When Chris Chinn was asked to become Missouri Director of Agriculture seven years ago, she turned down the offer.

She was running a family feed mill in northeast Missouri and was supporting two of her children, meaning she didn’t have any time to work in a head agricultural position.

Then, her husband, Kevin, tried to talk her out of it.

“When Kevin found out what I had done, he snapped my head off,” Chinn said. “He said, ‘Chris, what is the one thing that you would tell every group that you talk to, whether it’s a kids or a Farm Bureau group. What is your last message?’ I said the world is led by those who show up. That was always what I said. He looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘You didn’t show up.’ It tasted like vinegar. It felt like I got punched in the stomach.”

Chinn later changed her mind and decided to take the job. Now, she’s in her seventh year as the agricultural leader in local, state and national levels.

“I thought I knew a lot about agriculture,” Chinn said. “But what I learned is you can never know everything about agriculture. Every day, I learn something new.”

Chinn shared her journey of becoming the state’s agricultural director during a program that was hosted by the Montgomery County Women In Ag group on April 18 at Montgomery County Middle School. She was the keynote speaker.

A dinner, which was made by the Montgomery County R-II FCCLA chapter, was served before Chinn’s speech. There were closing remarks from Women In Ag members Abby Stevens, Kim Schroeder and Maureen Cope.

The Montgomery County Women in Ag focuses on teaching the community about different agricultural aspects. It held several other events in the past such as the Farm-To-Table dinner and toured Warren County. Other committee members are Christine Ridgley, Taren Justice, Karen Worthington, Sara Crile, Patty Fennewald, Cassie Lenzenhuber, Phyllis Reagan, Tammy Teeter, Brendan VanBooven and Tara Wallace.

Before she became the state’s agricultural director, Chinn served in many organizations such as the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Faces of Farming, American Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers and the Missouri Farm Bureau.

“My journey to become the director of agriculture is a very unconventional journey,” Chinn said. “This was never a job that I sought out to take or receive. I was content working on our family farm and taking care of all of the financial records and production records.”

Chinn received a phone call from Jack Maxwell from the Missouri Farm Bureau and was asked if she and her husband would serve on the Farmers and Ranchers Committee. At first, Chinn declined on the committee offer because she wanted to spend more time raising her farm. But she was influenced by Maxwell to give it a shot.

“He finally wore me down,” Chinn said. “He said, ‘Chris, we don’t want people who have time to serve on this committee. We want people who are busy because busy people are the ones who know how to get the work done and they’re the leaders in their community.”

After that, Chinn became an agriculture advocate, going to states such as North Carolina, Wyoming and Texas and spending 167 days telling stories about agriculture.

“This is truly why we need more farmers and ranchers to stand up and tell the story of agriculture,” Chinn said. “With the internet out there today, there are so many people who don’t understand what we do and why we do it.”

Chinn was asked by the staff of Missouri Governor-elect Eric Greitens if she wanted to be the state’s agricultural director during a phone call in December 2016.

“They asked me, ‘Hey, do you know anybody who could make a great director of agriculture?’ So I started naming people,” Chinn said. “They said, ‘We have heard all of these names. What about you?’”

Chinn said she didn’t want the job at first because she would have to walk away from her farm. Her husband told her not to worry about the farm.

“He said, ‘You’re not walking away from us. You’re helping us,’” Chinn said.

Chinn, a fifth-generation farmer, was appointed to replace Richard Fordyce as the state’s agricultural director in January 2017.