a win,” Wynn said. “I want every fairgoer to leave the Iowa State Fair feeling good about Iowa agriculture. If they learn a thing or two along the way, that’s a bonus.”

4-H installed a love

of livestock and the fair

All this is personal to Wynn, a Dallas County native who was a 10-year 4-H member of the Dallas Discoverers 4-H Club. “I grew up showing livestock at the fair and have always loved the fair industry, both at the county and state level,” said Wynn, who loved showing cattle and hogs at the fair.

After graduating from Dallas Center-Grimes High School in 1997, Wynn earned an ag education degree from Iowa State University. She taught high school agriculture and served as an FFA advisor at North Cedar High School in eastern Iowa for three years. Then she enrolled at the University of Missouri, where she earned a journalism degree in 2006.

“While I was at Mizzou, I interned in the Competitive Events Department at the Iowa State Fair,” Wynn said. “After I graduated from Mizzou in 2006, I stayed on at the fair and became their agriculture education coordinator in January 2007.”

Wynn loves to see how agriculture education has expanded at the Iowa State Fair during the past 17 years. “One of my favorite programs to coordinate is the Way We Live Award. Each year, this award highlights six to seven Iowa farm families who exemplify farm values derived from hard work and a love of farming,” she said. “I’ve been able to visit these families on their farms and see the love and joy they have for their farm.”

Then there’s the excitement of the Iowa State Fair itself.

“I love walking through the barn education areas at the fair,” Wynn said. “It’s fun to see the smiles and hear the giggles from kids and their families as they get to see, smell, hear, touch and feel Iowa agriculture.”

Another highlight is the “Have You Herd” program at the Iowa State Fair.

“Iowa 4-H and FFA members sign up to give a 30-minute presentation on their animal projects, three times each day of the fair,” Wynn said. “Seeing the passion they have for agriculture and their animals warms my heart.”

Brewer Family Farms boosts

the farm-to-fork connection

Inspiring the next generation of livestock producers is important to Wynn, who chairs the Dallas County Youth Committee. Since 2006, she has also served as a Dallas County livestock judging coach.

“I love working with the kids on the livestock judging teams, and I encourage them to pursue ag careers,” Wynn said. “The kids I work with at the Iowa State Fair also have such a passion for the ag industry. The future is bright.”

Wynn also works hard to strengthen the farm-to-fork connection through Brewer Family Farms near Dallas Center, where she and her family direct-market meat to consumers. Their efforts received a big boost this spring, when Brewer Family Farms received a Choose Iowa cost-share grant of $14,960 from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS). The Choose Iowa Grant Program supports programs and services that add value to agricultural products and support alternative marketing strategies.

“We’ve been looking for ways to add value to our ground beef and pork,” Wynn said. “We reached out to four area school districts about the opportunity of buying local.”

Through their research, Wynn and her family found that local schools prefer to purchase cooked protein options, since they have no raw meat in their kitchens and need heat-and-serve products. They also found out that Waukee Schools, which is less than 15 miles from their 240-acre farm, has a dedicated Farm-to-School program as part of their nutrition department.

“Their Farm-to-School task force set a goal to procure local products,” Wynn said. “Specifically, they want to purchase ultra-local (products) within 60 miles of Waukee schools.”

Brewer Family Farms is currently working with an Iowa meat locker so the farm can supply cooked meat products, starting this year. That’s where the Choose Iowa grant comes in.

“We’re transforming an unfinished, 60-foot-by-30-foot shed on our farm into a storage and distribution facility,” said Wynn, who noted the renovations will include the addition of a concrete floor. “We currently have multiple freezers in multiple farm sheds, so it will be great to have all the freezers in one location.”

“As lifestyle patterns change, research shows that consumers are relying more on convenience items, so we want to start offering value-added, time-saving products,” Wynn said. “By supplying convenient, cooked products like ground pork crumbles, sausage crumbles or pulled pork, we’re adding significant value to products that would normally sit in our freezers longer than our higher-valued meat cuts.”

The Brewer family has learned to adapt to changing times. Members of their family have raised cattle and hogs in Dallas County for five generations.

Today, Wynn’s parents, Dan and Linda, and her brother, Joe, operate the farm full-time. Wynn, her husband, Jeff, and her sister-in-law, Brenda, have off-farm jobs but help on the farm after work and on weekends.

“We strive to provide wholesome, family-raised meat products for our consumers,” Wynn said.

Brewer Family Farms is also excited to feature the Choose Iowa brand, which will launch later this year.

The Brewer family continues to look for ways to expand their meat business to local schools and other customers. They hope to open a small, on-farm store someday.

“It helps that communities in our area like Waukee are growing,” Wynn said. “We’re excited to see where these partnerships take us in the years to come.”